274:366 - Cartwheels over and over and over...

All kids go through phases. Some have to do with food. Some deal with bedtime routines. Zoe is currently on a cartwheeling jag. Never would I imagine that I would have to actually ban cartwheels in the house. I am waiting for her to injure herself or run into a wall. Reminds me of my mom telling me, "As a parent, you will be shocked at the things you find yourself saying, for example, 'no ammo in the bedrooms'!" I am hoping this is the closest I get to THAT!

273:366 - Cupcakes!

Of course, a trip to Chicago means painstakingly packing up pristine "cupcakes to go" from the Magnolia Bakery for all the enjoy. 

272:366 - A view from the top

My friend Debbi and I escaped to the other side of the lake today for some traipsing around Michigan Avenue, indulging in Magnolia Bakery yumminess and enjoying a magnificent view over an equally incredible lunch. We were lucky enough to get a window table for lunch at the Signature Room at the 95th in the Hancock Building. I swear we could practically see back to our side of the pond.

271:366 - Bar code cleverness

Really, how can you not love it when an ice cream company turns their requisite bar code into an ice cream churn? Dee-licious cleverness!

270:366 - Their own style

I love these kids and I love finding their happy artwork all over the house. Today was a banner day: Zoe made a poem for me and Beckett drew a picture of me on his Magnadoodle while practicing his "b"s and "t"s. Too, too sweet and my heart will ache for this stage when it is gone in a blink.

269:366 - Product product product

Being in marketing, I am fascinated by product, and product packaging, and product marketing. Whether its shampoo or hair ties, there are a million ways to package and market. My latest obsession "fix" is Birchbox: a monthly goodie box of 'stuff'. It's going to be hard to keep Zoe from pilfering the nail polish once she figures out what is coming in the mail!

268:366 - Waning interest

As the soccer season winds down, I suspect that my dude's interest in winding down too. He becomes more fascinated with the sticks on the ground than with kicking the ball around the field.  

267:366 - Spider Man

Beckett is crazy fascinated with all the spiders and bugs and praying mantises this time of the year.  We have two spiders in particular that strike his fancy: the first is the wolf spider on the window by the air conditioner and his tunnel-like web.  The second is this beauty. We have been watching him catch his prey and feast on them. Kind of gross but hey, it's the circle of life.

266:366 - Park2Park

What do you get when you mix three great work friends and a 5K? A ton of laughs. Honestly, it was a great morning for the Park2Park 5K and it was only better due to the women with whom I ran. It was not so great for those running the half marathon! Shortly after finishing our race, skies opened up with torrents of wind, rain, and hail. Those poor runners!

265:366 - Progress??

I know it is a cliche, but it can be hard to see the forest for the trees. This window stripping project is no different. I can see the small bits of progress but the overwhelming amount of work yet to do has me wondering, "what did I get myself into?"

264:366 - Pizza on the Beach

With Rodger away, sometimes we all need a little something to look forward to. Zoe had a friend come home with us after school today and Beckett has been asking all week to have "pizza on the beach". I have no idea why but, adorned in winter coats and with the snow fences already firmly in place, pizza on the beach is exactly what we had. And, bonus, great friends of ours came along for our sandy impromptu dinner!

263:366 - Mt Pisgah

I have been trying, really trying, to carve out a little time now that we are back in school to keep up with my running.  I have been asked to run a few times with some of the other moms at school right after drop off and this AM I found a way to make it work. Mid-run, we ran the steps at Mt. Pisgah and we were rewarded with a fantastic view of the lake. I am SO fortunate that this is how I got to start my day. 

262:366 - Messaging

The hubby is traveling again this week - this time: Paris. Finding time to touch base on the phone is near impossible between his schedule, the kids' schedules, my work schedule and the time difference. Thank you iPhone for Messaging!!  

261:366 - An education

"Yes Beckett, even Super heroes need to go to pre-school".

260:366 - Blueberry Pancakes

Due to the freeze after the fruit trees had put out their buds, we were left with a lack of fruit picking opportunities this summer.  What we missed in apples and peaches, we made up for in blueberries.  We have vats of frozen blueberries in the freezer ready for whatever blueberriness needs strike.  This morning: pancakes. Please excuse the mess on the table; the poor kids had to eat their way around rock and gem samples, newspapers, and a random sampling of receipts.  Typical. Just not one I would prefer to capture on film!

259:366 - This Old House

Since Day One of owning this old house, it has seemed like a real life episode of "This Old House". While we have worked hard to strip the woodwork of the decades of paint, the one holdout has been the kitchen window seat.  Of course, every year when the paint may start to flake, I begin to think "what if". But THIS year, I thought, "why not"? and I went in search of any new improvements in safer paint stripping compounds. I may regret these words.

the stripper begins to work its magic on the paont and the lacquer underneath

258:366 - Take out

Take out...Friday night...Wild Chef sushi.

257:366 - Key Lime Pie

I am a complete sucker - Ben & Jerry's turned my favorite pie into ice cream.  Would it be anywhere nearly as good as the real deal? My vote: no. But, I had to try it!

256:366 - Family

Tonight we had special visitors! Gramma Jeannie and Aunt Linda drove up to have dinner with us. The kids were in seventh heaven with all the extra attention and I think Linda and Jeannie liked being loved up too!

255:366 - The Cure All

Nectar of the god, the cure all...chocolate is goooood.

254:366 - Little Kickers

Little Kickers has been a fun soccer distraction for the dude. Half of the time he loves hunting for four leaf clovers on the field but once in a while, he will take a break and play some soccer!

253:366 - Double rainbow

What an incredible morning for a run. It was hard to tell whether the storm was moving in or moving out. There was a light mist. I turned and looked back over our neighborhood in time to see the sky alight with a gorgeous, bright, intensive double rainbow. And, it got better. Once I made it to Windmill Island, the sky opened over DeZwaan and the rainbow filled the whole sky. Stunning.

252:366 - Operation

The deep intent look of concentration; his tongue just barely sticking out. Like his grandpa, this little guy may make a great surgeon. 

251:366 - Run...and reward

Friday is my day with my dude....and yes, I bribe him to run with me :) So, I load him up, set him up with a movie or a game on the iTouch and off we go.  Half an hour later, we are both "rewarded" with a bagel for him, and a tall skim latte for me for the cool down walk home.

250:366 - Kale and Lentil Stew

Our kids are good eaters - most days, they will eat whatever we whip up. It was a fantastic surprise to find out that Zoe LOVES, and often asks for, kale and lentil stew! What a great excuse to make something healthy and something she loves!

249:366 - Building

Beckett's room is a haven for creation, full of building blocks and magnetic toys. When things get crazy, he will often escape to create his own world and create and play and create.

248:366 - First Day of School

Parents, start your engines! The day was off to a pretty decent start for us despite the disparity of one kid excited for pre-school and moving to the Santa Fe room and the other kid weighing in as "so-so" on becoming a 4th grader and moving to Upper Montessori.  In typical fashion, we got caught behind a school bus less than a block from pre-school and had to rush to drop off Beckett and get Zoe back to the north side. Once she saw her friends, all was good.  However, the passage of time smacked me right in the face as I realized that the messenger bag of mine she had borrowed was the very bag Rodger had bought me as a "cool" diaper bag before Zoe was even born.  Wow, time does fly.

247:366 - It's all fun until Uncle Todd loses a marshmallow

Summer vacations with Uncles give the kids both something to talk about (and something to look forward to) all year long. Uncle Todd's bonfires have become something of legend; kind of like the legend of the one fish that got away....Zoe immortalized it forever in her drawing today.

246:366 - Frog pond

If I had to sum this summer up in one item, it would definitely be an image of a net. The kids have used nets, bought nets, borrowed nets to capture insects, swoop butterflies and moths straight out of the air, and scoop up frogs and fish.  A trip to the Zeeland wetlands would not have been complete without wading in the streams, and, of course, working on frog catching skills.

245:366 - Tomatoes

Tomatoes are overflowing at farmer's market this time of year. With peaches and apples in non-existence due to our spring weather, it is nice to see a bounty of such pretty, and delicious, vegetables.  BLTs have been a big lunch staple for us these days!