a birfday supwise

on a whim, i decided to surprise my mother for her birthday.  for years, ben and i have talked about surprising the minnesota family for the holidays, but it never seems to work out.  tickets are always ridiculously expensive, and we're of the mindset that in the winter, it's kind of a nice treat to trade in cold place for a warmer one (not another cold place), right?!  well, this year it worked out for the boys to stay home, while dylan and i made our {first of many} girl trip.

in seattle, half way there!

it was gonna be brutal though.  the cheapest best flight left at the unGodly hour of 6 am.  sheesh.  i haven't seen that hour since those pesky potty breaks during the last trimester of pregnancy.  in my head, on repeat, i kept the reel of my mom's expression, playing in my head.  we left the house at 3:45 a.m., in the middle of a damn snowstorm.  i white-knuckled it all the way to ted steven's international.  check-in, dreaded security, starbucks, gate and our window seat in row 23.  i think that was my first exhale since waking at 3:20 a.m.  all in the name of momma d.

the 3-hour flight arrived in seattle, 20 minutes early, much to my and dylan's approval.  you would have thought i walked off the plane with a complimentary bag of candy!  so happy to be half-way there!  we had an hour to burn, so i found a vacant corner and released the pest to muck up the windows and flirt with people attempting to snooze.  (i so remember being that bothered person.  try not to judge, if you don't have kids yet.)

with another 3-hour flight to tackle, i was feeling utterly giddy.  containing my excitement was just no longer possible.  i became the extrovert that my mother wishes i was.  i could no longer hold in my ten day secret.  i couldn't stop telling people my plan.  i'm gonna plop dylan on the front step and ring the doorbell!  no!  i'm gonna have my brother walk in the door holding dylan!  no!  i'm gonna do backflips into her entryway while holding a naked dylan!  ok, probably not, but i knew for sure that i wouldn't have been able to last another day, keeping this secret from the one person i tell everything!

she didn't know i had been screening her calls.  (ringing phone at an extremely weak moment)

she didn't know how many times i almost spilled the beans.  ("...when i'm there this weekend...")

she didn't know why i was so frantic to have my truck in the shop all week (i had a trip to get ready for!)

and, she didn't know that everyone else was in on it!

ultimately, matt walked through the door with dylan, renee was behind matt, and i was last, with the camcorder.  let's see if i'm smart enough to upload a video...

{and, a half-hour later with no luck}

ok, so no footage, but you would have seen the typical hand-over-face/mouth maneuver.  why does that happen?  i know i did it when benji threw that surprise party for me on my 30th.  i'm VERY shocked there weren't tears - in the video - but i cannot confirm (or deny) if there were (or were not) tears over the weekend.  (ok, there were.  by both of us.  lots.)  she definitely sucked the air outta the room.  that was predicted by all.  she kept repeating, WHAT IS THIS? but my favorite was averee looking up at me saying, auntie annie, where's jack?  awww...  still on saturday morning, she was in disbelief that her girls had made it for the birthday dinner. 

i may have told ben, mom #2 and everyone else (!) that this trip was for her, but selfishly, i needed it too.  i swear, it gets harder and harder as the years pass to be apart from family.

it may have been sunday before she realized what actually happened, two days prior.  don't you just love a good surprise?!

 the birthday girl blushes at the birthday song

 birthday cake made by averee & ellie

 gramma's in love.

 cousins, smoochin nigh-night

after we said good night to the flanagan's, we dashed out for breakfast goodies for the a.m.; the wirtz girlies would be joining us.  upon arriving at the local kowalski's, dylan spied the itty-bitty shopping carts.  hilarious.  she zoomed that metal beast into everything.  she's already a horrific driver.  but look how excited...  

whatta whirlwind day.

{as a bonus, here's jack, the day after we returned.  at pet zoo.  he's a much better driver.}

at night

oh, the intentions.  oh, the guilt.  lately these days, i think about blogging more than i blog.  obviously, right?  it's hard.  my ME TIME went from 10+ hours a week to, like, null hours a week.  jb no longer attends school for 3.5 glorious hours a day.  he no longer takes naps.  i find myself pleading with him, moments away from falling to my knees, just please lay down and watch a movie, but the kid's a busy-body.  a cute old man once asked him if he swallowed a bunch of worms - and as i was like, whaaa? - he quickly quipped that 'cause you got the wiggles, boy!  yep, makes perfect sense now, and i'm sure my daughter musta been eating off that same plate!

i write blogs in my head as i'm driving.  that fun little voice record on my smart phone?  i use it.  i probably have two dozen voice notes to remind me of funny situations or stories.  i write blogs in my head as i'm trying to fall asleep.  ben thinks i'm an insomniac.  i might be.

like my dear son, i really struggle to just turn IT off at night.  i think about the the things i didn't get done.  i think about raising my voice at child #1 because of pain inflicted on child #2.  i think about a future child #3 and before i get lost in all the giddiness of new baby smell and teeny-tiny digits and eensy-weensy diapers, i suffer a heart flutter thinking of managing 3 miebs children.  i am only one woman.  with two arms.  one frazzled brain.  and one stomach that is always hungry because the first two kiddos constantly eat my lunch over their own.  and it's the same thing!  ok, breathe.

see how that just happened?!  and that's just, like, a few minutes into my thoughts.  can you imagine 20 minutes?  a half hour?  oh, my mind just goes.  i think of new buddy faces.  i think of the fabric bolt i put away but now really wish i would have just bought one yard.  i remember that i cut up the last pink lady apple so i'll need to get to the grocer tomorrow.  then, i try to think of other items i'll need, so i'm not driving to the store, just in search of apples.

so, i start compiling my list.


oh, yep, almost out of dishwasher detergent.  and i need to make sure i buy the gel pacs this time and not those powered-square ones.  the glasses just don't get clean with those ones.  and one aisle over is the dog food, and we're almost out.  then i think, damn, i wish ben would be so sweet to pick up the dog food.  i loathe buying it because then i'm pushing a cartful of miebs, miebs food and a 40 pound bag of beanie food.  then, this is when i give myself a pass for not making it to the gym.  see, i get my work outs in.  but, i should still go.  i like to have toned arms.  i feel so great after running, despite it being on a treadmill.  then, ooh, what music should i listen to next workout: some old fugees or classic eric clapton ala cream.

by this point, i will turn on the television.  i will set my sleep timer for 60 minutes.  i will take off my glasses so i can't see as well.  i'll get outta bed to turn up the fan another click.  this makes the room a touch chilly and also dries out my eyes a bit to where i want to keep them closed.  and as i type this i think why don't i just start out this way?!  and now, i'm chuckling because i realized i've written an entire blog about nothing that i wanted to.  it's been weeks since my last post and this was not at all what was on my agenda.  and when i climb into bed tonight, i am going to be thinking of this as my list is compiled.

until next ME time...

glitter globes

we had a play date last friday, the first one since jb's birthday party back in mid-november.  that means, we were long overdue for a get together.  since the free-play time with two more "toy thieves" can get a little outta hand, i wanted to have a project that would keep their attention.  their attention on their own little-special-something rather than being possessive over their toys.  yes, i'm talking to my son.  back to the project...  

for two months, i have been searching and scouring for little figures and glass jars: we were to make our own snow globes!  i found a 6-pack of santa dudes at jo ann's and the rest of them i had on hand or were old ornaments that i was ok with not putting on the tree again and some were from jb's little figurine collection.  

in the garage, i found the small paper bag full of old baby food jars that i had cleaned out and given to ben for nails, screws or ammo casings - still in the same spot as when i placed it out there a year ago.  (we all have the best intentions, right?!)  so i took those back and did a once-over with a razor blade on all the jars.  ben spray painted the lids and the dice for me.  one way or another, he always seems to get sucked into my projects.  love him.

dice, you may wonder?  well, as i studied my pile of figurines, i realized that the lids were this deep, thus cutting off some of the figure on display.  i decided they all needed a teeny, tiny step stool.  but not really.  dice would do.  i went to 3 stores before i found a 10-pack of lose die.  hooray!  i love when it all works out.  (doesn't it always?!)  i found 6 tubes of different colored glitter, an epoxy to adhere the figurine to the lid (and/or dice) and some glycerin to assure the glitter falls s l o w l y.  

the night before, i glued the figurines to the appropriate-sized lids.  i boiled a pot of water and let cool, although, i should have done that earlier than minutes before we were wanting to fill up our jars!  for next time, i must remember to boil the pot an hour or two before commencing project so there's no cool off time!  

 the kids picked their colors 

(YAY! for no arguments over color choice!)      

my pretty pretty friend

her pretty pretty daughter

 my pretty pretty white-rainbowy glitter

 mimi had the shaking technique down

we all finished adding our glitter, adding another drop of glycerin with each shake.  i referenced marthastewart.com and there wasn't an exact ratio of water to glycerin.  they used terms like "pinch" and "dash" and i was quickly annoyed like i am when my mom tries to relay a recipe of hers.  maybe one day i'll learn to cook like that...

jb's finished snow globe.

he added red and blue glitter which i thought was a total snow globe faux pas but look!  

the red and blue look great against the chubby penguin's purple hat!

he's so smart.

it goes: cute, chubby mary with cute, chubby baby jesus; penguin; cute, chubby eskimo; jb's penguin; teeny, tiny santa with a gingerbread cookie; and gaige's polar bear who's paws came unglued.  whoopsie!  i think not having a large gluing surface worked against him.  but as we quickly noted, polar bears swim in bluish-green water so it makes sense that he's free to twist and turn!  

super fun project.  we're already scouring the house for other non-Christmas figurines so we can enjoy our glitter globes year round!

besties.

holding out

years ago, i had made up my mind that 20 degrees was my cut off for outside play.  with the kiddos.  yes, that's my excuse.  because the baby(ies) will get cold.  really though, i'm not much a fan of it.  i'm always cold.  my hands?  icicles coated with skin.  (ewww. sorry.)  i wear slippers all day, every day.  with socks.  inside my home at 68 degrees, i'm bundled in a sweatshirt or (no, and) legs curled up to the side under a blankie.  i can't help myself.  i get cold.  so the idea of voluntarily throwing myself into the elements, i'm not too fond.  nope.  

our winter has been a delight, however.  we've had more snow than we've had in 5 years.  i'm loving every inch of it.  and being the homebody i am, it gives me more excuses to just stay tucked away inside.  (i'm marveling at the fact that my dear husband works in the shtuff year round, no matter what the temperatures.  and ironically, when the weather's at its worse, he's usually out getting lights and heat back on.  bless him.)

but despite my love of the fluffy white stuff, i loathe the bone-chilling temps in the single digits.  (and don't get me started on the negative degrees...)  we must be in week 3 of this brutal "snap."  can you call it a cold snap if it's been this long?!  so i gave up.  i broke my 20 degree rule.  i could no longer hold out.  glancing at the thermometer and shuddering at the 8.2 degrees the day was offering, i thanked the good Lord for the sunshine and blue skies.  we likely spent more time zipping and cramming feeties and phalanges into the appropriate boots and mittens, but that doesn't matter.  what matters is that i have two sleeping babes right now.  jb hasn't napped in days.  i repeat DAYS.  so dammit, if i have to drag myself them outta the house every day just to squeeze a 2 hour snoozefest outta them - I WILL.  happily.         

glorious snow

 snow's almost over her head

 can you hear her saying hi

                                   

they're a crack up

 love the tongue.

 from smiling to this face.  

in a split-second.  

my daughter.

 self-portrait for the day.

oh, she's trouble.

 attempt at a snow angel

 the copy-cat.

 the grizzly is under there somewhere...

 simple pleasures.

love these little snow craters.

 being thrown in the snow has the same affect as being thrown onto a sofa: giddy elation

 curious...

 YUM!

 seconds.