missed friends

The day we moved away from Bloomington, at a farewell breakfast with the Hanselmanns.

We miss these guys, the Hanselmanns, terribly. I especially miss Lyndee. She is one of the best friends I've ever had outside of my family. To us, the Hanselmanns were family, and oh how I love them! I don't have a good picture of Lyndee, but aren't her kids adorable? Eagan and Anders. They were our best Bloomington buddies. They were our sleepover pals, fellow party animals, camping companerios, football watching hosts. Lyndee and Fritz loved my kids and we loved theirs.

Lyndee and I shared a passion for cooking. She cooked for me and I cooked for her, (she knew the answer to every cooking question I had and was a far better cook than I). We drove up to Indy together to shop and hit the Mexi mart while our hubbies were hitting the books. She would do my make-up before dates and events, she lent me her clothes and gave me pedicures. She gave me honest opinions and boosted me up when I needed it. We could talk freely of our frustrations, dreams, and fears. We laughed at each other and at ourselves. She always made me feel welcome in her home, with her Spanish music always thumping. I loved it. I will always remember her saying to me, "A girl gotta have a little jiggle," during our conversations about body weight. It's hard to put into words how much our friendship meant to me, but if you ever read this Lyndee, thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you!

I'm afraid with all that has happened, the rapid move, the transition between student and job life, I have lost the constant contact we had with each other. It makes me sad. But I still love them dearly, and will always have great and fun memories of our adventures with the Hanselmanns!

sadly, the tree comes early this year

First things first, I'm going to make my blog private. I'll leave the WHY a mystery until I switch it over permanently. Change is in he wind. Just leave your email address in my comments, and most likely, I will add you. ;)

Secondly, we set out on our Christmas tree adventure early this year. (Again, the why will be answered soon.) We usually wait until the day after Thanksgiving to set up our tree. We actually haven't had a tree for 3 years, as we have gone to Utah for the holidays, but this year we will be home, I mean quasi-home. Anyways, I'll share our tree-hunting escapade, because it was very much enjoyed.

We went to the Twin H Tree Farm here in B-town. The farm was big and beautiful, and since we were early we got first picks.

Ty, the explorer.

Beckham wanted a baby beekoo tree.

After walking around for a while, we found the perfect tree, Canaan, 7 foot.

After getting it home, we unpacked the decorations, and let the kids play with them until they were put on the tree. We have a tradition that Matthias' side of the family has had since he was a tyke. Every year each boy gets a horse ornament, and likewise, every girl gets an angel ornament. And so our tree is adorned with mostly horses and a few angels. Beckham won't stop touching the ornaments, and Ty won't stop policing.

the officer

the offender

leaves are falling

Fall is so beautiful here in Bloomington.

My favorite season.

The grass stays green, the leaves are brilliant, the air gets crisp, and it warms my heart.

Playing in and collecting leaves has become a favorite past time this year.

presto

For you townies who didn't attend the Pumpkin Party at the Hilltop Garden and Nature Center, remember it for next year. It was only a $1 to attend and just the type of small town celebration that I love, complete with a Jug Band, fresh cider and brats, pumpkin pie bake-off, a Magic Show, crafts, and a pumpkin launch. It was quaint and chill, but a fantastic display of fall goodness. I had stepped back in time.

I was fascinated with the jug band. Their music was toe-tapping great and I LOVED seeing them use the washboard and jug, wow.

the Lost Shoe String Band

Get a load of this magician, Jack the Top Hat. His magic was amateur, but he was so fun to watch with the kids, they loved him and I loved his Indiana accent. He was terrific!

hippie-ized

B-town is a hippie town. Most moms with babies have slings. And while I am sure that not every mom that has a sling is a hippie, there is mucho hippieness going on around town. Unshaven legs, long flowing skirts, bra-lessness, tie-dying, all natural product buying, lack of deodorant, etc. After three years of being amongst hippies, I have grown accustomed to seeing the trendy array of slings that I hated for a long time, and so I wanted to find out what the big deal was about slings. My sister-in-laws have had brand new babies, and so I put my sewing skillz to the test and made them baby slings. Beckham and I are demoing one of the slings below. We tested it's strength by bouncing up and down without using my arms to hold him. He loved it. I am surprised at how comfy it was and can now see why so many moms have them, hippie or not--they free up your hands so that you can… use them, for things other than carrying the baby, i.e. play marbles, make peace signs with your fingers, braid your best-friend's hair, tickle your neighbor, open the mail, make PBJs, nurse and cook at the same time, or you know pretty much anything that you would use your hands for, you are really only limited by what you would otherwise be limited by--whatever 4 fingers and a thumb coupled with four other fingers and a thumb can achieve, anyways, you hopefully get the picture and can now imagine the freedom the sling creates, perhaps it should be re-named, the Liberator.

peace, love, and happiness.

re-CYCLE

I know I've said that I love Bloomington more than you want to hear, but I really do. I love the Bloomington community and all it has to offer folks to help make life better. If any of you are considering grad school or contemplating relocating to a quaint and homey town, I would yell from the rooftops, "COME TO BLOOMINGTON!" You would love it, I just know it.

Another B-town gem I have recently discovered is the Community Bike Project. It's found in a little orange, red and blue garage located across the street from the Farmer's Market of downtown B-town. Their mission is simple and serving: they "provide bike transportation to the people of the city. They focus on teaching bicycle maintenance in order to ensure that bikes on the streets stay on the streets." Their tools and bike parts are free for public use, they have an "Earn a Bike Program," offer workshops for adults and kids, support recycling bikes, all of which are completely free (although donations are needed and appreciated yo)!

Ty's pedals were busted up due to the fact that he jumps off his bike mid ride and lets his bike crash. Needless to say, he was in need of some functional pedals in order to keep on riding. We took his little bike over and found some used but solid pedals to replace the old. We were the first customers there, but soon the garage was hoppin' with cyclists of all types. Volunteers were there to help with any needs, and we were quickly finished. It was great. We made our small donation, picked up some free greens that a farmer brought over who was unable to sale all his stuff at the market. Good Day.

Kudos to the Community Bike Project.

F to the third

Matthias took Ty to the Cutter's Football Camp Saturday. The Indiana Cutters are a Semi-Pro Football team who offer a couple of free camps here this summer to build up their fan base and teach some football fundamentals (again, Bloomington is THE place for kids and free fun). They taught skills for some different positions. Ty especially loved practicing quarterback skillzzzz. He was the smallest footballer in attendance.

Running through the big guys holding on to the ball, trying not to let it get knocked out of his hands.


Getting psyched to tackle the giant blue pad.


Our super star scrimmaging.

Quarterback stance.


End of camp certificate and the potty stance.

The FATHER in our house always brings us lots of happiness and fun times. We had a great Father's Day with Matthias. The boys eyed a cactus plant at the store the other day and told me that was what they wanted to get their dad. I tried to make a theme out of it and subscribed Matthias to High Country News - a great Western Environmental publication that he loves. We spent the morning making him a bfast in bed (we're big on that at our house if you didn't notice) of ham and cheese crepes, watching him eat bfast in bed, taking turns telling him all the things we loved about him, and looking through family photos.

And last, what is summer without catching Fireflies in a glass jar? Everyone needs to catch fireflies at least once in their lifetime. Lucky for us, they are plentiful here in the summer evenings. We caught a dozen and brought them into our dark apartment to watch them light up. Have you seen the clip from the Curious George movie when George eats fireflies? He sticks out his tongue after and it is glowing florescent green. Well Ty tried to eat one, and immediately spit it out. He then squashed it on the cement and the guts did in fact glow green. So fascinating, those bugs.

touch-a-what?

Touch-a-TRUCK!!

Bloomington is THE town for little kids. B-town offers so many programs and events, children really are celebrated here. Touch-a-Truck was touchy, climby, and loud. Trucks in attendance: ambulance, fire truck, police car & motorcycle, Hum-Vee, Bookmobile, school bus, hospital on wheels, cement truck, power line truck, tractor, tow truck, and a postal delivery truck. The cement truck had a fog horn and the driver let the kids go at it! It was little boy heaven, and only a dollar to attend. Thank you Bloomington.

riding the countryside

We rather enjoyed riding our bikes in Bloomington.  The rolling countryside was gorgeous. Ty rode many miles, building his endurance to about 5 miles.  Quite a feat for a 5 year old. Beckham always rode in the bike trailer, screaming about his buckles.   I treasure these pictures.

Bex needed periodic breaks to run around.