red hot monkeys

Rubber Ducky Madness!

2012-01-06T19:16:00.000-06:00

Six days into January- we are all still healthy and happy! Jeremy got some much needed support in his classroom when the school finally hired a part-time teacher to help with his class sizes. He had around 35 talented and gifted students per class. whew! He will now have half that many students in a class in two out of three sections. Big relief!

Sidney had his 9 month doctor appointment today weighing in 16 lbs 14 oz. and measuring at 26 1/4 inches long. He is in the 5th percentile of height and weight BUT the 50th percentile for head circumference. (thanks to Dad!)
He is not quite crawling but scooting or what we refer to as the "inch worm move." Can you picture it? It's pretty darn adorable... until he gets his hands on something he is not supposed to! Jeremy put up a gate and child proofed many cabinets but there is so much more to do still.

My semester begins Monday at UNI but I will be missing it as I attend the Obermann Institute on Engagement in the Academy. It has been a great deal of work to prepare for this week, not to mention the plans I made for my own students while I am gone. I am excited to be part of this experience though and I believe it will help me tremendously as a professor and as I write my comps this spring! In any case, we are super excited because Grandma Sue is coming to stay a few days to help out while I am gone in Iowa City for the week. Yeah for grandmas!!!!

I will end with the title of my blog- rubber ducky madness! As many of you know, I collect rubber duckies and I wanted Sid to enjoy them as well. So I dropped them all in one at a time as he bathed and watched him get to know all his new friends! It was a real party in the tub that night!

Quack!

December was a rough month.

2011-12-29T20:33:00.000-06:00

I will not be sad to say goodbye to this month.
We started out the month with worst 24 hour flu in the history of the Miller-Prouty household! Taking turns caring for a baby with the flu is the pits but missing your own birthday party on top of that is the worst! Poor Jeremy didn't get to attend his bowling birthday party this year. I managed to make him a cake a few days later and I tried to make up for it by giving him the Diamond edition of Scrabble.

We scrambled to finish the semester and get ready for the holidays when- bam! I needed new brakes and tires! After getting a flat tire on the highway with everybody in the car- I was never so thankful for no snow!

Right when school was just about to let out and I could see the light, Sidney got sick with phenomena, then bronchiolitis, and later was also diagnosed with RSV. We spent two nights in the hospital with him because he was having such a hard time breathing, he had to be on oxygen. Sidney was such a trooper, he really did well being in such a strange place with all those doctors in masks everywhere. It was a rough few days, luckily Jeremy was able to miss his last day of school to be with us at the hospital. If you know anything about his school district, there's a terrible woman who never lets employees take their family leave days. He couldn't even use them for the birth of Sidney without an extensive doctor's excuse!

We got out on the 23rd but could not travel for the holidays and missed my family Christmas in DeWitt. It was hard, but everyone was so sweet to call us and sing Merry Christmas! Friends and family came to us over the next few days as a very tired baby healed. It was so nice to see Steph and Kyle from Portland! My mom brought a little bit of every kind of food from the family Christmas party. We are still eating cookies, veggie pizza, and drinking hot Chai tea, thanks to her!!!! (you are the best) Sidney loved unwrapping his Christmas presents and plays very intently with all his new toys.
We went back to the doctor on Tuesday and were told Sidney is fine and not contagious. Just to make sure we cleaned and disinfected the whole house before anyone came over. That was quite a workout!
We got some great gifts for our basement to help build up the game room. Jeremy's folks bought us an old fashion popcorn maker and a new electronic dart board. They look awesome down there. We planned to have folks over for New Years Eve but our plans were washed out again. I guess we are still too contagious for some folks. We are hoping for a healthier new year.....

Thank you to everyone for the kind thoughts, prayers, messages, calls, etc... We are so lucky to have such great family and friends. xoxo W, J and Sid

Whew!

2011-12-15T09:20:00.002-06:00

Today I am going to 3 meetings and then finally submitting my grades- that's it I'm done! I will frantically prepare for next semester as it will my busiest in a while. I was accepted to take part in the Obermann Institute for Public Engagement at The University of Iowa. It's a week long workshop for selected graduate students to work to embed public engagement into their academic areas of study. I am super excited because this is right up my alley! Unfortunately it takes place the same week we start school at UNI. My department head will be covering for me and I feel so lucky to have such great administration in my department.
This semester, I am also taking my LAST class at the University of Iowa and I will taking my written comprehensive exams in February-March (date to be determined). YIKES! Luckily, my wonderful mom is coming to help out during some of this craziness! I may actually complete my PhD in the near future.
It's so hard to believe because I have been working on it for so long and so much has happened since I began this process.
Tomorrow begins the holiday preparations and I could not be more ready for some crafting and baking.
Here is a sneak preview of the Christmas card I hope to complete (before Christmas)
Happy Finals Week!

Whirlwind of a month

2011-11-19T21:20:00.001-06:00

I have officially finished five major projects this month. I of course promptly got sick the very week that everything ended, making myself barely able to enjoy the finale of the work and the fun events I had scheduled at the end of the time.
My students taught lessons in two different high schools this month; one in urban schools and the other took place in an extremely rural school. The focus on these lessons were to create comics about social justice issues that are relevant to teen lives. The students focused on a wide range of topics from cyber-bullying, teen pregnancy, gay marriage, drug and alcohol abuse, and child abuse. One class drew and inked their comics while the other class used Comic Life photo program. It had it's glitches, but overall I'd say the lessons were successful.

To help my students get into the mind of middle school students this year, I have arranged that we trade artist trading cards (ATC's) with middle schoolers from Iowa Falls. This semester, I convinced Jeremy to let me come and teach ATC'S to his middle school students too. To kick off the project, the students wrote a journal prompt about their fears about going to high school next year. I came (with Sid in his stroller) and taught them to pick out visual images and create small baseball card artworks about these fears. We traded the middle school students' cards with my art ed students. It was so much fun to see what was on their minds. Some students were quite serious, while others had lots of fun showing us their fears.

I ended the art club that I run on our campus lab school as well this week. We had 54 children, 7 art ed students, and 35 elementary ed volunteers from another class on campus. Our clubs each evolved around a theme that carried through the 6 weeks. We had pirates and monsters and the other usual groups, but we had some new more interesting ones as well. One student called her group Art from the Heart whrer she had each student make two of everything. They made something for themselves and something to give to someone in need. They donated scarves and journals to the women and children at the homeless shelter and necklaces to a nursing home. The folks at the nursing home were so touched by this, they in turn made mugs to give to the children. That was an awesome surprise!

I also taught an art club for 8 weeks at the Iowa Juvenile Home (Girls State Training School) it was a great reminder for me to slow down and appreciate what I have. The girls were so appreciative of all the art supplies that we brought. We tried to create lessons that were easy for the girls to achieve success and also to allow them to have fun and express themselves. That proved to be much more challenging then I thought! At the end of each session, we check out by saying one word that describes how we are feeling and the last girl said "proud" and that's exactly how I felt.

Last project, I am afraid did not turn out like I planned but I definitely learned a great deal from it. My elementary ed students that take my art class have to teach art somewhere in the community. I arranged for 3 of them to create a mural with some 6th graders at our lab school about the Seven Traits of Highly Effective Teens (which is a school wide character program this year). Let's just say that I dropped it off on Thursday and decided to leave it in the office rather than take it up to the classroom.
I guess 4 out of 5 ain't too bad.

I will now continue to rest and recover from the terrible cold I have acquired through all of this and look forward to wrapping up my semester in the next few weeks!
Happy Thanksgiving!

The Hal-"Loo"-ween Party

2011-10-31T09:46:00.002-06:00

Jeremy titled all of our trophies Hal-"Loo"-ween since we live in the Loo (Waterloo) and everyone else we hang with live in Cedar Falls. (We like to live dangerously I guess) Jeremy went as Bob Barker and I was his favorite contestant on the Price is Right!!!

So the party was a great success- we played some fun games:
"Wrap it"- everyone had to wrap their partner up as a mummy with toilet paper.... Jeremy and I did not win because I stopped to photograph the moment and we were super slow!

We played a game called "Suck it"- where you had to suck a gummy body part with a crazy straw and carry it to your partner- it got a little wild....

Last was "Stick it"- when we played pin the wart on Waterloo's favorite witch... Michelle Bachmann!!

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the party.....

Curt and Courtney

Pirate Sarah's passed-out parrot!

Bob interviewing the cutest crayon in town!!!!!!!!

Last a quick shot of the great trophies we made. We voted on them and I won the R.I.P. award!!!!

Happy Halloween from the Loo!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T09:27:00.000-06:00

We are gearing up for our first Halloween party since we moved to Waterloo. Jeremy and I have planned the party to be held in the basement so baby Sid and attend the first hour then off to bed! Since several of our friends have little ones as well, we will be setting up the pack n play in the office so other little ones can rest while the party goes on.

One thing about having parties that I absolutely love is creating trophies. When we lived in Mount Vernon, Jeremy and I prided ourselves on creating great trophies for our annual chili cook-offs. Now we have decided to bring back the fun with costume trophies! We stayed up late last night creating 9 trophies for adults and babies after a shopping spree at the dollar store! Can't wait to pass out these beauties!
We have also planned some pretty interesting games with some questionable titles....

Family Fish Fry

2011-10-19T13:53:00.000-05:00

After a summer of fishing up at the lake, it was time for the annual fish fry in DeWitt. Here the men are found in the garage as they ritually prepare for our fish dinner. Meanwhile the grandkids run around and play in the yard, on bikes, shoot hoops, and thanks to Grandma, they even got to bust open a pumpkin pinata!

Of course the black cats liked the pumpkin pinata!

Grandma and I did some fun little photo shoots with Sid since he cannot run around with the big kids yet. He seemed very interested in the pumpkins but did not seem to enjoy the crunchy brown leaves nearly as much.

We celebrated all the fall birthdays in the family- 6 birthdays! Chad got his own cake since he reached the top of the hill and is now heading "over it." 40 is a big year!!!!

Sid seemed very intrigued by his cousin Elaina and her mesmerizing tricks!

He made it until 8 o'clock then passed out on the way home! He didn't eat any fish but sure had a good time celebrating with the family. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for another great summer of fishing and a fun-filled fall! We love you.

Five Months!!

2011-09-14T19:56:00.000-05:00

Here is a quick sneak preview of a little photo shoot I took of Sid last week. I will send some out soon but the semester is getting busier by the second!

Sidney is rolling over more and more every day. Today he was at the other end of his crib when I went to get him up this morning. Another exciting stage is beginning!

Farmer's Market

2011-08-29T14:47:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I just love our neighborhood! We walked to Cabin Coffee for a sweet and coffee before heading over to the Saturday farmer's market. We bought yellow carrots, purple peppers, and a beautiful golden zucchini. We added fresh beans, tomatoes, and broccoli from our garden. It was the most colorful stir-fry we'd had in a while. On our way home, our next door neighbors were holding a garage sale. They gave Sidney a little fire truck to ride on that makes little siren noises.

Back to School

2011-08-29T14:21:00.001-05:00

     It has been a busy few weeks with Jeremy and I going back to school and Sidney starting to spend time at the childcare center 3 days a week. We are all adjusting well overall but needing a bit more sleep. Sidney sleeps so well at night usually 7:30pm- 5:30 am and does not nap much in the day. He averages 2-3 small naps. The childcare center called CUCCC is so busy with babies and staff that Sid has been napping even less in the day. He comes home wiped out but happy. He is now needing a nap when he gets home. This makes me sad because I have missed him and want to spend time with him when I get home. Each day seems to get a little better so I am hoping he will fall into routine and nap a little better so we can have some fun time together when we get home!

    Jeremy started a new job this year at Hoover as the ELP ( extended learning program) teacher for 6th-8th grade. He loves his kids because they are excited about reading like he is and they are fun and quirky (like he is!). He is planning some great units on comic books, secret codes, and personal memoirs. I am so glad he made the switch from language arts. He will start the Talented and Gifted endorsement program this month to work on his certification required for the job.

    I am loving my new classes this semester as well. My groups are small and seem like very motivated students. Although I did not begin this week as organized as I usually am, I think things are going to go well. I am not taking classes at the University of Iowa this semester BUT will take my last class next semester and take my written comprehensive exams as well. I needed this semester to get back into the swing of things and get the baby adjusted. I am going to start teaching art club after school on Wednesdays at the Juvenile Home in Toledo with my dear friend and adviser Rachel. In order to do this we hired former students of Jeremy's that live on our block (identical twin sisters) to watch Sid for 2 hours on Wednesday. We "practiced" last night by having them come over and we went to the movies. I think it is going to work out fine!

    Here are some cute pictures of us hanging out in the backyard this weekend. The weather was perfect and Sidney loves being outside. Happy back to school everybody!

Grandmas are Grrreat!!

2011-08-19T13:00:00.000-05:00

Sidney has been blessed with such a great family but this month the Grandmas in his life "take the cake!"
Grandma Vicky came to visit from California and had a great time with Sidney (mom and dad did too).
We went on a picnic to George Wyth State Park, did a little downtown shopping and ate at our new Thai restaurant in Waterloo- yum yum! We even got Grandma Vicky to Sing Karaoke with us!

Grandma Sue had a birthday recently and we went to visit her upon dropping Grandma Vicky off at the airport. This was a two Grandma day for Sidney. He loved it so much but slept most of the next day from all that Grandma love! whew- it tucked the little fellow out. Grandma Sue took us all to the park and out for ice cream ( sorry Sid- none for you!) Sid wore his new onesie that says "I've got a birthday hug for Grandma" on it!

Grandma Sally sent Sidney a huge bag of colored wooden blocks that he has been enjoying knocking them over faster than mommy can stack them up for him! What a great find Grandma Sal!
Now we were just informed that Grandma Fern and Grandpa Ed are coming for Thanksgiving. Just in time to see Sidney sit in the high chair they bought him for Christmas. What a fun Thanksgiving this will be!

Thank Goodness for Grandmas!

xoxoxo

Sidney gets to know Wisconsin and all its greatness!

2011-08-03T13:10:00.000-05:00

It is important to introduce every person to Wisconsin. First, to it's fine New Glarus beer and second to their cheese curds. As you can see, Sidney has developed a taste for both.

Next it seemed clear that a dip in the beautiful, clear dutch Hollow Lake was an essential part of Sidney's experience. He seemed very interested in it the first day, but the second day he fell asleep in the lake. I guess the thrill didn't last.

Last, a trip to Wisconsin is not complete without the over stimulation of hundreds of cousins around to keep one entertained the entire time. All of the cousins were so happy to see Sid. Mitchell tried scooping him up out of his bouncy seat. Elaina made up a song to encourage him to roll over ("roll, baby, roll" times infinity.) Sidney did roll over twice this weekend, once for Grandma Sue and once for Grandpa Mike. Sadly, Jeremy was in another room for each and has yet to see him repeat the feat.

Other highlights included: Riding on Marvin the Mule and going down to the dock to watch everyone fish. He was too small for swim diapers and life jackets, so the pool and a ride on the pontoon boat will have to wait for next summer. He also can't eat solid food, so s'mores are also on next year's agenda!

Enjoying some outside time (before the heatwave)

2011-07-17T17:40:00.000-05:00

We have had a very laid back summer with Sidney joining us. Jeremy and I have spent a lot of time strolling the neighborhood and going to parks. We went to George Wyth State park this week for a walk on the bike trail with baby and dog and then for a little picnic. I made these this great spinach salad to go with our sandwiches, only to realize that I forgot to pack forks- Ha! needless to say,we still had a fun time and it has been a very nice relaxing summer being at home with my wonderful husband and precious baby.

Happy Summer!

Guess who's three months old...?

2011-07-07T21:44:00.000-05:00

That's right- Sidney is three months old. In this short time, Sidney has collected a myriad of nicknames. Here are a few:
Sidney Bean
Love Nugget
Sweet Potato
Little Peanut
and
Sir Craps-a-lot

He weighed in on June 27th at 10 lbs 8 oz. and 23 and 1/2 inches long. He is in the 10th percentile of height and weight right now but growing faster every day. He can hold his head up well and smiles all the time. We are looking forward to the day Sidney rolls over.

Today we had a little photo shoot to capture this special day. Here's a little taste of our fun today!

Happy Birthday America

2011-07-07T21:26:00.000-05:00

We had a great day traveling to the Big Red Barn to see Rachel, Sean, Riley, and Jack on the 4th of July. We had a yummy lunch and everyone got to meet Sidney. The kids got a chance to feed Sidney and still had time to get a game of frisbee in before we had to head off to Coralville to see Jeremy's folks.

We spent the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Anna. Coralville held a carnival so we took some time to stroll over to it after relaxing on the porch. After a great dinner, we headed home to tuck our sweet little guy in before the fireworks started. Sidney showed off his patriotism as you can see below!

a Stylish visit

2011-06-29T22:48:00.001-05:00

Steph and Kyle came from Portland for their annual visit! We were so happy to get to have them to ourselves for several days. They were able to meet Sidney (luckily) after his little colic spell ended! We had a wonderful time catching up, playing with the baby, watching the new True Blood, taking lots of walks, cooking good meals, touring downtown Cedar Falls, karaoke, ping pong, and air hockey were a must, and we even got a sitter to go to a movie! It was a great few days.... here are some photos to share!

Steph + Kyle = Style

Who's laughing at who? Sidney enjoyed all of Steph's crazy faces!

J and I made a crazy purchase while in downtown Cedar Falls for Sid. We just couldn't resist this fabulous wooden spaceship ( with aliens, space men, moon-lander, and more!)

We needed to end the time together with a delicious cupcake from Scratch Bakery!

We miss you guys already!

summer visitors

2011-06-23T20:56:00.001-05:00

Jeremy and I have been enjoying being home this summer with Sidney. We take walks every day, read books, play with his new toys, and go to garage sales looking for fun new things for Sid. He is growing so fast and changing all the time. Today was his two month appointment. Sidney now weighs 10.8 lbs, and is 23 & 1/4 " long. He smiles all the time and is starting to hold his toys on his own. He has slept through the night several times, but I still get up nervous that he doesn't wake up!
We have had lots of friends and family come to meet and visit us.Tomorrow we are going to take Sidney to the lake for the first time. This is the longest drive we have taken with him so far.
Here are a few pictures of some of our fun! Happy summer everyone!

Enjoying cupcakes form Scratch Bakery with Ben and Cinda and Henry

Ben holding Sid

Sophie and Marissa help out by feeding Sidney

The Good girls come to visit Sid!

Family Shower

2011-06-03T21:27:00.000-05:00

My mom and my sister Christy held a wonderful shower for Sidney on May 14th. We had a tasty brunch which I was able to enjoy because Sidney sacked out! He missed all the great gifts but woke in time for us to sing and have cake! We were so happy to introduce baby Sid to our fabulous families. Thanks so much for the gifts, we so appreciated them all!

The cake....

Luckily everyone got a chance to hold Sidney before the shower ended. What a wonderful day!

xoxo Sidney, Wendy, and Jeremy

BABY BJORN

2011-05-31T21:37:00.001-05:00

We received so many wonderful gifts for Sidney, I keep trying to make time to post some of our most unique ones but time seems to just slip away each day I am home with Sidney. He is smiling all the time and has developed a liking for some interesting things.
Sidney loves:

1.) looking at himself in the mirror
2.) Having the vacuum cleaner run when he is fussy
3.) He actually cracks up when you whistle for him
4.) Windy days- he sticks out his tongue to feel the air
5.) And he loves to go for walks in the Baby Bjorn (thanks to the Lamms for that great gift!!!)

Here we are modeling it.....

The youngest and the oldest nephew in the family....

2011-05-31T21:23:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, Sidney and I went to DeWitt for a party for my oldest nephew Caulin who joined the army and was heading off to Bootcamp. It was so strange to see Caulin in his army uniform, he just doesn't seem old enough to be a soldier! I will be thinking of him a lot this summer and hope he is ready for the workout he will receive! I gave him a pile of self-addressed envelopes so I hope we all hear from him soon.

Sidney is one month old!

2011-05-09T21:22:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how different my life is in only one month! Yesterday Sid was a month old and I was able to celebrate my first mother's day! We had a great day together. Jeremy bought me a retractable clothesline AND installed it! We took Sid to the garden center and bought some plants and seeds to begin our garden. We spent the afternoon in the yard, Sidney hung out in the shade of a tree in the backyard where he was promptly pooped on by a squirrel- HA!

Sidney is amazing! He is growing very fast but still in his newborn outfits and diapers. He gets fussy in the evening but is sleeping well at night. Last night I got 5 straight hours of sleep!!!! Sidney loves taking baths with Jeremy in the evenings. He has the best facial expressions and keeps us laughing all the time with them. Here are a few great pictures from our first month together!

My birthday!

2011-05-06T12:12:00.000-05:00

What a great birthday!
We took Sidney to Panera for a bagel on Saturday before heading off to Waterloo's claim of having the "world's Largest Garage Sale." We spent several hours and almost 20 bucks at it, returning home with great new treasures and cute clothes for Sid.
We had our first babysitter on Saturday night so Jeremy and I could attend Roller Derby- Cedar Falls Vs. Cedar Rapids! It was great fun, but Cedar Falls lost! Since I was wearing my Cedar Rapids Roller Girls shirt, I admit I was not too disappointed! I had my first beer since August- it was great!!!
Four couples that attended Roller Derby with us came over afterward and we had cake and ice cream. Sarah had a birthday on the 4th of May so we got two cakes to celebrate! It was a great chance for everyone to meet Sidney (who cried almost the whole time we were gone!)
Sarah and Zak gave me this great birthday book!

Easter

2011-04-26T13:04:00.000-05:00

We took our first overnight trip to DeWitt for Easter. It was a fun-filled weekend for everyone. Sidney had trouble adjusting to the volume of around 25 people together but on Sunday he was calm and enjoyed his day. The Easter bunny brought him a great robot basket filled with toys, books, and argyle socks (just like daddy). Sidney was able to meet all his new 11 cousins and aunts and uncles!

Introducing Sidney Michael Miller-Prouty

2011-04-12T20:18:00.000-05:00

Weighing in at 6 pounds 15.6 oz. and 19 and 3/4inches long, Sidney was born on Friday April 8th at 2:29pm. We checked into the hospital to be induced Friday at 7am. I was given pitocin to start my labor and at 8:45 the doctor came in and broke my water. We were a little nervous because my water had a large amount of meconium in it. The baby had already had a bowel movement which can be common when a baby is post-term. Things started to speed up shortly after these interventions took place. I went from being dilated at a 3 at 7am to an 8 at noon. Labor became very intense and difficult after that but Jeremy was the most supportive partner I could have asked for.When I was finally ready to deliver the baby but our doctor had not yet arrived! The nurse asked me not to push, (as if I could stop at that point) luckily she came in then and 3 pushes later the baby arrived. They were able to suction the meconium out before it was swallowed and that may have had to do with the fact the umbilical cord was wrapped around baby's neck twice. The nurse later said that the cord being wrapped around probably helped prevent the baby from digesting the meconium. Oddly that was comforting.
The baby arrived and I had to ask "is it a boy or a girl?" No one had told me since they were so busy making sure he was healthy! "It's a boy!!!" Jeremy stayed with the baby while the doctor finished with my needs and then we decided together just looking at this beautiful baby that Sidney was the pefect name. Michael is Jeremy's middle name and a family name on my side of the family. Grandpa Mike, Brian and Caulin all share this name as well.
He is a wonderful little boy, who is eating well, sleeping lots in the day (and not so much at night) and makes the most amazing faces. I love to watch him after he eats when he is the active alert stage. He will look around and smile a little, then gets cross-eyed a bit while he opens his mouth and makes funny little sounds.
Today we took a walk outside with Dottie and later tonight we are going to give Sidney his first bath. I am so excited to watch Sidney experience all these things for the first time.

Here are a few shots for you all to enjoy! I can't wait for you to meet baby Sid!!!

Four Days 'Til Due Date!!!

2011-03-28T21:15:00.000-06:00

Here is a little sneak preview of Jeremy as he prepares for fatherhood!

We'll keep you all posted! xoxoxo

Family time...

2011-03-19T20:06:00.000-06:00

We had some fun with my mom, my sister, my nieces, and Jeremy's sister this week! We went to the park and the Waterloo Arts Center, out for ice cream and had a great time! I am tired from a fun-filled week. Looking forward to a low key two weeks before my due date. Wish me luck!

Happy Spring Break everyone!

Spring Break with the animals!

2011-03-13T13:28:00.000-06:00

Enjoying my first days of Spring Break with a some last minute artmaking for the baby. I finally finished my mobile that I started over Thanksgiving. Jeremy hung it up and Roosevelt promptly attached it. Luckily he grew tired of it quickly so it remains intact.

I also finished a few hats for the baby in case the beginning of April is chilly. I had help with these as well.

Still need to finish a few more projects this week and get a few naps in between grading!
Happy Spring break!

Karaoke Fest 2011

2011-03-13T13:27:00.000-06:00

We had 4 couples over last night for the 2nd Karaoke fest. Everyone received Rock Star, performance-enhancing glasses to wear. I fully believed it helped everyone's score- especially Zak's since he one by a landslide. He is the one in the middle with the prize winning pink glasses. Check us out!

It's party time!

2011-03-02T09:57:00.002-06:00

It seems like everyone has had the same idea this month! Let's get through winder by throwing a party...
We went to Cupid's Red Hot lovin' Chili Party at our friends Sarah and Zak's house in Cedar Falls over Valentine's Day (who I am delighted to say are having a baby in August!!!!) Good Chili and great entertainment, too bad I was unable to sample the home brew.
The next weekend we attended a really Good 80's party at my sister's house. We played 80's trivia (which I can proudly say my husband knew all but like 3 questions, I always say he is the king of useless knowledge). We won great prizes and sang a few 80's songs! Here is a picture of the costume winners: Jeremy got 2nd place- I believe...

Christy and Chad

Spring Break Karaoke Fest- Our house March 12th 7pm.... be there!

Lamaze class

2011-02-16T21:35:00.000-06:00

We have one more Lamaze class to go and alittle over 6 weeks before the baby is due!
We have been learning so much in class about birth positions, pain interventions, and how to time our contractions. Interesting folks at Lamaze class too! This week, Jeremy and I wrote out our birth plan and now we are getting our suitcase packed.

The car seat arrived and I think we settled on a daycare provider! I guess you could say we are getting close to being ready for baby to join us. I will have no problem though filling my next 6 weeks with lots of school work, art projects, and final preparations for baby. I also plan to get in a few naps as well!
Here is Jeremy wearing the empathy belly at Lamaze class. It even had a bag that fit into the belly area that applies just the right pressure to the bladder so he can feel what I am feeling- the constant feeling that I have to PEE!

Oh Baby!!!

Sock Monkey Mania!!!

2011-01-22T21:52:00.001-06:00

I guess word is out that I love to make ( and collect) sock monkeys. I have been given some of the sweetest sock monkey gifts for the baby. Here is a sampling of booties, monkeys, bibs, toys, onesies, and blankets. This adds to my collection of great sock monkey books I have been collecting for years.
Hurry up baby, I can't wait to share these with you!

MA in Art Education at UNI

2011-01-22T15:06:00.001-06:00

I have been working for the last two years to develop a new program to earn an MA degree in Art Education for working teachers. We are getting ready to take applications and I am getting excited! I will hopefully start teaching, in late June, my first group of students. Wish me luck!

Don't you want to come spend the next four summers with me?

Baby Shower time!!

2011-01-18T19:21:00.001-06:00

Rachel and Kirsten threw me the most wonderful shower at Home Ec in Iowa City in early January. Everyone was asked to bring a favorite children's book. It was so much fun to read each book that was given to us and I am so excited to read them all to our sweet baby!

The greatest surprise though was decorating onsies! Check out all the talented friends that attended my shower and their beautiful work. My baby will be the best dressed baby in Waterloo! What a wonderful way to celebrate!

My mom made this great bag!

Rachel and Kirsten (the greatest hostesses and greatest friends!)

One of the sweet baby books- it looks like Roosevelt and Mabel!

Here we are decorating onsies!

My mom and my sister are freshening up on their sewing skills!

Aren't these just amazing!!!

____________________________________________________________________
Back in Cedar Falls, we were given a couples shower by our dear friends Steve and Elizabeth. It was a perfect day- we had 6 couples attend the shower at Steve and Elizabeth's new house. It was an afternoon filled with fabulous food, hilarious games like guess how many nipples Elizabeth is holding up, and my all time favorite shower game- pick the parents of the famous people on the card. The mayor of Cedar Falls was my favorite ( inside joke in CF).
We received lots of great sock monkey outfits, blankets, and bibs... I feel a photo opportunity coming on for this little one in all the great outfits!
How wonderful it is to feel so warm in the cold month of January!
Here are a few pictures from the couples shower!

Elizabeth has 13 nipples- who knew?

Andrew ( my colleague at UNI) and his wife Leah

Jeremy sporting some of the new baby gifts!

Thank you everyone!!! We feel so lucky to have such great friends!

Only two and a half months to go!!!!

Catching up!

2011-01-17T18:41:00.000-06:00

It has been a busy few weeks and I have had a difficult time sitting down to share these few weeks!

Christmas break was fabulous! We spent a great deal of time at home, working on house projects and baby preparation. We decided to remove the last little bit of wallpaper in the entry of house. To our surprise- there were many layers of paper and lead paint underneath. With the new baby on the way, Jeremy wanted to cover the paint ASAP! He researched and had some estimates and found out that drywalling the entry way was the best way to go. He amazes me with his ability to learn new skills on the job. Jeremy successfully drywalled the entry way and I helped as I could with texturing and painting. I'll do a before and after for you now...

Christmas was wonderful. Mom came up with this great idea for everyone to go bowling! Jeremy and I volunteered to make 25 bowling trophies to give out and we made Grandpa Mike the "King Pin" and he got to choose the winner of each trophy. Check out some of these great bowling shots!

Look at that face! The trophies were a hit!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-23T10:20:00.002-06:00

We have been having a wonderful time celebrating Christmas all week! Jeremy's parents and sister came over this weekend for dinner and lots of Wii playng. They gave Jeremy Wii Karaoke for his birthday and the Wii FIt Plus for Christmas. We went to see the grandmas on Sunday together and had a wonderful visit with Grandma Beth in Iowa Falls.
Spent Monday at the movies and the mall with Jason- my dearest friend from my days at Prairie! We saw Black Swan- which I recommend, but I will say it is a nail biter.... then off to mall for a few last minute things!
Steph and Kyle arrived on Monday night from Portland we were able to spend the day with them on Wednesday. After seeing "Tron" the movie and getting great Indian food, we exchanged gifts and played cards. A perfect evening! To top it off- Steph's mom made us this fabulous blanket- perfect for winter and our upcoming arrival!

We are preparing for our family bowling game on the 26th! Jeremy and I stayed up late on Tuesday making 25 trophies for everyone in the family! I am now off to look up soup recipes and make a few more last minute gifts!
Merry Christmas to you all!

December is flying by already

2010-12-09T21:12:00.003-06:00

We celebrated Jeremy's big birthday last weekend - woo hoo he's now 35! We went lunar bowling and out for sushi!

On Saturday we painted the baby's room and it is finally coming together. It was fun to incorporate some of my art with some of things we have collected over the years together with some of my childhood toys. Here's a peek at the baby's room! The kitties really are enjoying the changing pad on our new dresser. It has become the bathing/napping station for them!

Today was my last day of classes! Just gotta get through finals week...
Then it will be time to buckle down and figure out our Christmas cards and finish up Christmas shopping! December is flying by!

Victoria's Secret

2010-11-24T12:07:00.001-06:00

My dear friend Vicky who I worked for many years ago at Preucil Preschool held a lecture and art exhibit Friday at Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids. It was a fabulous show filled with great paintings and a Graphic Narrative about the death of her father from Cancer.
I am so happy for Vicky earning tenure at Appalachian state University and having such a successful exhibit!
Here are a few pictures from it. It was great to see her daughters Emma and Nelle, who played chello at our wedding and a few other old friends!

If you want to see Vicky's work:
Victoria's Secret - A Graphic Novel of Mid Day Ghosts
Victoria Grube, head of Art Education Department at Appalachian State University
November 12 - December 9
Artist Reception: November 19, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. in the Janalyn Hanson White Gallery

Gallery Hours
Monday - Friday
4:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Viewings outside of normal business hours can be arranged by checking out a gallery key from the Lundy Desk, or by calling 319-363-8213.
The exhibit uniquely showcases the artist’s journey of sculpting a personal narrative of her late father. As Grube studied photograph after photograph of her father, her intent to translate him into the future ended up providing a bridge to her past. “My feelings were telescoped into loss, confusion, joy, shock, disappointment, regret, surprise and anger. I was imaginer and producer, the ruthless critic, the archivist, the mourner,” says Grube.

20 week Ultrasound

2010-11-21T19:36:00.001-06:00

We had our 20 week ultrasound on November 5th and a second ultrasound at the University of Iowa Hospital on November 10th because of my age. Both looked really fantastic and the doctor in Iowa City commented the perfection of the baby's head.
So... I guess we're doing ok growing this baby!
Updates on pregnancy- I am moving into some maternity clothes thanks to my mom who took me shopping this month. I can actually feel the baby move especially after a good meal. Jeremy got to feel the baby move as well when we were laying in bed other night. What a wonderful experience!
We are hoping to paint the baby room this week while on break but not sure- school work just keeps piling up! We are thinking of painting it a buttery yellow and I am working on a mobile to go above the crib!
No new cravings since soup obsession and need for lemon desserts!

Here are some photos:
The first is a picture of the baby's face and the second one shows the little legs crossed. It's kinda like those magic books when you have to focus your eyes real well to see the image!
The baby's legs were crossed in both ultrasounds so even if we wanted to find out the sex of the baby- we were not going to! Good thing we really like surprises! Love to you all and Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T15:30:00.000-06:00

From Jeremy, Wendy and baby!

Happy Halloween...

2010-10-24T19:42:00.002-05:00

We spent the weekend getting geared up for Halloween. We went to the pumpkin Patch on Friday and got three beautiful pumpkins to carve tomorrow!
Jason came up for a visit on Saturday night and we went to two haunted places. The first was a haunted funeral home in Waterloo. I was not disappointed!!! It was fun and scary but a little hard to climb through the tunnel like hallways. The second place was called Heart of Darkness and it was a big castle in the middle of a farm field. I was impressed by how popular it was, it had venders, a DJ, games, and you opt for a FASTPASS for a few extra bucks- like the rides at Disneyland!!! We toughed out the wait and it was fun! We all had to walk together on a rope as to not get lost in the darkenss! Jason is not fond of clowns and this had many fun neon scary clown-like monsters so you know it was a hit! We ended the night with a scary movie and pumpkin coffee and hot apple pie a la mode!!!

Soup Exchange is successful!

2010-10-17T13:31:00.000-05:00

We held our first soup exchange last night! I read about this idea in my Readymade magazine a while back but it wasn't until I was craving soup constantly that I put my idea into action! We invited 3 couples over and each brought a different soup then containers to fill up with others soups and of course the recipe!
Jeremy and I made pumpkin scones, garlic cheddar biscuits, fresh wheat bread, and for dessert Grandma Klaas'es Sshmandkuchen! ( a German custard pie/cake that is amazing!!!) We made Wassail too to warm everybody up as we ate on the screened in porch!

Everyone brought really good soup and I now have tone left over for the upcoming month as it gets colder! Everyone should hold a soup exchange- it is so much fun and filling too!

Spicy corn Chowder

Pumpkin Scones

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

SchmandKuchen

Hot Wassail

The best part- leftovers!!!

More house updates!

2010-10-17T13:20:00.000-05:00

With fall finally here, we are working hard to get a few more home improvement projects in before it is too cold and I am too pregnant!
Here is a picture of the new trees we planted to replace the one that fell in our yard this summer. One is an Autumn Blaze Maple tree and the other is a Honey Crisp apple tree- yum yum!!!( it is the small tree in front of the blue truck!)

Next we tackled the chimney ( or really we hired someone to tackle the loose bricks at the top of our chimney). The storms this summer loosened a few more and we decided we better not wait to see what the winter would add to this!

Last, it was time to start tearing down the garden. We are still getting lots of peppers and broccoli and a few beans but will be too cold soon for any of those! Here is my last harvest of the season!

Now I think it is time to carve pumpkins!!!! I need to investigate where the best pumpkin patch is in Cedar Falls/ Waterloo!!!

Breaking in the new house!

2010-09-30T19:25:00.000-05:00

We are really enjoying our new house- especially the basement. Last month we had a make your pizza party with Chef Jeremy and in October we are hosting our first soup exchange! ( I am craving soup like crazy...)
Here are a few shots from pizza night!

Elizabeth squeezes Jeremy's dough...

Tara and Sarah test out our pool table... don't they look like real sharks

Jeremy and Steve playing so furiously that I think I see the puck smokin'

Come on over and join us anytime!

April Fools Baby

2010-09-29T11:07:00.000-05:00

I am sure everyone knows from family, myself, or facebook that we are expecting a baby on April 1st!! This would be an interesting April fools day prank, but it's true. Here are some pictues the little one at 11 weeks! We are so excited!!!!!

We are also getting very excited about picking out a good color to paint the baby's room and what baby names to put on our list! If you have any ideas, send them my way. I will use this blog to send some updates as I progress along. I am now 14 weeks and feeling fantastic! I go in for my 20 week ultrasound on Friday the 5th of November!
Love to everyone!!! xoxoxo

composting!

2010-09-03T08:32:00.000-05:00

This spring I started up our compost in Waterloo. There was already a great spot started from the previous owner so it was a snap. I moved some of the black dirt to our flower beds in June and everything took off. In July I noticed some funny things were growing around our bird feeder and to let them be see what I got. I found several sunflowers that the squirrels promptly ran off with when they got big and beautiful and rich with seeds. I also noticed some cantaloupe growing. I think it is about time to finally pick our cantaloupe. It is starting to take over our yard!!!

We also lost a tree in our front yard during a vicious storm in early July. Last weekend, Jeremy and I picked out two trees to put in the front yard. They will be delivered today. One is an Autumn Blaze Maple. It will turn the brightest red. The second tree we decided upon was a Honey Crisp Apple tree. It won't have apples for about 5 years but that's ok- I figure I might be done with my PhD that year and have time to pick it then!!!

back to school

2010-08-27T15:51:00.000-05:00

It was a great week back to school. I love all my classes ( they are small groups of very respectful and delightful students). I finally don't feel new- I guess the third year in teaching usually works that way. I have forgotten what it feels like to be confident in my teaching. I hope this is a great semester! We cleaned the art ed room all summer and now I am teaching in an organized and half empty room. I am excited to fill it up again with beautiful creations.

Here is Andrew ( my colleague) knee-deep or maybe even waste-deep in our classroom mess!

Happy back to school everybody!

Refinishing the floors- is as hard as it sounds!

2010-08-15T15:43:00.001-05:00

Here are a few photos of our upstairs loft bedroom that we refinished in 7 grueling days!

That concludes the end of our home improvement plans for the summer! Jeremy starts his new job at Hoover Middle School on Thursday and I start next Monday! It was a great summer and I am looking forward to an even better school year! Happy back-to-school everybody!!!!

Great places to see in Wisconsin!

2010-07-25T10:07:00.001-05:00

We took some friends to House on the Rock and to Dr. Evermore's Art Park- featuring his famous "Foreverton" sculpture! Here is a link to read more about Foreverton - it is a must see if you are in Wisconsin. The best part is that unlike the $25 it cost to go to The House on the Rock (with our coupons) Dr. Evermore's Art Park is free and right by the Dells if you are interested in a very different kind of fun.

First photo: Forevertron, Second photo: Dr. Evermore Third Photo: The birds of The Bird Band
(if you look at my photos from Baltimore in April, I saw one of the Doctor's sculptures at the American Visionary Museum.)
It was really great to meet him in June, we were sad to hear that when we came in July with Steph and Kyle that he was not doing well and was not present.

House on the Rock....

Wisconsin is full of great art- from the Dickyville Grotto to these fine places I have mentioned. Don't forget Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin (his school of architecture) is in Spring Green as well. I wonder about the correlation between F. L.Wright, Alex Jordan ( House on the Rock) and Tom Every ( Dr. Evermore). That would make a very interesting dissertation!

Two Words...

2010-07-17T10:01:00.000-05:00

Mini Kiss!!!

Camping

2010-07-12T09:15:00.000-05:00

The ladies of the Prison and Juvenile home all went camping this weekend!
(OK so it was really the ladies who volunteer together at the ICIW and IJH)
We had a great time roasting weenies and making s'mores and telling really great stories! Sadly, Rebecca is moving to NYC this August so we are losing one really great volunteer and friend!

Here is Rachel's new RV called the Odyssey that she just purchased this summer! We made sure that we had a very exciting adventure in it to add to her RV log - starting at the Hy-Vee parking lot where we had some difficulty parking!

It was an interesting evening due to the only camp sight available was on a slight incline. We lost a few beverages and plates due to this slant. But after getting a few drinks in us, Rebecca and I decided to hold a photo shoot in the RV to showcase some of the Odyssey's terrific features! Here a few to share with you!

Another great adventure for these volunteers!!!

Water is rising in Waterloo!

2010-07-07T22:02:00.001-05:00

We had a flash flood today in Wateloo- here are a few images of what it looked like. I was trying to get out of town but ended up stranded in a parking lot a few blocks away because all of the streets were flooded and cars were stalled everywhere- what a mess!

Memories of the 2008 flood came back quickly today!

latest renovations....

2010-07-07T21:56:00.000-05:00

Here is our new office! Jeremy and I have never shared an office before but we wanted to have an extra bedroom for all our guests so here it is! Below is what it looked like before we took possession. Check out the great new ceiling fan Jeremy put it! He is getting so handy!

I will miss that John Deere Green ceiling fan! HA!

Happy 4th of July!!!

2010-07-04T09:49:00.000-05:00

We have been busy!!

2010-06-19T15:25:00.001-05:00

Check out all the new colors in our house!!!

Meet the new kitchen...

Our latest revisions to the living room....

and our dining room is still in progress but here it is so far... lots of blue paint!

We have been so lucky to have some help with all of the painting. My mom came this week to paint the living room and our friend Jason came to help with the dining room.

I think we have set a date to paint the office next and then upstairs will begin! We are taking a break today to relax and enjoy the sidewalk sales and the beautiful weather. Yay for no rain!!

Enjoy your weekend!

Friday Fun!

2010-06-05T21:46:00.000-05:00

I spent the day with Sophie and Marissa and we had a great time!
My morning started with this great poem by Sophie.
"Roses are red, violets are blue. I hope you have a great puddle of joy"

We held a Barbie fashion show and then made little sculpey food for the barbies to shop for. Sophie made a fruit market and Marissa made a little bakery!

Couldn't think of a better way to spend the day! xoxo

REQUESTS...

2010-05-25T23:57:00.001-05:00

There have been some requests from family and friends to post some particular photos...
Here is the new dining room table we acquired from Craig's list- thanks to my #1 step-dad who scoured Craig's list for weeks to find just the right one! The flowers are from the Good family for my birthday- they arrived just in time to decorate the new table! Thanks everybody!

Here is the sneak preview of our new kitchen.... (still in progress!)

Home renovations have begun....

2010-05-23T17:28:00.000-05:00

First the wall paper came down and then the curtains....
Currently I am sewing new curtains with some fabulous fabric from Home Ec
I loved the color so much that I went to Sherwin Williams and matched 2 gallons of paint! Take a good look at the peach and country blue, it is the last you will be seeing of it! I am so excited to see it go away!
Next update will include paint and new curtains!!!

NAEA conference

2010-05-18T16:32:00.000-05:00

Here are a few fun photos from my trip to Baltimore! We went to the National Art Educators conference and I presented for the first time!

We took some time to sight see and visit some pretty amazing art. My favorite place was the American Visionary Museum in Baltimore. I highly recommend that anyone going to Baltimore- this is a must see!!! I will admit that Rachel and I spent equal time in the museum as we did in the gift shop.

We took a day and visited Washington DC- we walked so much, it put a day in NYC to shame!
Here are a few shots form our whirlwind tour....
Rachel holds hands with her favorite sculpture at the Hirshhorn Museum
I find my favorite sculpture in the National Gallery Sculpture Garden
Rachel insists we all see The White House even though it means we might miss our train- we do miss it by the way but here I am in front of The White House!
Rachel and Rachael decide to become a piece of art- too much coffee that day perhaps!?

Next year NAEA is in Seattle!!!! woo hoo!!!

The End of the semester!

2010-05-18T16:05:00.000-05:00

Well the end of the semester arrived and I survived!
I took my UNI students on a field trip to U of Iowa. We went to the special collections and saw some fabulous artist books and some zines! It was great!

We met up with the art educators from U of I that we blogged with all semester! It was great to put a face with a blog finally!

Here we are in front of the zine machine at the Main Library on campus!

Bowling Rocks

2010-04-05T21:29:00.000-05:00

We are finally getting settled into our new house in Waterloo. We took some time to celebrate the Easter weekend with dollar draws and lunar bowling with some friends. We had such a great time, we are thinking of starting up a couples bowling team.
I warned them all that I was once a "Gutter Girl"- a member of one of the most kick ass bowling teams ever...( well it was kick ass in Iowa City in the late 90's)

They were so impressed, I think they all wanted me to be captain.

moving makes me feel like a zombie avatar....

2010-03-26T12:22:00.000-06:00

So all I have done this week is pack! We are moving into our new house tomorrow- yippee! Thank you to everyone that is coming to help us move!
Here are a few great shots from the claymation movie we are working on with some k-4 grade kids in art club. It features some avatars that are eaten by zombies who are then creamed by a metior all in under two minutes!
Movie premiere: Tuesday at 3:30 at Price Lab Elementary with snacks and drinks

Fun times in Mount Vernon

2010-03-15T22:36:00.000-06:00

Jeremy and I are sitting here thinking about all the good times we had in our first home together. Here are some highlights of the 51/2 years in this sweet little house.

The kitties...... fostering 5 babies kittens that were found the play ground at the elemenatary school I was teaching at in Cedar Rapids.

Our great visits with Sophie and Marissa.Here we are at Palisades State Park enjoying the wildlife along the bank.

Sharing our gardening interests with Anna. Enjoying Violet's golden years in the back yard.

Having lots of get togethers for yard games, karaoke, chili cook-offs, and baby showers with chocolate fountains!!

Making lots of jewelry and other artsy projects while Jeremy cooked great meals from our great garden.

Enjoying the unique qualities of downtown Mount Vernon through Community Theater, Chalk the Walk, and the local establishments.

We'll miss you. J&W

SOLD!!!

2010-03-08T22:13:00.000-06:00

I guess I never thought our house would sell in 5 days or I may have waited to put it on the market until school was out for us. BUT... I didn't know this would happen so here we are moving to Cedar Falls/Waterloo area in less than a month! Holy cow, I can't believe it! We are very busy these days looking at houses, and trying to figure out how NOT to be homeless for a while! Anyways- here is a house we are trying to buy. I will keep you all posted on what we end up with! I guess things are not going to be slowing down any time soon. Spring break is next week and we will be packing!

Collections.

2010-02-09T20:37:00.007-06:00

We are thinking of moving to Cedar Falls where The University of Northern Iowa is located- where my job is located. It seems to be getting harder to commute all the time for both of us. The winter weather is not helping. We are very interested in a house in Cedar Falls and we are going to look at it this week again. Because of this, we are very busy cleaning and giving our sweet little house a fresh coat of paint. Looking at all my possessions, and my many collections, Here are some highlights of my favorite collections that many of you have helped me build.

Artsy fun!

2010-02-09T20:25:00.000-06:00

I am enjoying teaching my art ed students this semester more than ever because I have been able to really incorporate my artistic interests into learning about contemporary art and lesson planning! Here are a few shot from journal making and Artist Trading Cards about identity.

Next projects are: alter-ego paper dolls and then zines about Arts Advocacy!!!

looking for FUN...

2010-01-29T08:47:00.000-06:00

Well if you live around my area, check out Riverside Theatre's new production called "End Dayz". Jeremy's drama class was invited to the dress rehearsal last night and I tagged along. It was fantastic! Imagine, an Elvis impersonator, Steven Hawking in a motorized wheel chair with his computer voice, Jesus as a main character along with an unhappy goth girl, and a crazy evangelist mom all on one stage! Plus- a really great story to tie all these characters together. (Well worth your time.)
Added bonus:
Mama's Deli brownies are sold there as well and they are out of this world!

Busy weekend...

2010-01-24T21:49:00.000-06:00

I took down the art show that I never even had a chance to advertise- sorry if you didn't get a chance to see it! Jeremy and I are cleaning the house and de-cluttering as the folks on the HG TV say. We are going to put our sweet little house on the market this year... More news on that later!

We babysat Anna this weekend who seems to currently be obsessed with the Chipmunks. Here are a few shot of how we helped her live out her fantasy of going to a Chipmunk concert.

Today I went to see the Lion King in Des Moines with my mom and sisters. What a treat! Today was the last day it is showing in Des Moines but next it will be in Madison if you are interested.
Now it is back to the grind of school and work! Due to MLK day on Monday and bad weather on Wednesday, I have not started my classes at the University of Iowa yet. I am looking forward to a semester full of learning how to research. I am enrolled in Intro to Educational Research and Research in the Arts and Humanities.

Art Show

2010-01-24T21:36:00.002-06:00

The graduate students in art education at The University of Iowa held an art exhibit this week to start off the new 2010 spring semester. Here are some photos of our work at the Eve Drewlowe Gallery.

My Work

My newest pieces

Rachael's work

Buffy's work

Codi's work

Dan's work

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T22:15:00.004-06:00

I spent my New Year's Eve with six very entertaining men! We ate, drank, sang karaoke, played air hockey, and even invaded the local bars in Mount Vernon. Wooh- to all the ladies that left early, or stayed home, you missed out an entertaining evening!

My New Year's resolution is to spend more time with such highly entertaining people!!!!

Family Time in Wisconsin

We spent Christmas in Wisconsin up at my parents lake house. Here are a few great sledding shots! After a wonderful evening of appetizers, gifts, and games, we all went to the Great Wolfe Lodge for some serious water slide action. Out of respect for everyone's pasty white bodies, I left my camera in the hotel room, so no water park photos. We had an excellent time but we were pretty sore from sledding then climbing all the water park stairs. Jeremy and I had a great time!

sledding time!

Everyone was very impressed by Jeremy's skill ( or attempt to be skilled at) snowboard-sledding! He was more successful as a part of the sled train! It was a little cold but it was perfect hill for sledding!

Oh thank you Vacation!

2009-12-22T10:54:00.002-06:00

Oh how I have missed time to make things and just hangin' out this semester! This week, I have been enjoying this week cooking, creating, relaxing, and catching up with friends and family. Jason came over Friday and helped me figure out how to make these great oil cloth place mats I have been wanting to make for a while. The first one was quite a challenge but after that we seemed to get the hang of it.

Cookie Time!!!

We took some time out to make ginger bread men with Sophie and Marissa on Sunday after their church program. Here are some of the highlights of decorating....

Decorating the walls...

2009-12-08T08:56:00.000-06:00

Here are a few fun projects I have been working on to decorate my mom's house and Jeremy's little sister's new room!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband!

2009-12-07T07:24:00.000-06:00

Jeremy and I are the same age today! He's off to school in the freshly fallen snow- the first snow of the winter this week! Everything looks beautiful.
We had a great weekend celebrating Jeremy's birthday. Bowling and birthday cake with Jeremy's family on Friday night. I cooked a big breakfast on Saturday and then we went shopping to get Jeremy some new clothes. Sunday we went to our favorite Sushi house and to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox. It was great to finally see!

Happy 34th Birthday Jeremy!!!!

MA students present their theses

2009-12-07T07:22:00.001-06:00

My MA students at UNI presented their theses on Tuesday in preparation to graduate in December. They each presented their papers along with displaying art from their project or studies at UNI. It was a fantastic exhibit filled with student work from my MA students' classrooms as well their own personal work too. I am looking forward to attending my first commencement at UNI on the 19th. When I taught elementary school, I never really got to see the students all the way through so this is an exciting experience for me too. I will also have seven undergraduate art ed majors that will be graduating this month. I feel like I have finally gottten used to my new position! As this semester ends this week, I am sad because I think this was my best one so far but I am excited to start planning for my next one.

Happy End of the Semester to all you college students and professors out there!!!

UNI Faculty Show

2009-11-11T09:41:00.003-06:00

Here is a quick picture of the piece I submitted to the Faculty Art Show. My piece is called Post- Traditional. It is made of envelopes sewn together and four wax encaustic boxes collaged with ephemera. It focuses on nostalgia and is about the lost traditions in personal communication. The show will be up from November 2-30th in the UNI art gallery on campus.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T08:19:00.000-06:00

Here are some Zombies from last weekend's festivities in Baraboo. Great costumes!
Tonight Jeremy and I and 11 friends are going out for drinks and pizza at a swanky lounge in Cedar Rapids before we head off to the Frightmare Forest for some fun.... We have never been there before but it's some sort of a haunted attraction with a trail that winds through over 5 acres of forest. We are excited!!

Thought I'd share our pumpkin carving skills again this year. Jeremy really outdid me this year with his saggy drunken pumpkin face. Is it is a self-portrait of his future-self as we begin our big night of festivities???

Zombies in Wisconsin????

2009-10-26T08:40:00.002-06:00

Jeremy and I stumbled upon a fun event this weekend! Thrill The World is an annual worldwide simultaneous dance of Michael Jackson's “Thriller.” The event is held every year (since 2006) to raise money for local charities. We were in Baraboo, WI shopping while staying at my parent’s lake house when we saw the advertisement. We decided not to participate since we had not packed our zombie gear for the weekend trip. Here is a link to it to check out. The folks in Baraboo were working hard to help break the Guinness Book of World Records on the number of zombies simultaneously dancing. They were raising money for their local food pantry. Rumor has it that Opah will feature this event so the crowd was buzzing!
We had a great time seeing whole families dressed up as zombies, dogs dressed up and tiny little 3-year-old zombie princesses and zombie brides. The whole event took place in the downtown square in front of the courthouse, which had a great atmosphere! Way to go Baraboo! Not only does this place have a circus museum, great shopping, and a good Frisbee golf course, but also a whole crowd of cool zombies too! Here is a video of the zombies in Baraboo to check out if you want! I will post pictures later when I have more time!
Happy Halloween!!!

A new farm in town...

2009-10-08T22:29:00.003-05:00

Bass Farms opened up outside of Mount Vernon this summer and Jeremy and I finally got around to checking it out. It's a fabulous place to visit. Right now they have the most beautiful pumpkins! They seemed extra bright and round this year. We had a terrible time deciding on which two to take home. Bass farms is run by a former Prairie graduate and sells fresh organic fruits and vegetables, pumpkins, and crafty cute items. Check it out!

Art Educators of Iowa Conference

2009-09-25T23:20:00.000-05:00

UNI is hosting the annual Art Educators of Iowa conference next weekend. I am presenting at it with a former student teacher. Our presentation is called "Smiling Skulls and Marigolds." Sarah and I worked together to create a presentation about our teaching of the Mexican Holiday Dia de los Muertos in the elementary art room. We are then going to do a little workshop making mini-alters with teachers. It should be fun!
Kirsten and Helen are coming from Preucil Preschool (where I was formerly employed) to share the wonderful art making experiences that preschooler can have but often don't get to! It will be wonderful for all the art teachers to learn about Preucil.
Tim Rollins will be the guest speaker that night. Rollins works with at-risk kids in the Bronx making collaborative art often based on classic literature. The kids named themsleves, "Kids of Survival". So you may see him referred to as Tim Rollins + K.O.S. I will get the honor of taking him out to dinner afterward. Jeremy is coming up too so he can share in the dinner and dazzle Rollins with his own at-risk adventures at his alternative school.
This week will be busy getting ready for everything so if no one hears from me... you will know why. Here is a picture of a Rollins +KOS work I really love!

Animal Farm
Tim Rollins and K.O.S.

A Dog's Life...

2009-09-20T18:14:00.001-05:00

My sister and I took my mom to Riverside Theater today to see A Dog's Life. It is a musical about a dog adopted from the animal shelter. I admit I was a bit nervous about it being any good, but it was really worth going to see. The singing was excellent and I really enjoyed the humor throughout it. The way they depict the events through a dog's view- like getting neutered, being dressed up by their owners, and being tricked into taking pills. It was a hoot!

Friday night my nephew played football in Mount Vernon and my whole family came to see him play. Afterward, we had a birthday party for my step-dad who turned 63! Lots of goodies and gifts! Here is a great picture that Sophie drew of her with Grandpa Mike. It really looks like him!

Roosevelt Eugene's many positions

2009-08-29T20:25:00.003-05:00

My cat Roosevelt lays around all the time. He's a bit plump, I prefer to call him big boned. (it runs in our family) He relaxes in very interesting places and is really the sweetest cat I have ever owned. I wished all my life for a lap cat, and believe me... this cat could lay on my lap all day.

Home cookin'

2009-08-23T10:21:00.001-05:00

The garden... I will admit, I have not given my garden the annual TLC that I usually provide it. I seemed to be pulled to other more urgent calls this summer. It's know excuse for leaving my garden to fend for itself amongst the weeds and beetles and cool summer air. I was lucky though, it survived and some things really thrived.
For example, we eat greens beans every day. There is really no meal that somehow the green beans haven't snuck their way into if they are already no prominently placed on the side of the main dish. They are delicious at every meal and I do not see tiring of them in the near future.
Our beets are a glorious color and taste better then I could have imagined. We attempted to grow them last year, but being so on top of my weeding last year, I think I hoed them up in early June. This year, so busy with incarcerated people, the beets flourished and now they giving my husband the creative juices he needed in the kitchen. Who knew that beets could go in so many different dishes.
Jeremy and I tried some new ideas out since were tired of the annual zucchini bread and muffins, and green bean casserole. Last night we made veggie burritos with our garden veggies- broccoli, zucchini, green beans, peppers, lots of cilantro, and corn from the farmers market (and onions- not home grown). What a treat!!!
Carrots were planted this year and sadly, I saw one sprout but nothing ever came from it. Next year, I promise to be better at watching my garden grow and tending to it's needs. I did learn though that plants are tougher than I thought and maybe a little more space is a good thing.
School starts tomorrow and my goal is to keep on blogging. Last year, I really took on too many things and blogging was abandoned. I vow to blog at least twice a month this school year. If you see that I am not holding to this, please feel free to remind me of this! To everyone returning to school this month, I hope you all have a wonderful, productive, and enriching school year! I just hope to survive.

Beets sauteed with sweet potatoes and caramelized onions...

Home-grown acorn squash from Kirsten's garden stuffed with beets, rice, onion, morning star sausage, zucchini, and peppers.

Apple-rhubarb crisp hot from the oven. (Thanks Steph for the crisp mix you left us in July!)

For Joy... (and everyone else too)

2009-08-17T16:11:00.000-05:00

I just wanted you to see how we arranged our great pictures from our fab photo shoot when we came to visit in June! (They are 8x10's and 4x4 photos just above our couch) Thanks so much- we miss you all!

Bookmaking

2009-08-14T15:59:00.000-05:00

I survived a six-week intensive bookbinding class this summer! I actually really loved it and I am proud of the books I made, it was just quite time consuming.
We made pamphlet stitch books, chain stitch hard cover pamphlets, long stitch, link stitch, accordion books, and finally we cased in books - like real books are! It was very exciting! I am begging Jeremy to build me a book cradle for Christmas and he seems up for the challenge. Some lucky person is receiving a book their birthday today. Who could it be?

Pamphlet books

accordion book
Top to bottom: Chain stitch on hard cover pamphlets, link stitches, and bottom two are long stitches. I learned to back my own cloth too.
Last but not least, case binding! Thanks to Home Ec for the great Fabric and RSVP for the great paper.

Hot day for moving...

2009-08-08T21:26:00.001-05:00

Jeremy's parents bought a house and we helped them move today. It was 90 degrees out and a bit humid. Which seems pretty typical for August in Iowa (except for this year). I think this was the hottest day all summer!
Oh well, we got moved and everyone survived. I am tired and sore, laying on the couch is making me heal faster. I may have acquired few new bruises or battle scars as I will refer to them.
I thought a lot about all the times I have moved over the years and how long we have now been in our home. It has been 5 years since Jeremy and I moved into our house. Awwwh!
Out of all the years I moved, the one the really sticks in my head is when Jeremy and I moved into our first house in Iowa City. We rented this great big stucco house with no AC. We moved August 1st (of course). I called ahead and reserved a U-haul truck but when the day arrived and we got to the U-haul place, there was no truck. I called the Cedar Rapids U-haul office, and they said to come get a truck there, but when I arrived they had none. I still wonder today how U-haul stays in business? Today, when Jeremy's dad picked up his truck, they said he could only keep it a few hours because it was in demand. WE of course kept it all day. We drove by U-haul during our lunch break and there were over a hundred trucks there- no lie! What gives??
Anyways, back to the story, we ended using my friends little red truck and moving so slowly all day long in the 106 degree Iowa humidity. To cool ourselves we sprayed each other down with the freezing water from the garden hose. Good times...
Happy moving to all of you August movers! Good night.

A weekend with my cousins

2009-08-03T16:14:00.000-05:00

We drove up to my parents lake house this weekend to meet up with three of my cousins and my aunt and uncle. We spent so much time just hanging out on the beach, watching all the kids play together and just catching up. It was truly a weekend filled with fishing, boating, swimming, campfires and smores, games, and lots of good food! (too much)
It is so hard to get this many people together and I am sure as the kids get older, it will become even harder. I loved telling my nieces about what we did as cousins when we were young and letting them hear the stories how we tortured our siblings and all the trouble we got into.
I enjoyed the story most told by my youngest cousin, (who is also an art teacher) that she would be placed in a blanket and then drug her around the house, knocking her into furniture and then having her identify what piece it was. HA!
Isn't family great!

Off to the Lake...

2009-07-31T09:45:00.000-05:00

for one last weekend, before I settle down to plan for the upcoming school year. Hope everyone has a great weekend- xoxoxo

Jeremy's adventure

2009-07-26T22:25:00.000-05:00

Oh, yeah....

Jeremy rode the Gyrospeare contraption and didn't get sick ( I totally would have) and then
he rode this crazy bike at the Discovery Center/Science Station place. It was wild to watch!
Happy Summer!!
PS- the weather is so crazy here, look at Jeremy in his long sleeve shirt and jeans in JULY!

A few funny pictures...

2009-07-26T22:20:00.000-05:00

of Sophie and Marissa when we went to The Wisconsin Dells last weekend. The rest of the family was there too, but they weren't as cute!

Summer Music

2009-07-23T14:42:00.001-05:00

So, I have been on the road a lot this summer. I have been teaching a bookmaking class at the Women's Prison in Mitchellville, IA, and was working on a play at the Iowa Juvenile home in Toledo, IA, along with a little summer revising on our grad program in Art Education at UNI. Because of all this driving, I have heard lots of great music. Here are four bands that I discovered and love and would like to share with you! Maybe you have already heard of them, remember I live in Iowa. Enjoy!

Metric , Grizzly Bear , The Thermals , and White Rabbits

what a weekend!

2009-07-14T15:52:00.001-05:00

I think I am still recovering from our whirlwind of a weekend! Steph and Kyle arrived on Friday from Portland while I was in DeWitt attending an adoption party. It is official, my step-sister has two new kids and I have two new members in my family- welcome Makayla and Ayden!!
Friday night we hosted our first Karaoke party after purchasing the American Idol Karaoke game. Jeremy and I really cannot sing but we love a good competition and that's exactly what this game is all about. Singing for points and humiliating yourself along the way. We had 14 singers on Friday night. Two of them walked away as Karaoke Champions!

Here is a photo of the winners: Left Kris Miller (no relation) and right Megan Matthews (no relation to the other Megan Mathews)

So Saturday night we attended Roller derby in Cedar Rapids. We killed the Chicago Team we played. They couldn't even skate, let alone score... it was great to watch.There was even a small fist fight... Stephanie and discussed our dreams of being on the roller derby team that will never happen. She claims she is not fast enough on wheels. I know that is true for me but my real problem is my fear of knocking out more teeth! yikes!!! Check out Roller derby here... they play again in August if anyone is interested in going with us next time.

It gets even better on Sunday- I know you are thinking what can beat getting a new niece and nephew combined with karaoke and a chocolate fondue fountain (oh yeah, we had that at the party too) and roller derby.... where are we off to on Sunday at 9:30 am???

No, not the rodeo... but good guess! We went tubing on the Wapsi River all day with a cooler of beer, rum and cokes, Oreos and trail mix, and not enough sun screen (for my poor knees)
What a blast we had floating down the river, tipping each other over and maneuvering around trees and rocks occasionally. We ended the evening with pizza and Harry Potter to get geared up for the new one which I believe comes out tonight!!!!!!

Thanks Steph and Kyle for coming to visit and bringing your fabulous sister and brother-in-law along. LOL to you!!!

LACMA

2009-07-06T17:52:00.000-05:00

When we were in California in June, we went to the
LA County Museum of Art
Outside the museum, was this fabulous installation of plastic containers.
If you are ever in LA, I recommend checking out this museum!

These light up at night and were amazing!

Workers were draping this cloth on the building as we entered.
Next to the museum is the La Brea Tar Pits another great place to visit!

Violet

2009-07-05T17:48:00.001-05:00

We had a little celebration of Violet's great life on Friday with
specials doggie truffles and cookies

We put Violet to sleep on Friday afternoon. Our vet came over on his way home and we buried her in the back yard. I am very sad but relieved that she will no longer be suffering. I am going to look for some old pictures of her this week to share.
In 2001, Jeremy and I adopted her at the no-kill shelter in Washington, IA where I taught 4-6 art at Lincoln Upper Elementary School. She had been hit by a car and did not look good. Our heart went out to her immediately and we decided to adopt her rather than a puppy like we had originally intended. She lived with us for eight wonderful years before she developed bone cancer.

Good-Bye Brenda

2009-07-03T14:23:00.000-05:00

I have spent the last month working with the director Brenda Currin who founded What Girls Know, a theater company for adolescent girls. We have been working together at the Iowa Juvenile Home In Toledo, IA. Wednesday we performed our play with the girls. It was such an amazing experience.
Brenda leaves tomorrow to go home to NYC! We will miss her. The pictures below are of the progressive dinner we held for her in Mount Vernon.

The Lovely Violet

2009-07-01T08:24:00.000-05:00

Violet has been diagnosed with cancer and will not be with us much longer. She has had ten wonderful years on this planet, eight of those with us. Here she is enjoying the warm sunshine this week as I weeded the garden.

Guess who's famous?

2009-06-29T22:45:00.000-05:00

My very own cousin Laurie- that's who!!
Check her out here, she's in this month's issue of Martha Stewart Wedding magazine.
Congratulations cuz!

marissa and sophie sleep over

2009-06-25T11:49:00.000-05:00

My nieces came for a visit this weekend and we went for a hike in Palisades State Park which is about a mile from our house.

Sophie and Marissa enjoyed working in my studio in little sketch books I bought them. Here are a few of my favorite pages they made.

Sophie brought over a friend for Dottie but she did not seem thrilled by this.

what have I been up to for the last few months??

2009-06-21T15:35:00.001-05:00

Here are a few snap shots from May and June... to tide you over as I sort through a year of events! Thank God for iPhoto!

Chalk the Walk.....
Kirsten and I created a chalk piece about the upcoming Mount Vernon Community Theater musical " A Funny Thing happened on the Way to the Forum".
Sophie came to help us!

Jason and I took a quick trip to NYC to celebrate our birthdays and the fact that I made it through this crazy year! We had way too much fun there.

We went to California to visit Jeremy's family, here is a sweet picture of our darling niece and nephew.

Joy ( my sister-in-law) is a photographer in California did a fabulous photo shoot of us.

Here is her link to see more of her fabulous photos! I will post more later on this week.

so it's been a while...

2009-06-21T15:19:00.000-05:00

I know, there is really no excuse for a year long break from blogging. I guess switching careers and going back to school was harder on me then I anticipated.
Good news though, I am committed to blogging again. I have made a pact with my friend, and mentor Rachel to blog and require our students to blog and collect research on blogging. It will be great. But for now I will post a few catch up photos and enjoy summer!
LOL Wendy

lazy Days...

2008-08-29T16:17:00.000-05:00

Check out these comfy kitties....

look at those hands!

2008-08-19T16:12:00.000-05:00

LOOK - Jeremy's healed! Just kidding! This was taken two days before the surgery... but it was so sweet I thought I would share it (in memory of Jeremy's hands..) He is actually doing quite well. He drove the car to work today!