Haircuts for the Girls... and 2 Sime Babies

Not much new to report here! Winter drags on. Either it's below freezing or it warms up enough for us to get another inch or two of snow.

Are you ready for a special MAKEOVER edition of my blog?? Well, last week I took the girls to a beauty salon. Emma had decided to give up her plans to not cut her hair for five years; she had two more years to go, but her hair was already almost down to her waist and had become very thick and hard to brush out.

Leila's hair had never been cut before. I think blond hair looks so pretty in braids and loved fixing it for her, but she was always somehow dipping those braids into sticky stuff and combing it out had become a daily cry festival.

Scissors, please?

I wasn't sure if Leila would cooperate with a haircut, but having Emma alongside her seemed to help and she sat still just long enough for the stylist to trim her bangs and shorten it in the back.

Emma wanted her hair to still be longish, so she didn't quite have enough to donate to Locks of Love, this time. But she loves her new, easier haircut. It saves her at least 10 minutes a day and is stylishly layered.

I saved a lock of Leila's hair for her baby book. Definitely my most golden-haired child.

Last week I was able to meet my baby grand-nieces, Audrey and Lauren Sime, for the first time. Audrey (at left) is my nephew Eric's daughter, and Lauren is Eric's brother Joe's daughter. The girls were born just a few days apart and spend their days together at their Grandma Ann's house (Ann is watching them while their parents work).

They are both so sweet-! Each one looks a lot like her respective father. As far as personality, Audrey is a content, cheerful, and outgoing baby... it didn't bother her one bit when I picked her up and held her. Lauren is maybe a bit more reserved and sensitive but also very content in Ann's care and a beautiful little girl.

I guess Audrey doesn't look so cheerful in the photo above left, but she was waiting for me to be done picture-taking so she could finally have her bottle! While I'm at it I'll hurry up and finish with this blog, too.

Sledding Party

My two sweet princesses...


Thought I'd try and get back to writing a weekly blog so it isn't as much of a chore to write (or read it-!). That last one felt like a novel!

So how's everyone been? We're doing well here... over our Christmas colds and back into the routine of school, work, and basketball.

At right: Emma peeking out from a fort she built in our living room.

It was nice packing away the Christmas stuff. I used it as an opportunity to weed out excess things for donation and to better organize whatever was kept.

Then I moved on to closets! What a job. But it was fun to re-discover things I'd forgotten all about, and to make more room for us by getting rid of things we've outgrown.

The picture at left is Emma and Leila riding a miniature train at the roller rink in Eau Claire. Emma had been invited to a skating party for one of her school friends.

This weekend we went to a sledding party at our neighbor's house. It was very cold but the sun was shining... and of course there was lots of snow.

These neighbors have about three sledding parties a winter, and invite the neighborhood children and their parents. It's a fun way to get the kids outdoors and moving around. Also it's fun socializing with everyone.

They have an outdoor firepit for warming up, but also have a large mud room inside, with benches and plenty of room to spread out wet things while getting a cup of hot chocolate or a snack.

Michael wasn't sure if he wanted to go at first, but once there had a GREAT time. He was proud that by the end of the day his shirt sleeves, which had popped out from under his coat at the wrists, were frozen solid. He'd done a lot of sledding but also went for snowmobile rides... Jon and another Dad towed kids on sleds tied to the back of their snowmobiles.

This was the first year Leila's been old enough to actively participate in all the sledding. She started out riding with others but soon moved on to solo rides. She had trouble coming back up the hill, though, so Jon and I took turns retrieving her.

Emma gave snowboarding a try this year. She was pretty good at it, for a beginner, but did end up hurting her back. She was sore the next day, but is fine now.

She had a great time driving the snowmobile, with Jon on back. She also enjoyed getting pulled on a sled by a snowmobile, riding over bumps and getting sprayed in the face by cold, powdery snow (while screaming and laughing with her friends).

After our busy day we laid our wet things out by the fire and hunkered down for some serious laziness. Good times.

Christmas and Lindsay's Shower

BLIZZARD

A day or so after my last blog, a winter storm passed through our area. We'd heard it was coming so hunkered down indoors and watched as a white whirlwind amassed outside our windows. Within hours we found ourselves buried under 18 inches of snow.

The day after was bright and beautiful. It was exciting to wake up and rush to the windows to see the amount of snow we ended up with. We weren't disappointed. There were surprising (and oddly funny) images to discover everywhere.

Our outdoor lawn table looked like a layer cake with a big striped candle on top...

And mundane objects like birdfeeders and garbage cans took on the whimzy of snow cones.

I'm pretty sure the kids ended up with a snow day after that one (though I'm not certain... this snowfall was awhile ago and there have been several more in the interim).

Luckily(!) Jon was home to plow the driveway. He and his snowblower were very popular that day. He helped several neighbors whose snow removal gear wasn't quite up to dealing with 18 inches all at once. He plowed a path to our farmer neighbor's cows and helped move round bales out to them so they could eat. He helped pull another neighbor's car from the ditch, so the guy could go to work. Then he headed to Eau Claire to plow snow with his friend Donny (who does snow removal professionally). Jon probably battled snow for 12 hours that day.

The kids helped me shovel our sidewalks, as well as carve a path out to the chicken coop ( the chickens didn't care for this newly white world). Then each kid found his or her own way to enjoy the snow.

Adventurous Emma scaled snow hills, blazed new trails with her sled, and engineered an epic fort with the neighbor girl.

2 year-old Leila solemnly plucked up the snow and ate it (at least it was fresh) while waddling along the paths we shoveled, letting us know when snow went down her mittens so we could help her (but refusing to come inside while the big kids were still out; she didn't want to miss a THING).

Introspective Michael surprised me by shoveling a "bonus" path that no one told him to make. It was a helpful short cut connecting two branches of our sidewalk, and took him a good half hour to do. Upon completion he dubbed it "Michael Road". Then, exhausted, he spent the rest of his time outside lying in the snow, partially buried, letting the world be his big, silent blanket.

There were all sorts of weather-related cancellations, including the Christmas party at my father-in-law's nursing home.

It was rescheduled for a few days later, but despite the last-minute change all but one of Bud's kids made it the party. Jon's brother Mark was the only one missing, as he was scheduled for knee replacement surgery (the surgery went well).

A few days later the kids had a Christmas program at school. It turned out to be rather an eventful one...

CHRISTMAS PROGRAM FIASCO
Over-confident parent that I can sometimes be, I arrived with Leila to the program 45 minutes early, so we'd have a good parking space and nice view of events. Ambitiously, I seated us center stage, second row to the front. The view was excellent (too bad there's double-edged meaning in that).

45 minutes is a LONG time to wait in a public place with a two year-old. Especially when you need her to stay nearby and not mess with the interesting-looking sound equipment you have carelessly seated yourself by. I did what I could to occupy her but checked the clock with growing trepidation. Would we make it through this program without a scene-?

Twice during the time leading up to the show she escaped me. How does something like that happen? I can only submit that I'm 41 years old, tired... and SHE'S SO FAST.

During both escapades she bee-lined for the piano at the center of the gym and banged out a few discordant notes. Both times I quickly retrieved her, receiving sympathetic smiles from other parents in the crowd and resolving that it would NOT happen again.

And so the program began. It lasted an hour, but the music and kids helped distract and/or entertain Leila from her naughtiness, mostly. She especially liked the clapping part between songs. Still, I was on guard. I kept a hand on her (literally) at all times...

Well, almost all times. During the last song of the program (the last one! we'd almost made it!), as Emma performed a cute number with her 4th grade class, I loosed my hold of Leila (seated on the floor by my feet, apparently enthralled by the contents of my purse) so I could take pictures. Leila was apparently waiting for just such a chance. She immediately bolted toward Emma's group of now-performing singers.

Horror: my angel-faced but apparently fearless 2 year-old was pushing aside 4th graders to claim a perch on the third level of the podium they stood on. She joined in their performance, singing and shaking her hips alongside the big kids as if she belonged there. The surprised singers kept singing but increduously watched this new-found wildcard, Leila. Leila, who so often is shy with the visitors (sometimes she won't even let close relatives look at her face) calmly performed as hundreds of parents, grandparents, teachers, and schoolkids looked on.

I decided it would be less disruptive if I waited till the song was over before retrieving her. When it ended, I sheepishly went up and removed her from the stage, wishing that in doing so I was invisible (but pretty sure I was not). As I lugged a kicking Leila back to our seats, the audience broke out into a round of applause... this one meant for us. Leila's antics had definitely added an element of the unexpected to the show, though part of the crowd's enjoyment was no doubt relief that it was not their child who had revealed herself to be such an irrepressible entertainer.

MICHAEL'S BIRTHDAY

Hard to believe, but my little boy is now 12. The day of his birthday, we did what he wanted to do: open presents, watch movies together, and eat at his restaurant of choice (Culver's).


The following day we went to Cornell for a second celebration, at Grandma Jane's.






As always, she had a nice meal waiting for us and served us cake... well, not exactly cake, but birthday cheesecake, which is even better. And, as always, she had presents for all three kids, because she's big-hearted and doesn't want anyone to feel left out.

I always enjoy walking around her house and looking at the Christmas decorations. She does something different every year. She has several trees, a busy X-Mas village, teddy bears on the stairs, and lots of hand-made and unique Christmas decorations displayed.

JON'S TRIP TO KENTUCKY


Jon had 2 1/2 weeks off in December, so resolved to spend part of that time on a trip to Kentucky, to visit Susan and Jay at their new house. He made the drive in a day and stayed over two nights, before driving back in convoy with Susan, Jay, and David, as they travelled to Wisconsin for Christmas.

Susan and Jay's house is large and seems even larger because it doesn't have much furniture, yet. They don't even have a stove but are looking for one; meanwhile, they use a microwave and crockpot for cooking.

I remember when Jon and I first set up house... we had next to nothing. Our first Christmas together I decided to be homey and baked cookies by cutting the shapes out with a butter knife (I had no cutters) and laying them to bake on an upside-down cake pan (I had no cookie sheets). I was all eager to present this small plate of finished and imperfect cookies to Jon's sister-in-law, Jill, since Jill and Phil had kindly invited us over for Christmas. Jon tactfully suggested that perhaps I should leave the cookies at home, for us to enjoy. When we got to Phil and Jill's house I understood why: experienced Jill had baked at least a dozen kinds of cookies, served spectacularly on a tray and magazine picture-perfect. My baking wasn't quite up to that level (still isn't-!)

Anyway. Jay has sound equipment set up in one of the bedrooms. He's very knowledgeable about mixing songs and the technical side of the music business. He went to school for that and continues to do music-related stuff on the side.

Looking over Jon's pictures from the trip, I was immediately struck by two diamond-shaped windows near Susan's entry. I mentioned to her these would be ideal for stained glass. She didn't shoot down the idea, so I'm hopeful that maybe someday I'll get to dust off that stained glass equipment and help Susan design her own windows.

Unrelated Footnote: Imagine my surprise when I opened our door one morning to find a heavy box outside. The box was full of steaks, ground beef, and roasts... well over $100 worth. It was a gift from our neighbor friend Johnne, who Jon had assisted during the big snowfall a few days before. The gift was so generous and well-timed it took my breath away. When they got here, we'd be feeding Susan, Jay, and David in style!

BRAGG FAMILY CHRISTMAS IN COLFAX

While Jon was in Kentucky, those of my family who could make it over came for an early, Bragg-infused Christmas celebration at our house. I wanted to cook a big meal and give the kids ample time and space to play with their southern cousins, my brother Don's kids. Mom and brother John also made it (Dad wasn't there as he had a doctor's appt he couldn't miss).


Jon had the camera with him, so I wasn't able to take photos that day. But Don shared some of his photos with me.


Above are Don's kids (Stephen, Beth, and Kenny) with my sister Laurie during a stop at her house in Madison. Stephen is 8 months older than Leila. Beth is a kindergartner and Kenny is a year younger than Emma.

Mom dazzled us with a new quilt for Emma's bed: a king-sized patchwork made of colorful squares of batik fabric. Emma's bed is queen-sized, but it drapes like a comforter and doesn't look too large. It's warm, comfy, and we love it!

There was lots of good-natured chaos during my family's overnight stay. The kids played outside, tried out their new board games, and watched movies together. The grown-ups sat around, talked, and enjoyed the big bottle of wine Aunt Lulu had kindly sent along for us. Good times.

There were two noteable (and alarming) events during the visit. One was that my poor brother Don fell down our stairs in the early morning hours. I'm not sure how I slept through that racket, but I did. Our carpeted steps can be treacherous; I've taken a few painful spills down them myself. Don (a big guy) slid all the way down to the bottom of the stairs but wasn't seriously hurt, though no doubt developed some major bruises during the next few days.


The other event was that little Beth, who had a cold and a slight fever when she went to bed with Grandma that night, awoke twice in terror, scrambling for her mother... her fever and dream-like state was giving her hallucinations. Eyes wide open, she was seeing scary things. Hope got up with her, calmed her down and gave her medicine for the fever, and eventually Beth slipped back into sleep. She was fine the next day, but it was frightening to hear about (yes, I slept through that too).

CHRISTMAS DAY


On Christmas morning, Susan, Jay, and David drove themselves over to our house. As always, they'd spent Christmas Eve with their mother's family in Cornell.

This year the older kids came bearing presents. Everything was nice, but one gift in particular stood out. Susan has a friend who makes personalized tote bags, and so commissioned her to make Emma a bag with her name on it. The bag exactly matches one that Susan has with her name on it. Susan told Emma that they were the only bags like it in the world, and only her and Emma have them. Pretty cool, huh?

Jonathan and Lindsay came over in the afternoon. They brought gifts for the kids as well. We were excited because Lindsay would be staying overnight with us; the next day was her baby shower.

It was fun having Lindsay around for an overnight. We felt like we got to know her better... and we made sure she got to know us better, too. Toward that end I dragged out some old family photos and showed her what Jonathan looked like as a baby and while growing up. She seemed to enjoy it (though Jonathan maybe enjoyed it less), so I talked everyone into going downstairs and watching an old family movie.

We watched the movie we'd taken while we still lived in the Cornell house. It was well before Michael, Emma, and Leila were born (or even imagined!) and was taken shortly before Susan, David, and Jonathan made their (for us, sad) move to North Carolina.

But no one was sad in that video! We were defiantly silly and loving every moment together... the classic video representation of our newly formed stepfamily. Lots of revealing glimpses at our younger selves. Enough goofy incidents to embarrass everyone.

My sister Laurie was with us during the taking of the video, so much of the footage involves a young, skinny me and college-age Laurie dancing with the kids to the Squirrel Nut Zippers. We engaged in such shennanigans as arm wrestling and Indian leg wrestling (aren't ya glad Lindsay got her first glimpse of you that way, Lulu?). We performed a play with the kids called "The Queen Gorrilla."

In this video Susan is sweet and cuddly in fuzzy pajamas, but you can already see that she's a fireball who knows what she wants (was she then around nine years old?).

David was an enigmatic kindergartner with no eyebrows, bright blue eyes, and a mystical imagination that would sometimes burst out of him into the world, in a torrent of words that were hard to decipher but always worth the effort.

Jonathan was an increasingly self-conscious middle schooler whose voice hadn't changed yet. Too old to join in the dancing, he did his best to participate by making little picture puppets of me and Jon speak lovey-dovey to each other and teasing Laurie (who I must say is visibly annoyed with him in the video).

Let's not forget Jon! Jon in the video is much like Jon as he is now, but without the back trouble, gray hair, and the worry lines that come from years of raising kids (six!). Through most of the video he is sitting, reading a paper. But at two points in the video, while passing through the room, he absolutely delights us by doing some quick, crazy dance steps and staging a fake fall.

Those are STILL my favorite parts of the video.

Anyway-! We showed Lindsay all of that, and talked and laughed with her. Then everyone went to bed fairly early, in preparation for her baby shower the next day.

LINDSAY'S SHOWER

Lindsay's shower was a chance for her to meet the Hurlburts again (she'd already met them earlier, at David's graduation party) and for them to meet her mother, Sandy. We had some introductions, played a get-to-know Lindsay game, had food, and then watched her open presents.

After we ate we invited the guys upstairs for what was left of the food (what? we left them some), and had Jonathan stick around for the present-opening. He seemed to enjoy it

too. He and Lindsay were given lots of wonderful things, including a personalized diaper bag for baby "Jack", made by Susan's talented friend.

Emma helped pass out presents and Susan recorded who gave what. Leila darted about till she exhausted herself and lay down with a pillow and blanket on the ottaman.

We concluded the shower by going around the room and having everyone (who was a parent) dispense a nugget of parenting advice to Jonathan and Lindsay. It was fun and interesting to hear what came to people's minds. What do you tell a young couple who's just starting out about being a parent? Everyone thought of something helpful and unique to say.

It was a good time and a meaningful and loving experience for Jonathan and Lindsay, I think. Hard to believe baby Jack's coming in less than a month. Lindsay showed us ultrasound photos... there's definitely a little boy on the way!

The rest of our time with Susan, David, and Jay passed quickly. Hope's game "Farkle" was a big hit. Everyone had plenty to eat and us "older kids" watched movies together after the little ones went to sleep. I've always loved watching movies with Susan and David, just like I like reading the books that Susan recommends. We have some great discussions afterwards and I'm always left feeling a little bit smarter and more enriched. I have some great stepkids and am lucky enough to realize it and enjoy these moments 100%.

I have a great future son-in-law in Jay, too. He and Susan spent a lot of time helping Jon load music onto his iPhone, even managing to teach him how to do it for himself. The gift of time was nice-- music is important to Jon. He's on the road so much, and music helps him get through the solitude.

GRANDPA BUD'S 84TH BIRTHDAY

On December 28th we gathered at the nursing home in Cornell, for my father-in-law's birthday. It wasn't supposed to be a big celebration; the Hurlburt family has grown to such numbers it can be overwhelming for anyone, let along someone who doesn't hear well. But lots of us insisted on coming anyway, and we were comfortably accomodated in the nursing home's dining room.

It was a nice place to gather with plenty of chairs, a stone fireplace, and little touches of Christmas everywhere.

Once again, all but one of Bud's kids made it... this time Brent was missing and Mark was present. Not long since his knee replacement surgery, Mark was already getting around on crutches.

At right is Bud with some of his many grandchildren. Back row: Jacob and Adam (Phil's sons), Luke and Sam (two of Sally's sons), Alec (one of Eric's sons), and Sally's oldest son Nick. Front row: Susan, Leila and Emma (Jon's girls), and David and Michael on either side of Grandpa Bud (two of Jon's three sons).

Hope everyone enjoyed December as much as we did. Have a healthy and happy 2011! Remember... next time you hear from me I may be a Grandma!