I is for intrepid

The millers recently took both oak park babies to the big apple.  We went to celebrate a special friend's 40th birthday but also to expose our kids to the city where greg attended college and where he and kara met.

leading up to our trip we enjoyed the New York ABC''s book.  It was fun to read about the brooklyn bridge and the museums and to enjoy jude referencing the book for landmarks he saw during our trip.

our new york "guidebook"

Jude knew ahead of time that 'I' is for intrepid and that is where they have a space shuttle. Kara took our space loving boy there first thing after our arrival.

I is for Intrepid sea air and space museum

Turns out the intrepid museum has reciprocal admission with chicago's museum of science and industry.  so our visit cost only a few dollars for several hours of sites.

space shuttle enterprise

Kara didn't realize til they arrived that this shuttle was used for low atmosphere testing and training, so its not a space flown vehicle.  but it was still amazing to see the size, especially compared to four year old jude.

the shuttle on the intrepid.
much larger in person than expected

we also spent an hour or so looking at the various planes, walking through the carrier and visiting a submarine.

jude on the uss interpid museum flight deck.
he wanted a photo with the missiles

the sub was particularly cool given mommy's new obsession with the abc show 'last resort'.  this one is quite a bit older however.

jude in a cold war submarine, uss interpid museum

we found a great deal on a two bedroom apartment on central park using airbnb.com.  the booking process had a few hitches with a few potential scammers trying to get us to book. but in the end we found this great space. and the family has a little boy so it came with a crib, kids books and toys.

our NYC 2 bedroom

we enjoyed the quiet and having a kitchen to make breakfasts, most lunches and even dinner.

improvised bath tub for harry

One of the things we loved about living in NYC in our 20's was the surprising experiences you would just run into. I remember one time seeing snow on the sidewalk in the summer and then realized they were filming a movie.  On this trip we came across the line up of amazing floats for an octoberfest parade.

amazing octoberfest floats

we passed them on the way to meeting old friends at the central park zoo.  we spent a bit of time with the animals before heading over the children's zoo.

central park zoo

yes there is water around these 'lily' pads. and yes, jude got wet.

central park zoo children's zoo

the highlight of the trip was the surprise reunion of our nyc small group to celebrate our friend dawn's 40th birthday.  a small group is a group of several couples or families from a church who meet during the week to encourage each other and study a book of the bible or book on spiritual matters.  we hadn't seen each other in years but quickly connected.

old friends greg craig and brian

dawn's husband, the amazing cyrus, organized the entire surprise weekend.

the surprise worked

when we had our small group only one family had a child.  we've grown quite a bit in the ensuing years.

some of the kids

we arranged to meet at an apartment and get the kids set with sitters.

group shot

jude was excited to play

the grown ups headed off to yummy dinner at the four seasons.  what an amazing meal and amazing company.

dinner at the four seasons

happy birthday dawn!

birthday cotton candy

new york city was a treat for all of us.

In recovery

Jude is in full day preschool two days a week. Our house is in full day recovery. I wish I knew the last time it was cleaned top to bottom. And don't let me fool you I will do that today. But at least I can tackle one pile, start laundry and sit and actually play with Harry. It's going to be a good day.

I just had time to actually crack open my bible. Today I read where Jesus talks about how a wheat seed has to "die" in the ground or else it's just a lonely seed. But if it "dies" it bears a lot of fruit. I am pondering what areas of my life may need a little "death" this fall. Is it my reluctance to do the work to build new friendships with moms, my strong desire to stay home with my boys even as I look for work, the things I look to for comfort?

On a lighter note Jude has made the transition to tiny Legos. If you are a mom of boys you know how huge this is. Despite them being a death trap for Harry, I am thrilled to find an activity he will do quietly for several hours. And it's something his dad enjoys playing with also. Looking forward to fall, block by block.

God's Fingerprint on the dinosaur pinata

So a few weeks back I asked mister jude what kind of birthday party he would like.  the little man turns four at the end of may.  He decided to have a dinosaur party, specifically a Triceratops party.  I laughed but was happy to have something to start from because I love party planning.  But this year's party will be different.

triceratops is tops for me!

First of all I think he's finally old enough that jude's birthday can no longer be an excuse for mom to invite her friends and kids to have a social time. This year its a smaller group of pals jude regularly sees or talks about.

Second, stay-at-home mommying doesn't pay well.  wesome dad's newer company is holding its own, its holding our purse strings pretty tight at home.  So i started praying for ways to have this party in a way we can afford.  I am one of those people who prays, not just in times of trouble or only for sick friends, but on a regular basis.  and this is where the story gets cool.

back in december I received a duplicate christmas gift from a fancy cooking store.  with my store credit i picked up a flowery apron (cause every modern mom needs one), a new cookie sheet and two dinosaur cookie cutters on sale.  I'd forgotten about them until after jude picked his party.  But yes, they are triceratops.

 prehistorically perfect  for making party treats

Then I went to the dollar store to see if they might have a small party favor to fit our small budget.  They had two bags of tiny dinosaurs...triceratops.  I also picked up a larger t-rex and triceratops to pose on top of his cake.

I resumed my tradition of making numbered birthday shirts after skipping #3 while super pregnant with harry.  I found an old sample pack of printer papers in our basement and whipped up an iron on transfer triceratops.  I knew harry had a dinosaur explorer outfit in orange and green, so i put jude's green dinosaur on one of his orange  t-shirts.  I was feeling pretty good about this budget party bash.

Then this happened yesterday.  At target jude got a burst of energy to explore.  he was in such a good mood.  our walk led past the party aisle. i forget target even had one.  and guess what we found.

perfect pinata in our party colors

that's right- triceratops, a pinata in the colors of the boy's outfits i've already made.  i felt like it was such a nice moment from God of I hear you, thanks for praying, trust me.


and lord knows i need to keep trusting and praying.  raising two boys is among the hardest things i've ever done.  their energy, noise, tears, mess is overwhelming for a mom who genuinely enjoys private quiet moments in days that no longer have them.

let's play pan lid cymbals again harry

I've apparently been too vocal in my Lord help me make it, help me handle this prayers.  yes, i say those words out loud in crisis with the kids.   Something spilled and jude turns and says to the sky, God, help my mommy make it.  Cute and made me pause at the same time.

I hope you are making it today. the small but now awesome party is next week. i'll post pics.

celebrating easter

the easter bunny and jesus made it quite a weekend for the oak park millers.  we batted a thousand this morning, getting both boys up, finding eggs, surviving jude's chocolate high, getting everyone to church, teaching the 3 year old class, and managing to get the boys posed for a few photos before crashing for their naps.  what a nice easter morning to celebrate. and how fun to hear and see the amazing story of jesus, through the eyes of three and four year olds in the class today.

easter 2012  harry 8 months, jude 3.5

the child models were done for the day by the time kara sat down apparently

the chickens who lay those plastic eggs were busy in barrington.  they had to supply 3500 eggs for the giant easter egg hunt at kara's aunt's church.  jude had hunting after finding about 15 of the yellow ones.  so nice to see the mixter family at the festivities.

on the hunt for yellow eggs                                                                                          

harry and great aunt jan

jude is fascinated by girls in general, but especially his cousins.  our trip to visit cousins andrea and meredith got totaled with the car crash.  so we made it a point to see the mixter girls when they were in town.  jude had a blast learning about the computer games of teenagers.

mallory, hannah and jude

perhaps the best unexpected part of yesterday's visit was...the hill!  that is tiny jude at the top.

 the church apparently has a staff person who hangs out up there to greet the kids, but also help send them back down when mom and dad call.  love it!

big plans

little with big dreams

Jude decided his potty break was a good time to lay out his future for mom recently.

"When I grow up i want to be a fire engine, a fireman, a mechanic, a fixer man and a race car racer."

We hope it all happens little man, whatever you and God decide is the best deal for you.