We're gonna be famous!...maybe

I haven't been blogging as much in the last few weeks. There has been a lot of exciting things going on... but none that I was really ready to blog about!  Plus I haven't had time to blog because I'm using my oodles of 'free-time' to make Christmas stockings.  Growing up, the family Christmas stockings were always my favorite decoration. My Grandmother, Bobo, had made them for us. They were unique, and very special. I wanted my kids to have special stockings too. Every year I scour the stores for stockings that will jump out at me, or have an irresistible feel to them... but to no avail. I figured the only way I would really achieve the same feel was to make them myself.  SO... I am not going to post pictures for you yet.. I will save that for when they are done.  On a side note, the only reason I am on here blogging now instead of sewing is because I strained my eyes working on them!!! I went to the eye doctor, and he suggested I get some reading glasses to wear when sewing.  READING GLASSES??? what am I, 30??!! uggg

The other exciting adventure that has been eating up my oodles of free time is Jack's new JOB! Yep, that's right. Our 4 year old has a 'J' ' O'  'B'.  Shortly after his 4th birthday, we signed Jack up with Hoffman International.  A local model and talent agency.  It was a bit of a scary dive, because there was an investment up front, and a commitment for Jack to take their classes.  I was terrified that it would be a scam, or a giant waste of money.  But Mom and I did as much research as we could, and felt confident that Hoffman was a well-standing, established, and respected agency.  Within a few weeks, Jack has already landed a job. In fact, it was the very first audition we submitted him for!  The job was a video shoot for Ball Jars.  The video isn't out yet, but we are anxious and excited to see it!  The team at Hoffman seem genuinely excited about Jack.  They gave him a fake commercial script to practice, and he memorized it the first night.  He seems to enjoy performing for people, and did great following the directors calls at the job.  He had everyone there laughing.

The stylist dressing Jack before his first scene

My first glimpse of Jack on the TV screen

Jack and his pretend Mom having a moment at the table, with the Ball Jar precariously placed :)

Jack and I modeling for ToastyTote 

So while Jack was getting started at Hoffman, our neighbor has been in the works of getting his "ToastyTote" into production.  He asked if our family would be the talent in his advertisements- both photos and a video.  Why Not!? So now Jack and I's pictures all over facebook, twitter, and other social media as the face of ToastyTote.  I wanted to put more of the pictures on the blog, but can't steal them off the toastytote website.  So you will have to go to www.toastytote.com to check them out!  The video just went up on kickstarter last weekend, and it stars Adam and NonaJane as well.  You can check that out here www.kickstarter.com then search for toastytote.  All this fame and fortune might start going to our heads. Are we famous yet? No!? Well that's cool too.

The photographer took this headshot of us, and was nice enough to email it over to us :) A nice bonus for helping out the neighbor!

I am well aware that there are some varying opinions regarding getting your child into the model/acting industry, but I think it is pretty cool that Jack has a hobby that he enjoys, is talented at, AND makes him good money!  So far it has been an exciting adventure! Plus we are hoping maybe we can bulk up his college fund :)

Mom and I right after the race

Last but not least, I ran my first 5k this past weekend with my Mom.  We had been inspired last month when we watched Ryan finish his first 31 MILE race.  We figured we could start small, and found a neat trail run up in Parkville.  We had a blast, and finished strong!  So this coming weekend, we are thinking we will go ahead and enter in a 4 mile trail race that mom found on the internet.  Not sure either of us will turn into ultra-marathoners... but I can possibly see a half marathon in my future? There was something motivating about seeing all the other runners, and I found myself wanting to try and pass them!  Perhaps I am more competitive than I thought?

Mom jogging across the finish line! 

Say CHEESE!

The running photo...

Notice NonaJane escaping the picture...

My sweet and wild NonaJane has always been more than difficult to get pictures of.  I worried that when she looks back thru photos she will wonder why there are so many of Jack.. and only blurs of her.  I do TRY to include her in pictures, but she is usually less than interested.  Thus the reoccuring picture of her has been with one foot off the ground in mid-run.

But this past week there has been a turn of events!! NonaJane realized that after she says "cheese" and sits still for a milli-second, that she can then SEE herself on the screen!!!  Apparently seeing her cute face is motivating enough to take a picture !  Look at these beauties we captured this week :)  Love it! 

The first time that NonaJane intently looked at the camera AND smiled for me!  When she saw her picture she kept pointing at the picture and yelling "BABY"!

Say "CHEESE!"

Halloween 2013

Jack, Annabelle, Caroline and NonaJane (hidden in back of stroller)

                 I don't always do the best job of celebrating Halloween.  Mostly because the holiday kind of confuses me.  I mean, it seem like it should be for children right?  Kids getting to dress up and trick or treat for candy. But then we decorate with terrifying bloody bodies, ghouls and goblins.  So are we trying to traumatize the kids?  I don't know, it just seems weird.  But that is neither here nor there (look! I had almost forgotten about my attempt to work that saying into every post! Hate to let anyone down...)
SO, Jack dressed up this year as the alien from Toy Story (the one that the claw grabs).  NonaJane was a bumblebee.  No particular reason on either costume... found them at the consignment sale. Wish I had a better background story to that one...

Caroline and NonaJane

We spent Halloween day in Topeka with Jayna and her girls.  We went trick or treating at a strip mall, then the kids made 'mummy' pizzas.   Jayna amazed me by having home made dough for the kids (she always amazes me with her kitchen craftiness).  She let the children use string cheese to decorate their pizzas, making them look like mummies.  Darn cute!


Halloween evening, Johanna came over in true Halloween tradition (Adam has worked on Halloween that last several years and Johanna has made it a fun tradition to come trick or treating with us).  Johanna helped me take the kids around the neighborhood.
Then I ate too much candy.
The end.
Despite my lack of enthusiasm for Halloween, I actually am looking forward to next year! I'm hoping NonaJane can wear my Indian costume from when I was little! I will let Jack choose if he wants to be a cowboy or an Indian as well :)

Johanna, Jack, NonaJane, and our sweet neighbor Jaycee

Jaycee helping NonaJane up the stairs

NonaJane made quite the killing. She distracted them with her cuteness, then would take half their bucket of candy.

 Then the other day I looked out and saw Adam blowing all the leaves together in the backyard. I thought "Wow, he is on top of things! Already cleaning up the yard!" Then, I realized he was blowing them into a pile for the kids to play in.  A week later, the pile has imploded all over the yard, dead leaves askew.  O-well.  Leaves are more fun for playing then shoved in a bag for the trash man to take. Right?

P.S. I also learned that leaves will leave nasty stains on your favorite pink corduroy pants :(

Not knowing the plan, and kind of loving it

Adam and I were talking. Both the kids were asleep, and we found ourselves delving into a deep conversation which does NOT happen nearly as often as it should! It's mostly my fault.  I'm usually too tired and head to bed shortly after the kids do, or am too wrapped up into household chores (which feel like critical issues at the time).  But last night we talked for hours.  It was refreshing, and reassuring.  Realizing it's been almost 6 years of marriage, taking stock of all that has happened, and realizing just how much we are still on the same page.  Reminiscing about the first time we met, and suddenly it DID seem like it was 6 years ago!


We talked about our pride and amazement for our son Jack.  How we dreamed about having a son, and then Jack Wilder came along. He exceeded, no, he blew our dreams out of the water.  We can not believe who he is, what he can do, and how big his heart is.  Could God have made a more beautiful, loving, intelligent, and talented little boy? We think not.  We realized that whenever we talk about our son, our hearts overwhelm us with pride and we can't help but  brag about his astonishing abilities.  And now he is getting older. 4 years old already.  Yesterday Jack and I went to the grocery store by ourselves, and he asked to be carried into the store.  I carried him with joy and pride with his arms wrapped around my neck.  In the back of my mind I thought "I bet people are looking at us thinking- 'why is that woman carrying that big boy?' "  And my heart felt a crack.  But I carried him on because I could.  I love that Jack loves to be held, cuddled and carried.  I hate that those days are numbered.

Then Adam and I both broke into ridiculously huge grins. Our NonaJane. I can't mention her name to another person without breaking into this stupid grin.  NonaJane fills my life with laughter. She likes to enter with the element of shock and surprise. Her natural sense of adventure is overwhelming, and I KNOW that our future with NonaJane will be full of endless blog posts. A future of the unexpected, the type of memories that make life beautiful. She keeps us on our toes, and forcefully pulls me out of my comfort zone.  She is SMART. She is DETERMINED. Her personality is all consuming.  I don't know what to expect with NonaJane, I can't see what her future holds, because I already know that she will not let us mold her or determine which path she will take.  I think I had just better grab hold of her reigns and hold on tight.  It's going to be  a wild ride. One I would like to direct and control... but yea right, I can't even keep her off the kitchen table.

I do know the future with Jack and NonaJane will bring amazing moments and beautiful adventures, but I can't help but realize my babies are slipping away. Thus I wonder... will there, could there, should there, be one more baby in store for our family?

Adam Paul, I'm so glad we are in this adventure together.  I'm so glad you are my leading man. I don't know what our next chapter will be, BUT, I'm finally at a point in my life where I am beginning to appreciate the unknown.  I am content to take a step into tomorrow not knowing the title, not knowing the exact plan.  Let's not always take the straight and wide path. Thank you for helping me to be adventurous, thank you for filling my life with LOVE.

Camping!!!

Mema and Papa!

Last weekend we went on our first camping trip with BOTH sets of grandparents! My Mom and Dad recently purchased their first camper, and we were all very excited to have them join us.  We reserved three pull thru sites all side by side. One for our pop up, one for Adam's parents, and the third for my Mom and Dad.  We all  met in Independence Kansas where Ryan was going to run a 50k trail race.  Yes, that is 31 miles over cliffs, rocks, mud, trees etc.  I know, I think he has been hanging out with the wrong crowd. But what can you do?

Breakfast of champions!

Looking for Ryan

Saturday while Ryan was out running (for 11 hours) the rest of us spent the day at our campsite, ate some food, went on walks, played at the playground, and then headed up to the finish line to greet Ryan as he finished.  I had never been to a race before, and was surprised by how exciting it was to cheer on the runners as they came in! It was unbelievable to think about the accomplishment they had all achieved. Just amazing to think that anyone would be so determined as to run for hours, in the rain... for  really no reason at all!! They did get a medal of some sort... but I'm pretty sure you can get medals for much easier tasks! haha!  Anyways, we all anxiously waited and anticipated his arrival.  I think he calculated how to get the most excitement out of the race by waiting till the absolute LAST minute to make his arrival! They had to finish in under 11 hours to be considered a 'finisher' and Ryan came in at 10 hours, 59 minutes and 41 seconds!!! We were all yelling "RUN!!!"" and cheering and ringing those silly cowbells.  We weren't sure if he was going to punch us, or if he loved us :)

Finisher!!

Jack and Grandpa

Saturday night we invited Ryan to forgo his tent and share Jack's bed in the camper.  He seemed happy to avoid sleeping on the ground, but didn't get much sleep anyways.  I think his body was in a little bit of shock.  He shivered and said he was freezing despite the space heater, 3 blankets, a hoodie sweatshirt and jeans.

NonaJane helping Ryan tear down the tent

On Sunday, we headed over to the city park, which turned out to be AWESOME. They had a free zoo, train rides, and an old carousel for 5 cents a person!  The zoo was impressive! We saw monkeys, a bear, macaws, giant tortoises, and more. We even got to play putt putt (Jacks FAVORITE pastime) and it was only a $1 a person.  Seriously, Independence Kansas knows how to provide a GREAT park!
We are all excited to go back to Independence Kansas for another camping trip.  It is pretty equal driving distance for us all, so a nice place to meet. Ryan says he is going to run the trail run again next year.. so we will be there with our bells on (cow bells that is).

NonaJane in her rain/mud boots. Does it get any cuter? I think not

Gathering at the finish line. Keeper joined us too :)

Grandma and Grandpa's set up

Our fancy camper. Mema had a great shot of our camper looking nice and 'white trashy' in the morning after an animal tore into our garbage. It was spread all around the camper. Nice.. real nice

Mema and Papa's set up

Siblings

Jack and NonaJane are entering a new phase of 'sibling-hood'. NonaJane is no longer 'the baby'.  She doesn't have to drink milk all the time, she doesn't try to eat/choke on all of Jack's toys (Well kind of. She does like to chew and slobber on them, but she doesn't try to actually EAT them anymore.)  She can walk, run, talk, dance, climb, celebrate, and PLAY!  Jack and NonaJane are finally really playing together.  The other day they sat in Jack's room and played with his trains for over 30 minutes without any type of prodding from me.  NonaJane thinks Jack is hilarious, and she has the wildest sense of humor. I mean, she laughs when he knocks her over, when he screams in her ear, when he tries to run from her, or lock her in the pantry.... wait a minute. Those are all bad things.  Weird.  I know, but they actually do have a good time too.  He makes silly noises and faces, then she tries to imitate them.  He taught her how to blow bubbles in the bathtub, how to make all the little toys and gadgets open and close, how to make a really tall tower- then how to kick it into oblivion.  He seems to be getting the big brother thing down. We find ourselves yelling at him a lot to be 'GENTLE', or to 'QUIT trying to rip your sister's arm off'!  But despite these actions, NonaJane adores her brother Jack about as much as I do.  Which is why I try so desperately to explain to him that whatever he does, she wants to do.  If he hits, then she hits. If he screams, she screams.  I never had this pressure when I was little because I too was the baby sister. I have spent my life adoring my big brothers, so I know how much Jack really means to her.  It breaks my heart when I see him treat her badly, but I know she doesn't see it.  She can't see anything but the good in him.  Jack has already become her hero.  The other day I sent him to time-out after he hit her.  He was crying, so without hesitation, Nona went and joined him in timeout.  She had forgiven him before he ever even hit her.
Having a second child definitely came with extra stress and work, but the sense of pride and joy I see in my children has grown exponentially.

playing chase...in her bumblebee costume

lounging in their movie chairs

 This girl knows how to party. Giant hello kitty ice-cream wasn't enough, we had to get in the swing too :) Trust me, this did not end well. Luckily we were outside... no harm done.
An update on NonaJane: she is now 16 1/2 months old and according to the doctors office she is in the 96% for height (thinking they must have mis-measured... she doesn't look that tall to us).  She weighs in at 20 pounds (roughly 30%).  Her vocabulary is ever expanding, but her list so far includes: Mom, Dad, mess, Jack Jack, Nona, NO, uh oh, yes, this, hi, bye, done, cheese (for taking pictures), more, ball, duck, quack, door, dog, and go.  It seems like she is starting to mimic all kinds of words. Each day it is so much fun waiting to see what she will say next!

Riviera Maya! August 31st - September 6th

On our way to dinner

Against better judgement, we went to Mexico.

Not a very upbeat way to start a post about a family vacation, but true!  With Adam's Dad recently recovering from heart surgery, and our wallets recently suffering from replacing the air conditioner... the better reasoning would have been to stay home.  BUT after 9 months of anticipation, we just couldn't let it go! After hours of scouring the internet (thank you MOM) we all booked a 'last minute deal' on bookit.com  (you know the commercial... "right booking now") we hit the "bookit" button and said ADIOS to our dollars. What good is money right? "Can't take it with you when you die" they say.  Let's just not live by that theory everyday.  A little planning for the future never hurt anybody.
So, we excitedly packed our bags (I saved us on the baggage fees by cramming everything into 1 ginormous checked bag, and 4 carry ons. We eeeked by as it was under the 50 pound mark by a few ounces.)  We picked up my Mom and Dad on the way, and were off to the airport.  Our flights there were filled with excitement and anticipation for the vacation. NonaJane was a bit antsy, but manageable.  Jack was perfect and even took a nap.  

Airplane fun

We landed in Cancun without a hitch until the security team decided that I needed to be pulled aside for an extra search (apparently my 50 pound bag brought on some suspicions).  The rest of the family was escorted thru the frosted sliding glass doors while I was held behind.  Mom, Dad, Adam and the kids lined up on the other side with their noses pressed against the glass to watch them search my bag. I remember thinking how cute and funny they all looked, perhaps I should take a picture... but then my daydreaming was interrupted by ear piercing shrieks and the sound of my son's arm being plastered between two pieces of glass.  The automatic door had opened to let someone thru, and did not stop when it started to slide over my son who had not seen it coming.  Luckily Adam, who stays calm and acts fast, grabbed the door and preyed Jack free.  The security guards were so flustered and shocked (either by My Mom's earth shattering scream or by the sight of Jack's little 3 year old arm flattened between the glass) that they let me go without searching my bag.  So we calmed ourselves, gathered our luggage and headed for the doors.  Hoping this would be the only bad part of our trip.
We were met by our van (which we also reserved on bookit.com) and safely taken to our resort (they even had the car seat we requested!)  Unfortunately when we arrived it was too dark to see anything... we ate dinner at the buffet and were taken to our rooms. Although the rooms looked  lovely, Mom and Dad's air conditioner was not working. Mom was less than pleased and after an hour of haggling with the front desk and the repair man, we were moved down the hall to side by side rooms (with fully functioning air conditioners).  We still had no idea what our view would be, or where the ocean was.  When we woke up in the morning, we were greeted by this!

The view from our balcony

Sunday was a partly cloudy but lovely day.  We enjoyed the pools, the ocean, and the buffets.  We watched the weather report and were pleased to see that there was only a "30%" chance of rain the rest of the week! The picture had a happy looking sun with a few clouds scattered here and there. We all had positive attitudes about the scattered showers, and kept taking inventory of our sunscreen and hats. Besides, everyone that worked there kept assuring us that it would be "sunny tomorrow" (with thick spanish accents).  Well apparently the weather channel, and everyone who worked there were in cahoots to keep the guests happy and calm.  Because a "30%" chance of rain really meant "pouring buckets for the next 2 and a 1/2 days." It was a TROPICAL DEPRESSION.

Dad, Me, and NonaJane in the rain

The wind blew the canvas right off of the umbrella!

I will admit that I had to get pretty frustrated and ticked off about the rain before I was able to move on. I even made my mom look to see if a tropical depression was enough to claim our travel insurance and head the hell home!  It wasn't.  SO, time to suck it up and play in the rain!
We caught a taxi and headed over to Playa Del Carman to do some shopping.  

Me and Jack shopping, Adam in the background

Perhaps we had some bad karma, because the sun came out as soon as we got there, just to ensure that it would be hotter than haiti while we perused the shops.  We did get some really cool souvenirs including a hammock, a sombrero, and hand made bracelets with the kids name in them (we had him do 'JACK' first, then blindsided him with 'NONAJANE'). 

Jack enjoying his souvenirs

While we were there, we also were offered a catamaran excursion from Cancun to La Isles Mujeres for the entire family for $100.  My Dad has always told me "If it sounds too good to be true, than it IS."  Well, I think I was so frustrated by the rain that my judgement had been clouded. But for some reason I had a gut feeling to go with it.  The man "Poncho" told us that if we came with him to tour another resort, that he would give us a free taxi ride back to our own resort (that would save us $30 bucks right there) as well as the family excursion for $100 ( a savings of several hundred).    So what would any sane person do while in Mexico with their young innocent children of 1 and 3 years?  We went with PONCHO.

small Mayan ruin at the resort we toured

Poncho took us to a very nice Van, the nicest one we had been in the whole trip.  The Taxi driver was very polite, and was driving with more care than any of our other drivers had done.  We were all starting to settle in, feeling relaxed, when I noticed the flashing lights of a police car behind us.  Our driver attempted to ignore him for a mile or so, before being forced to pull to the side.  My parents and Adam looked ghastly.  My Mom started telling us her plans to run from the taxi and take refuge in the nearby restaurant.  My Dad started fuming that this was all part of a scam. The taxi driver and the cop started arguing in Spanish... and time SLOWLY ticked on.  Turned out that the cop was corrupt, and was looking to be paid off.  The taxi driver refused to pay him and the cop ended up writing him a ticket for speeding at 140 km/hr.  We know for a fact our driver was not speeding, and this made me feel so terrible for him.  He was very polite upon re-entering the taxi, and took us safely to our destination.  He also gave me a new sense of pride and appreciation for the United States of America.
The resort we toured ended up being beautiful.  They had some Mayan ruins on their property, as well as some exotic birds, tropical fish, and lush jungle.  They of course tried to get us to buy into their club membership (and it really was a pretty good deal!) but we politely declined.  They provided us the free taxi to our resort and informed us that a shuttle would pick us up at 8 am to take us to the catamaran.

Jack and NonaJane in our room, posing with our towel elephant

They provided us with a very nice crib for NonaJane

Wednesday morning we woke up bright and early, grabbed a buffet breakfast and hiked ourselves to the resort gait.  When we got there a taxi was waiting! We piled in and couldn't believe it! They really were taking us to the catamaran even though we didn't buy the membership :)  We got a 1/2 mile down the road when our conversation with the driver and escort became jumbled.  After some confusion, we realized they were meant to pickup a different family! They whipped around and dumped us out on the curb at our resort.  My hopes were dashed. It was 8:05, and I had given up that our shuttle would come.   Low and behold, about 8:10 a shuttle pulled in. The driver hopped out and yelled out "Schwatken?"  HAHA! We were off.
WHO knew, it sounded too good to be true, was probably the stupidest thing I've ever done, and yet it worked out!

Mema, Papa, and Jack (napping) on the catamaran

NonaJane having a melt down on the catamaran

posing for a photo before heading back to Cancun

The marina at La Isla Mujeres

The beautiful turquoise waters

Thursday was Adam's BIRTHDAY.  It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day! We spent the whole day at the pool and the beach.  My Dad and I started to get an upset stomach late in the afternoon which we blamed on sun and too much alchohol.  I went to bed early, and Adam headed out to the sports bar to see the opening season Denver Broncos game.  He ended up having a wonderful evening with people from Great Britain, Scotland, and Washington D.C.  They stayed out till 3 AM, and treated him to a wonderful birthday celebration (easy to do at an all inclusive bar!)

NonaJane enjoying a non-alchoholic Mango Tango

a non-blurry photo of NonaJane running!

Friday morning we had our last hooray at the beach and pools before catching our shuttle back to the airport.  The end of a trip is always bitter sweet.  We were all anxious to get back to the safety of the United States, but were wishing we could stay to enjoy another beautiful sunny day in the Riviera Maya.

Papa, Adam, Jack and I waiting for the shuttle back to the airport

Overall, Adam and I are so thankful that we were able to take this trip with our children and my parents. My Mom and Dad mean the world to me, and getting to share these adventures and experiences with them is irreplaceable.  My parents really have ended up being my closest friends, my counselors, my 'go-to' people, and they continue to make me feel safe, loved, and special everyday. I don't think a day went by on the trip that Adam or I didn't say "Thank goodness my parents came with us!" Maybe some of these memories were not FUN in the making, but I think they may end up being the MOST memorable in the long run.
The only thing that could have made it better... the REST of our family there with us!