Bubbles in the bathtub

When I was giving Lucy a bath the other morning she told me “Mom, a bubble just came out of my bum” I hate all words describing that phenomena but I think I could live with the term “bubble”

One Handedness

Since becoming a mom, I have learned to do many things one handed. With each child I seem to pick up some new "one handed" skills. By the time we are finished having children I might not need the other one at all.

I was making a chocolate mint pie the other day (a family favorite) and was using the hand mixer in one hand and simultaneously cracked two eggs into the chocolate mousse. I then realized I had done the eggs one handed--and without even thinking about it. No eggshells, no real effort on my part. It just happened....just like that. I couldn't stop smiling--I have come A LONG way in the kitchen and that just proved it.

It's never been a goal of mine...to crack an egg open with one hand. I don't even have any aspirations to be a great mastermind in the kitchen...but I guess it just feels good to progress.

Hair Cuts

A while back, Owen's hair was starting to approach mullet status, so I decided to trim just a little off the back. (I thought the front and top were still fine). He squirmed around A LOT, so it ended up a little shorter then I wanted but when I called Kurt in to get his approval he couldn't stop laughing. I had thought I'd done alright, until I saw Kurt's reaction. Then the more I looked at it, the funnier it looked to me too. Owen went from approaching mullet to the BULL cut in its entirety. Kurt pulled out his clippers and tried to soften the lines a little....he did what he could and at least it helped.


When it came time to cut Lucy's hair we went straight to the salon. She looks cute and I think this shorter bouncy new hair is going to lighten her load and cut back on some of the long blonde curly hair attitude she was throwing at me all last month :)

The "BULL"

Kurt's attempted remedy

Lucy's "before shots"

Lucy's "after shot"

The review post--a PICTURE frenze

Kurt's tie-dye Easter eggs

Lucy counting and arranging them all

Green Eggs and Pancakes on St. Patricks day--

Lucy thinks pancakes should always be colorful now

The birthday cake Kurt made for me--no my birthday was not in October :)

Lucy is into the silly faces for the camera

"Cool" hair day

Owen stopped growing about 6 months ago, but he doesn't let that stop him!

NO counter too high

No book is too big

NO space too OPEN


But being small does have some advantages

Another bright moment in my day!

Owen's first ride in the front facing car seat
He couldn't contain his excitement--and it went on for at least 10 minutes

Angus Udell Blackham

Grandpa

Grandpa Blackham passed away a few weeks ago. Lucy, Owen and I hopped on a plane to Utah and enjoyed being with most of our extended family members during the funeral. I wished Kurt could be with us through it all.

I love my grandpa so much. I’m glad that I know I will be with him again some day and his body won’t be so broken down then. After the funeral luncheon everyone went home to give little kids naps and then we all got back together again in the evening (my family can never seem to get enough of each other). We watched old videos of past reunions or holiday gatherings and laughed ourselves to tears. One highlight was watching Grandpa strut across the front of our annual Blackham Christmas program in his neon green spandex and running shorts. It was so out of the norm for him, we all thought it was hysterical. In high school when I was assigned to write a paper about someone whom I admired, I chose to write about my Grandpa. I think I titled it “His Hands.” My grandpa was a chemistry professor at Brigham Young University and the chemicals severally irritated his hands, which may have already had exema. Anyway, his hands didn’t look quite right to me as a child, but I loved his hands anyways, and I was so proud of him for doing this important job that “ruined” his hands. He was such a gentle, loving, and fun Grandpa….he truly always had a twinkle in his eyes, an endless reservoir of patience, and the sweetest disposition.

Two stories from my grandpa’s life stand out to me as a testament of what trying to align your life after the example of Jesus Christ can do for your character. These two experiences are just drops in the bucket of his life, but speak loudly about the great man he was becoming. At one time my Grandpa was serving as Bishop for his ward (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.) There was a family under his care in need of a car and he lent them his own car. A few weeks later the police called my Grandpa informing him that his car had been crashed an abandoned and that he needed to remove it. My grandpa’s response to this was not anger towards this family. He was glad it had happened to him and not to someone else because he could go forward without feeling resentment towards that family.

On another occasion he was helping edit one of his daughters wedding announcements. He looked at the Dr. Blackham and quietly crossed out the Dr. replacing it with Mr. He said something like, ‘my profession has nothing to do with my daughter’s marriage.’ But when he served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints he gladly wore the title of Elder.

A few things I will miss....

• seeing grandpa napping in the middle of the floor as we wander or converse around him
  
• watching grandpa give the old cubscout sign (two fingers up in the air) trying to quiet our large and talkative group for a prayer
• Seeing him in his woodworking/tool shed
  
• falling for my grandpas trick for the 100th time--at a family gathering a friendly hand is placed on your shoulder when you turn to look all you get is a finger in your cheek. Thanks grandpa. I mean thanks AGAIN grandpa.
  
• His infectious smile and chuckle. He is so quick to give a smile or that familiar chuckle!
• Sharing pie and an inspiring conversation with Grandma and Grandpa at their "breakfast bar"
• Watching grandpa delight in all the little children running around
  
• His gentle hugs
• Watching he and my grandma holding hands

Mirror Face

As I was getting ready for church Sunday morning Kurt came into the bathroom and told me I was doing my “mirror face.” He said I kind of have a pose when I am doing my hair or what not. I started laughing…(embarrassed!) It’s something that must happen unconsciously but when he said that, I thought—“I do.” The rest of the time I was in there if Kurt walked by I tried to look very candid and then we would just laugh.

Do you have a “mirror face” ????

An opportunity to embarrass Kurt

I imagine Kurt won’t get all that much showcasing on this blog so I had to take advantage of this. He starred in the article for being a “poor” student with a family. :) Go Kurt!

Lift the Chorus: Cornell Stories

Fellowship support helped Kurt Johnson prioritize his family and his education.

Kurt Johnson

For Kurt Johnson, being one of three 2008 Lawrence K. Williams Fellows at the ILR School means he can study at his first choice for graduate school without compromising the financial future of his wife and two young children.

"The fellowship means affordability," says Johnson. "Anybody can take out student loans, but when you have two kids and who knows, over the course of the next two years, maybe a third, and hefty student loans, it just bogs you down. It would take us 10 to 15 years to pay that debt down. It's not a decision I was comfortable with."

The Provo, Utah, native just completed his first semester in the Master of Industrial Labor Relations program. Before Cornell, Johnson spent four years in China, where he worked in human resources for Beijing United Family Hospital, and later, for a start-up company called Language Calls that provides one-on-one language instruction online.

"It was there at the start-up company in particular that I realized, 'Here I am, heading up HR by myself with no real HR talent around me to lead and guide me,'" says Johnson. "I realized I wanted to go back to school."

Johnson, who earned a business degree at Brigham Young University, met several Cornell alumni in China who told him that if he wanted to study human resources Cornell was the place to go.

"Cornell is the right school," he says. "I absolutely love it. What I've been impressed with most is the interaction I get not only with faculty who are world renowned in HR, but the executives who come from Fortune 500 companies. Over the course of the past three months here I've met 12 different heads of HR. I don't think I could have had that kind of experience anywhere else."

When he finishes at Cornell, Johnson says he hopes to join a corporation with a reputation for excellent human resources practices, learn what he can, and then move into a smaller company where he can have a greater impact.

The Williams Fellowships were established through a $1.5 million bequest from the late Professor Emeritus Lawrence K. Williams, who served for a quarter century as the ILR School's director of graduate studies. Johnson recently met Williams's partner, Professor Emerita Jeanne Mueller, at the unveiling of a plaque in Williams's honor at the school. Mueller has also contributed to the Williams Fellowship endowment.

"She was open, offered her contact information, and really welcomed any contact we wanted to have," Johnson says. He hopes to introduce Mueller to his wife, Melanie, and their children, 3-year-old Lucy and 1-year-old Owen, before he completes his studies.

"I want to thank her, do anything we can for her, and let her know what the fellowship has meant to us," says Johnson. "Without the fellowship, I would have gone somewhere else and received what I'd consider a second-class education."

If you notice the last line you will find that he got a little cocky towards the end of the interview!! Apparently if you’ve gone to any other school besides Cornell he considers your education “second class,” He claims to have never said that…but if the shoe fits....

But really I enjoy watching Kurt go through his experience here. It is great to have him back at school; it is something he has wanted for a long time. And despite that last line in the article :) he is keeping pretty humble and down to earth through it all…I am making sure of that!

3 day sweats

I've been wearing the same sweat suit for three days straight. I guess I saw people doing this all the time in China and it was kind of liberating. I did get a shower in the other day, but the doorbell rang as I was toweling off so I threw the same sweats back on and they stayed. I had to take Lucy to preschool but decided since it is a sweat "suit" (matching) and velor, it should be fine. When we got home Lucy said "You came to my school in your pajamas?"

I went to Book Club Tues. night, and a friends house the next day...the same friend that I went to book club with the night before in the same sweats. I've had every intention of showering and finally getting something new to wear today especially as I've noticed last nights rice sticking to the bottoms and Owens leftovers on my top left shoulder (sorry if I am grossing anyone out) but Owen and I have been sick with colds all through this and nothing is getting done in a hurry. I haven't had my shower yet today, but I did finally change out of my sweats 15 minutes ago when Owen threw up on them. Who knows how long it would have gone on otherwise :)

I hope we are all feeling better soon. Maybe I'll feel like wearing clothes again!

Water Beds

The other day our downstairs neighbor was draining some water out of her “ancient” waterbed, looking for a leak. It brought me back to the day my brother and I got into my dad’s tackle box and poked dozens?? of wholes in my parents king sized water bed with fishing hooks. What were we thinking??…. I’ll tell you what I was thinking, ‘this is so cool to push this sharp thing into that thick but soft plastic so far down and slowly pull it out.’ I was 6 or 7 years old!! My parents had SO much patience! Then there was the time I snuck into my dad's room when he was napping and gave him a little hair cut "Melanie style" poor guy. I think of all the experimental concoctions my friends and I would make up with all the bathroom supplies or the time I dropped a 2 liter soda pop all over the kitchen floor, and I realize that WOW! Just because your kids aren't toddlers anymore doesn't mean things are smooth sailing from there. But I'm sure it will all be fun enough!

Me--6 or 7 years old--we are not sure which because

I am a middle child :)

Candyland

If you ever want a sure win come play candyland with Lucy. She picks out all the candy people cards before the game starts. These are the only cards she plays with. So while you are slowly but steadily making your way to the top she is rotating all around the board from character to character. I win every day! And yes we do play every day! At least it’s been a long time since I’ve felt the disappointment of almost making it to King Kandy and then pulling the gingerbread card!

Owens kisses

Owen is a cuddly loving little guy to begin with but this morning he was feeling something special. For some reason he could not stop smiling at me, hugging me or nestling into my shoulder, patting my back, kissing me, and then another smile, hug, pat and cuddle again. It’s been too cute. He is such a “mini” and fits right into me like a little bear cub. He gave me a lot of trouble the first 8 months of his life, but right now he is kind of perfectly cute in every way. That said, I still LOVE nap and bed time! I guess too much of even the cutest stuff can feel like overload.

Snack--Overboard

It was my turn to prepare Lucy’s snack for preschool. And it was green day…lets just say when I handed over my four containers full of food the teachers mouths gaped a little and one of them said “you could have just stopped with the cereal and apples.” My spinach tortilla turkey wraps, cucumbers, green apples slices, and all the green colored apple jacks I could get out of the whole box of cereal (they are almost all orange) was a little much I guess! In my defense it was my first time and I really miss teaching preschool.

Pre-school

Lucy started school this last week. I never intended for her to start this spring, but there she is. YEAH!......AHHHHHHH! For the past several months Lucy has been telling everyone she will go to Kindergarten when she is 5 years old, and asks me all the time "when will I turn 5?" She has many friends in this particular class that will be moving on next year so I thought having them in the class would help her transition smoothly since going to our church "nursery" class was anything but smooth.

For the past week or two I've been prepping her for preschool. Informing her she will have to show me that she can share with friends, be a good listener to the teachers, try new things etc.
She readily agrees to everything! When I told her I would miss her while she was gone she said "I will come back right after, don't worry about it mom." Boy have we come a long way since the 'nursery' experiences.

When we walked in the pre-school, Lucy was greeted by several friends including her good friend Madeline who is in the picture with her. When I picked Lucy up the teachers mentioned that Lucy spent most of her free time in the dramatic play area--suprise suprise. I imagine she will be their most of the semester :). Maybe that means that eventually she will be a good little helper for me at home.

p.s. For any of you who felt guilty that I said I would miss my little girl while she was gone for just two short hours a few days a week, don't be fooled. It is only half true. I am thrilled to have her playing with friends, being outside, having story times and art activities all of which I don't have to do ANYTHING for! However this is a big milestone, she is now having all these times away from home and has reached a new level of independence. She is growing up, so of course I am going to in part miss that cute little Lucy of the past three years that is now a school going girl.

Valentines Day

I taped these hearts on the side of Lucy's door so they would be the first things she
saw when she woke up in the morning. Well at 7:00 O'clock
Lucy walked into our room a little groggy still and said in this little angel voice,
"I love the Beautiful Hearts on my door."
Then she climbed into bed with us. Best part of my day!

Kurt enjoying the Heart Shaped pancakes that HE perfected
after my many failed attempts

Go Big Red!

Am I cheering because we are finally on a DATE or because I really want Cornell's Hockey team to win??? It turns out both. Hockey has never been a huge part of our lives....but it is the big sport here at Cornell so we decided to check it out. I loved it! I am typically not so outspoken in my opinions...but here goes nothing, I thought it was way more interesting to watch then Amercian Football, and the energy in the crowd was amazing. I appreciated the school bands more then I ever had, they were the true "cheerleaders" at this match. Do you even call it a match?? Ugggg this computer makes me feel so vulnerable. My postings are just going to be painful to get through for awhile until I get that hang of this. Kurt and I were standing for most of the game because we just didn't want to miss a thing. If you are a sports fan keep reading...if not this part will be boring. Cornell was ahead most of the game, and were up by one point. With 45 seconds left in the game (the couple sitting in front of us had just left) the other team scores. "Over-time" we all thought and then 30 seconds later the other team scores again and wins the game. It took some time to sink in. Everyone was so shocked, it was befuddling. I am amazed at what adrenaline can do for the human body. I am amazed at what coming from behind can do for a team. All those dynamics of sportmanship and teamwork do fascinate me. It was a great night....thanks Melissa for babysitting!

p.s. Kurt's favorite part of the night might have been when I was posing for that picture with my mouth agape and cheering-- forever! until our friend discovered it was on the record button. It's an awesome little video clip, let me tell you.

Owen's first birthday

Owen was awesome--he had his hand in the cake before the plate even hit the table and he didn’t stop. He was MESSY!! He is such a boy and Lucy is such a girl. Blake and Maya (Kurt’s nephew and niece) thought it was hilarious to watch a baby dig in like that and after the cake was taken away Blake mentioned this was the best birthday part he had ever been too. It is a good tradition--thank you to whoever started it!

Other Owen highlights would include Owens special drinking habits. The poor kid can’t swallow; he chokes on everything and tries to solve it by just drinking more and more--this creates a sprinkler effect shooting from the two corners of his mouth, drenching himself and anyone on either side of him. This has proven to be a problem in Ithaca’s cold weather. Just yesterday he left a restaurant with shirts and pants soaked through. Owen started walking and mastered the stairs while we were staying with Grandma and Grandpa; he is short and just little so it is fun to watch him toddle around. He tries to sing along with me when I put him to sleep but it comes out as more of a moan, it is a good effort though. He likes to lead the music and as far as dancing goes, he has perfected head banging—even if its hymns. Owen loves to look at books and talks on one of his many phones often throughout the day. He has a toothbrush fetish--he owns at least five, but still always just wants mine. He and Lucy are starting to play together more, and the sound of their laughter brightens my days.

Mel's family at the Cabin

The great year of digging out the Cabin -- walkway, driveway, a good chunk of the actual ROAD!

after all the shoveling 

I had forgot my suit!

This time I borrowed a suit from Cami

Suckered in to jumping into the snow

Colemans Turn

Kaden stayed in the snow the longest

Lucy and Mikelle, helping each other up and over the couch arm chair over and over and over

More fun in the hot tub