Dude's First Hurricane

Ok...it's our first hurricane too. A few months ago, MomV & Marc asked us to come down to Gulf Shores to stay at the new house and introduce the dude to life at the white sandy beach. We couldn't turn them down, especially given the promise of home made seafood feasts. We arrived on Friday afternoon after our first successful layover with the dude. Our first day was spent swimming in an extremely calm ocean and playing on the pristine beach. The calm before the storm.

Today we woke up to cloudy skies, but warm temps. As we swam in the pool and walked around the wharf, other nut cases were boarding up their homes and storefronts, taking boats out of the water and packing their bags as if a hurricane was coming. Well, I guess it is. It started raining about an hour ago, but that's all the hype we've seen so far. The smoke alarms going off as we tried frying fish in the kitchen has caused more ruckus than Gustav, the friendly hurricane. It really was quite a sight. The alarm is directly outside the Dude's bedroom, making it sound like a fire truck was running through his bedroom. Marc is on a ladder, cutting wires simply to make it shut up, Mom and Tim are running around trying to find the code to quiet the system and I'm holding my finger over the electric current causing the constant beeping from the alarm box. Meanwhile, the dude slept. Never made a peep. Yet, us adults acted like the house was burning down and if we didn't quiet the alarm, we all would have evaporated into thin air. It was all worth it though...that was the best fish to be had in the state of Alabama.

Back to the hurricane....We'll see what tomorrow brings....we won't be able to get home for sure, but are planning on flying out of Pensacola on Tuesday morning, connecting through Houston and calling it a day. We'll post more info with photos when we get back to the Mile High City. But for all those terribly worried about our well being and safety, please don't fret. We'll continue to enjoy fresh seafood on the deck, watch 24 hours of Gustav coverage, laugh at all the crazy people fleeing the area and weather this hurricane yet.

GO-GO-GO

Nothing like jammin' in a bunch of F-U-N is one day. On Saturday we started the morning with some packing, dropped off a car-load of "very nice junk that someone I'm sure will be honored to grace their home with" at Goodwill, partied, 1 year old style, at neighbor Liv's birthday party at the park, napped & packed some more. (The moving process is still smooth sailing).

Liv was lovin' the sugar extravaganza...unlike our dude at his 1st b-day party!

Neighbors Mike, Stacy & Emma (we'll miss them!)

Tim then went to his yearly football draft with a bunch of pumped up dudes. From 3pm-2am they drink (not juice), eat pizza, shoot BB guns, play poker, get all of their childish banter and giggling out of their systems for the year, punch fences, punch each other...yeah. It's a day they all look forward to and rightly so. Us ladies had a pretty rockin evening as well! We drank (juice), ate Chinese, let PR play with a toy gun, played paddy cake, listened to childish banter and giggling from the kiddos and did our best to prevent our children from punching each other. The difference between the sexes is really quite extraordinary, isn't it? And yet we all had lovely evenings and will remember them fondly. For very different reasons I'm sure.

Dude got to play at 2 parks today...that's a good day.

Cutie pie Nolan laughed hysterically for a good 10 minutes at his buddy (Dude) on the swings.

All the kids were screaming "Ahhh!" during this pictures and little Nolan wanted nothing more than to be rescued.

A Real Kick in the Pants

Josh Blue poses with my work clan.

9NEWS' Susie Wargin, me and my bud Kimmy

There's been one day in my life that I can remember my face hurting from excess smiling/laughing. My wedding day. Last night marked #2. Why? Josh Blue, previous winner of the tv show Last Comic Standing, took stage at the Joe Sakic Dinner event for my work. He has cerebral palsy and uses that fact in providing some of the best comedy you'll ever hear. I'm pretty sure most everyone in the room peed their pants just a little bit at some point of his act. It's pretty cool to spend a night fighting hunger with Denver hockey all-star Joe and his wife Debbie, but it's even cooler to laugh like a freakin' hyena for about half hour straight. Everyone needs that luxury from time to time.

Joe Sakic, Kristina (work gal) & Josh Blue

Tim and I had a great night out...there was an auction item with my name all OVER it that we bought...it'll provide 3 dinners out on the town at rockin' steak houses (it's my favorite meal after all...really...I can down a 12 ouncer complete with side dishes in 4 minutes, 28 seconds flat).

The evening raised a bunch of moolah to provide meals to kids who wouldn't otherwise eat on a daily basis, so it's a very good thing. I love the fact that I get to be a part of such an awesome cause and get paid to do what I love to do while I'm at it. Lucky girl am I.

Yes, I had hot high hair. Tim's initial reaction was that I looked really tall. I said, "thanks."

Tubbin'

When I tell the dude that it's "tubbie time," he runs to the stairs, starts climbing and stands next to his bathtub grunting and pointing until I arrive. We dump the green bin of bath toys in immediately and the kid goes to town lining up each item (typically while sucking on one), throwing each and every one out and insisting that I put them all back in so we can start the process all over again. His favorite thing to do is throw the large cups, filled with water, at me. One of these days I'll wise up and throw on a parka. I took some cute shots of him this past weekend that I feel inclined to share. Enjoy!

Growin' Up and Movin' On

Dude is a real barrel of laughs lately. He's truly becoming a little man. He dances around, jumps, screeches at the very top of his lungs, repeats random words and sounds, counts everything in sight (in his own numerical language), blows kisses, gets pure enjoyment out of doing exactly what we tell him not to, learned how to pull a GiGi K face as evidenced above, found a new love in Dad's new XBOX...he immediately caught on to how that technology worked. The list goes on. Every day he exhibits his boyness more and more.




Second note of business....we sold our house and are moving in less than a month! I know. We didn't think it would actually happen, but it only took 6 weeks and bam! Done. We love the new house we're under contact with, but are trying not to get too excited until all the nitty gritty details are worked out with inspections, appraisals etc. This will be our fourth home purchase in 7 years...what are we thinking????? Livin' on the edge. That's how Jim and Nan raised me!

One more item to share....the video below shows how much rain we got this past weekend. It poured for 48 hours straights (almost unheard of in Denver). Our gentle creek became a rushing river and the dude found that to be a highlight of his young life. The day after we shot this video he was in the river, running around, falling and inserting sand in every crevice imaginable. Lovely.

A Day in the Life

We didn't know just how much fun one little dude could supply our lives. The giggling is contagious...the insistence of crawling over the slightest crack in the sidewalk is annoyingly endearing...the dizzying break dancing continues to crack us up...the rough housing is just what Mile High Dad has always dreampt of...the love of hiking (rather, cashing out in the backpack while Mom and Dad hike) is a family favorite...each day is something different. It's pretty amazing how one little person can take over 2 grown adults lives and hearts.

I Was Tagged

Normally I wouldn't sit down to write a blog about myself, but I was tagged (twice) to write 5 random things that my blog audience might not already know about me. Here is goes.

1. I despise the process of moving and swear after every move that this it IT. I will NEVER pack another box again. Yet, I currently find myself cleaning the house for another showing this evening. Realtor.com has become my closest cyber space compadre and we already have the house picked out that we'll purchase once this bad boy sells.



2. I still find myself waking up in the middle of the night, jumping out of bed, pounding on Tim and asking where the dude is. You see, when you all the sudden have a baby in your house, with 7 days warning, you freak out from time to time. Tim will then wake up and start crawling around on the floor, lifting up pillows and clothes to find him. Eventually we wake up enough to realize that he's in his crib sound asleep, as he has been every single time. The kid has never slept in our room once. Yet, we continue (I continue) to believe that he's stuck under the pile of pillows.
   
   
3. I can wiggle my ears. No explanation needed...see video below. I typically don't draw much attention to them since I've been told my entire life that I look like Dumbo, so count yourself lucky to be viewing the source of one of my childhood insecurities.




4. I have an oval-shaped birthmark on my right shoulder that everyone thought was a huge hickey my whole life. I never did understand who uses the shoulder as a hot spot for "gettin' it on," but whatever.
   


5. I went through a few phases growing up that some of you might find surprising. My favorite T-shirt for a couple years read "The Mo Colors the Mo Better." That coupled with knowing every lyric to "Gangsta's Paradise" made me the whitest home girl in town. (Side note...I can still recite every word to that legendary song). Following this phase was a heavy metal theme. We'll just stop there.

Who's that hottie? That would be me...during the "home girl" phase. Denim on denim. Can't go wrong! And the other hottie is BJ Armstrong, previously mentioned in a post as the man I would fall asleep staring at every night. Proof.

We'll end there. Thank you to my hubby for helping me construct this awe inspiring list of randomness.

A Summer Hodgepodge

Before we get into our random summer fun, we need to ask for your thoughts and prayers for our good friends Brian and Rachel. They're pregnant with twin boys (6 months) and Rach is currently in the hospital due to being at risk of going into labor if she's not flat on her back. They just discovered this, so it looks like she'll be on permanent bed rest at home (provided she does well for the next 24 hours). They need to keep these little dudes in until October, so pray for endurance both for the babies and for Bri and Rach.

On a lighter note...to commemorate 30 years of being in the business of fighting hunger, my employer treated the entire staff to a day of American tradition...hot dogs, beer and baseball. I brought Cara and the kiddos and of course my fam. We walked around for the beginning of the game but didn't bother trying to contain 3 kids in bleachers in 93 degree heat. The lunch beforehand was great though!

Last week, Grandpa V treated us to an outstanding PF Changs feast during a long layover. He took the bus to Tim's work, got a tour of the event center and they met the dude and me for dinner. As we pulled up, the most beautiful rainbow showed its face, so that was our backdrop for the meal. It was great catching up with dad for the night! Thanks for making the effort to see us!

The next random item is showcasing our son's ability to dizzy himself and love every minute of it. He has always enjoyed being dizzy but changes the activities in which he accomplishes that goal. He used to shake his head violently so as to dislodge his brain and now that he has found his legs, he runs around or break dances in circles.

Last item...we went to a concert series at a local outdoor mall last night with friends Amy and Lily and our rad neighbor clan. The dude had a blast running around (despite the deafening volume of the music smack in front of us). We're still getting used to watching him be a "big kid" walking around by himself. Occasionally he smacks a kid as he walks by and laughs. He's a boy.

Amy & Lil (she got rammed in the face and has a beautiful black eye as a result).

Neighbor friend Emma...she's a real charmer!

7 Years of Wedded Bliss

July 28, 2001 was a hot, muggy, Chicago day. I slept approximately 3 hours the night before with my girlfriend Erin on the floor of my tiny bedroom in Worth. We had to wake up at 5:30am to be at the salon by 6:00am, so I relied heavily upon the makeup artist to do wonders on my face. Tim slept just fine and woke up refreshed from a night with his buddies. I never did ask how much they drank that night.

He and his two bros hopped in a borrowed black Corvette and succeeded in being pulled over 2 blocks from the church. All my girls and I got dressed at the church while singing "Going to the Chapel" over and over and over again. I guess that calmed my nerves. We had it on tape, but I accidentally recorded the 2006 Oscars over it, so that's that.

(Right before Mr. Officer pulled them over).

I don't have any shots of the two of us on the big day, but you get the idea.

My parents both walked me down the aisle, Nancy weeping as we went. Tim displayed his cute little smirk...probably because he saw me with my hair up for the first time (maybe second). I have a paranoia about my ears sticking out ever since Grandma K told my parents to get surgery to have those things pinned back. My dad and brother Ky sang, we recited our vows, Grandpa V made the audience chuckle with his unintended wit, charm and wrinkled tan suite and our pastor talked a lot about "leaving and cleaving." Tim's buddies got a real kick out of that, which proved that they were actually paying attention. We were officially married. Husband and wife.


That day sealed a deal that I knew would happen on our first date. Despite my frumpy purple sweater and my determination to NOT be someone Tim would want to date, I knew that this guy was it. He was, he is and he always will be. What I did to deserve and be blessed with my Tim I don't know, but I thank God for a marriage that will stand the test of time. Tim is my best friend, my eye candy, my strength, my calm and the person I look up to most in this world. Happy Anniversary hot stuff! Can't wait to see what's on the horizon for the next 7 years.

Sun, Fun and Livin' on the Run

Rather than writing an 18 paragraph novel about our 8 day trip to Chicago and Holland, I decided that a bullet point highlight summary would be more appreciated by my blog stalkers. Our annual summer trip to the Midwest was fantastic. Dude did great and had a blast spending time with a melting pot of folks near and dear to us. Below are some highlights....

*Dude discovering the joy of dirty puddles with cousin Dylan and strollering back to Uncle R & Aunt K's house naked.

*The best home made meal we've had in ages, courtesy of Ross and Kira. Ribs, mashed potatoes, broccoli salad, wine....ummmmm good.

*Mile High Dad and I spending a quality Chicago morning on Nick's boat with Nick, Caylei, Uncle Bob & Lukester. There's nothing like a calm morning on Lake Michigan with that huge city as a backdrop.

*Drinking wine and catching up with Mom V out on the porch of the cottage.

*Celebrating 29 years for my best friend and hubby.

*Watching Dude fall madly in love with splashing in the waves of Lake Michigan and then detesting the sand. Can't ask for it all I guess.

*Anne, Isaac and Clara proving how lovable they are.

*Jumping off the lighthouse pier with my main squeeze. He brings the daredevil in me...what can I say?

*Scrabble by citronella candle with the fam out on the porch (plus quite a bit of wine and snacks of course...and a big win for the mile high vogel team).

*A reunion of my mom's family at the country's largest park in Hudsonville...cousins I haven't seen in years showed up. Pretty cool way to spend a Tuesday night.

*A lovely dining experience on Lake Mac with Bret and Megan (expecting a baby soon)...despite the thunderous storm that forced us to move indoors mid-way through dinner.

*Pool time with my girls (Er & Missy) and their kiddos.

*Layin' around at Mom and Dad's house with the Dude...just hangin out and laughing at his antics.

*An excellent Mexican feast with the "pregnant with twin boy Riegers."

*Catching up with my childhood best friend, Kate and her beautiful, charming children. She's the one who started me on big earings, cute little skirts and 16 year old boyfriends named Bob.

*Maxin' and relaxin' with Mom and Dad at a Millennium Park concert, downtown Chicago. One of our favoritest things to do in Chicago.

*Partying it up and celebrating the nuptials of friends Tom and Kelly. All Mile High Dad's college buds were together, which is fun for me now since they've attached themselves with some pretty fabulous women!

*Meeting our newest babe, Bjorn! Melis, Chris and Em are now a family of four! Dude and his girlfriend Em had quite a remarkable time playing outside in the rain.

*Getting word that friends Adam and Caryn welcomed babies Eden and Sebastian into the world. Babies babies everywhere!

I think that's all. I don't know that the above bullet point list was any better than an 18 paragraph blog posting, but whatever. We had a great trip. Thanks to everyone who found time to fit us in!