Outside

One of E's fave activities is to go outside. Most days she is clamoring for the door and/or getting her shoes/coat from the moment she gets downstairs. Apparently mama's shoes caught her fancy this morning...

Takin' A Break

After some strenuous raking and other yard work, the crew kicks back to take in their accomplishments from the comfort of the back porch swing.

Celebrating in Greenville

Celebrating birthdays is one area where my family rocks! Growing up, birthdays were always super-special... and to this day, even if it's weeks or months later, I don't think we've missed sharing cake, cards, and fun for a single one. So you can guess what was squeezed into the less-than-24-hours Rye spent at my parent's the weekend before his bday! A yummy ice cream cake - complete with fishing decor (maybe something he'll take up in the next decade?!).

(...even Rye's brother, Robby, joined us!)

Ring Around the Rosie

Introducing a latest obsession, encouraged by Daddy & Grandpa Kev -

Resurfacing

Considering my last post was March 6... documenting an Illini game in Champaign... and it's now March 24 and the Illini season is now over (disappointingly so, I might add)... I'm not doing a very good job of achieving my 2 blog posts/week 2009 goal, am I? Thank you faithful followers for not hounding me with emails, phone calls, or other jabs. It's possible that goal was a wee bit overzealous... clearly made before the realities of balancing work, mamahood, and the rest of life set it. That said, I'm resurfacing with a quick recap of what we've been up to. Stop here if you only visit for photos of Miss E. This list will be really boring to you. Hopefully some posts detailing these and other events (read, photos), will follow sometime before Christmas.

- My mom & dad visited over Pulaski Day weekend (you must have flunked American history if you don't know who Pulaski is). We balanced playing, watching basketball, and hanging shelves in/organizing our laundry room.
- When in Chicago we've been spending most Saturdays over at Breakthrough Urban Ministry's youth basketball program. E loves basketball and also the attention she gets from the neighborhood kids.
- Our church, Ethos, is gearing up for our "formal" launch in May. This has been an exciting time, though, as champions of the branding/communication efforts, it's also been a bit busy for Rye & me.
- Last weekend E & I ventured down to Greenville to visit Grandma V & Grandpa Kev and also attend my childhood friend, Cortney's, wedding. Elynor was the belle of the ball (before Cort arrived) at the reception... or so she thought. :) At the same time Rye & his brother, Robby, ventured to Indy to take in some Big 10 Tourney bball and visit my sis, Katie. Since neither of their teams performed, they jetted over to Greenville to hang w/ us on Sunday and take in a visit to the Powhatan with PawPaw.
- E also reached the 18 month milestone that weekend. Wow! How time flies... We give thanks for our 1.5 years w/ her!
- This weekend we celebrated another major milestone - Rye's big 3-0! His p's and sis, Katy, visited us from MN to ring in his new year (and maybe to also see E). As always, our time with them was a blast... largely spent outside in the awesome spring weather, including a trip to the zoo. Katy, plz send me some of your awesome pics!

Throw in some other friend's b'day parties, working a little more than originally planned, some more house and now yard stuff, celebrating periodic tastes of spring and as much as possible, simply taking it all in... and you've got a quick snapshot of what we've been up to.

ET Phone Home

Little Illini

Elynor enjoyed her first *live* Illini basketball game last Thursday night (anyone who knows her daddy knows she's been watching/listening to games on TV/radio since she was in the womb). Rye had to be in Champaign for work on Friday and it just so happened that the Illini were playing Minnesota (alma mater of Elynor's Grandpa Lyle, Grandma Sue, Uncle Robby and Aunt Katy... to name a few) on Thursday night. So we turned it into a family outing. Elynor was mesmerized by the stadium activities through half-time, when she found running circles around the stadiums' hallways much more exciting then sitting in a seat to view the game. The Illini win plus some of our fave campus foods equaled a superb trip. As a side note, I highly recommend the Champaign Country Inn & Suites to any families venturing to C-U. The price for a king suite was great and the 2 rooms separated by a door allowed us to put Elynor down at her normal bedtime without then having to sit in dark silence ourselves. We all slept well and woke to enjoy a sweet continental breakfast (along with the Wisconsin women's track team). Clearly my days of Westin-only snobbery are behind me.

A windy (though warm) walk to Assembly Hall.

Amazed at the pre-game activities!

Racing to uncover top-secret information at the high-security Beckman Institute. When I caught up to her she was pulling on the locked door with the security guard laughing at her.

Welcome, sis

My sister Katie recently joined the blogging world: http://aprilsfool1.blogspot.com/. I'm already in love w/ her blog not only b/c she's my sis, but b/c I like to live vicariously through her. Here's her profile summary:

While living alone in a new city i come across many: people, places, things, & situations. All of which make me: think, live, laugh & learn.

She makes me laugh and if you check her out, hopefully you will too. She also posts about Elynor every now and then... so if I continue on my streak of posting absence, maybe she can help you get your E fix.

Welcome, Kate!