March Going-Ons

Yes, it's almost the end of March and I'm just blogging about it. Things have been busy around here! Oliver has had two bouts with strep, the political situation continues to be stressful, Japan's a disaster...lots going on, big and small. I fully intend to do better in the future but for now, let's check out some pictures from the past month.

First and foremost, basketball is officially over and has been for a couple of weeks...well, as "over" as basketball ever is. Shawn had a great time with the boys this year and Oliver had a great time watching. Here's a picture from the last home game.

Oliver got to hang out with Addy a bit this month. It was actually a couple of weeks ago now but he talks about her constantly. He'll point to random things and say, "Addy's cup," "Addy's truck," etc. When my dad stopped over last night, the first thing he said was, "Where's Addy?" I think he kinda likes his big cousin.

Another one of his favorite girls is Harper. She came for a visit with her parents a couple weeks ago and Oliver and she had a great time unloading everything out of the toy box, getting in it, and then putting it all (ok, not all) back in again. Crazy kids!

Last week we celebrated St. Patty's day with a new green shirt...and that was about it.

This week, the weather had finally gotten warmer and most of the snow was gone. Then Tuesday night it started snowing and thundering and lightening at the same time...and we woke up to the biggest storm we've had all year. School was called off the night before and it was a good thing, too, because when all was said and done, we ended up with an extra 14 inches. I headed over to the school for a couple of hours to get some grading done and this is the picture I took with my phone on the walk home. I was standing in the middle of the road because it was the shallowest snow and not too much traffic was out and about.

Oliver took it all in from the porch, wearing my coat for some reason, and in this picture, he's opening the mail slot to feel the wind blow.

And later when he watched dad snow-blow, he decided to take a little taste from the window sill.

Apparently it wasn't bad because he fussed at me when I finally made him shut it.

In other news, Oliver asks "why" about fifty times a day. He wants to help do everything and he's getting better at asking for what he wants. He LOVES his baths and he's into Handy Manny these days. I refuse to actually buy him anything with Handy Manny on it, so he has to be content with catching "Manny" when he can on t.v., although we did find that it's On Demand this week. I think we're finally over all the sickness now and I can't wait for the weather to get warm enough to be outside more. We've only been able to take one stroller ride so far this year and I just wanna get out there! We started Skyping with Debbie and Steve and Linda and Lou this week so that's been fun for us and for Oliver. He's funny because he looks behind the computer screen to try to figure out where they are and when we turn it off, he says, "No, again!"

He's been trying to pass the time with his 4-wheeler inside but he keeps getting "stuck!" Not sure if this little video is going to work or not because it's giving me an error message but I'll leave it on here, just in case...

L.A. Dream

It's been so long now that it just seems like a good dream I had but Jami scored tickets to the Oprah "After Oscars Party" in L.A. and I got to go too! I left on Sunday, February 24th and met up with miss Jami at LAX.We were whisked off to Hollywood amidst all the Oscar whoop-la and crazy security. We stayed at the Roosevelt and it's gorgeous...all 1920's Hollywood glam. Here are some pictures...

The famous signThe entranceOur roomThe pool

(where The Hills after-parties were filmed!! I realize I'm probably the only person who would care about that but I soooo care!!)When we arrived, E! was setting up for their after Oscar party in the lobby.We decided to walk around a little but really, there wasn't much to see other than fences and policemen. We could hear Ryan Seacrest but we couldn't see him.There was a burger bar in our hotel called 25 Degrees. We couldn't get a seat because of the show so we headed up to our room and ordered their burgers from room service and gourged ourselves in our jammie pants while we watched the Oscars. The best burger of my life, and worth the $19!

After the Oscars we headed to the lobby to ask some questions about how to best catch a cab for Oprah in the morning...and in the lobby, in all his hotty-Oscar-finest, was Jude Law. I actually stuttered as I pointed him out to Jami. We didn't bug him, but rather drooled from afar.

Then we headed up to the balcony to see who we could see at the E! party. Lots of B-list people like the comedians from Chelsey Lately, Jason Kennedy and Ben Lyon from E! I think it's interesting to have a before and after shot....this was the lobby at night for the party:So crazy all the work they do to make it look extra festive!

And this is how it normally looks:

The next day we were up really bright and early to begin our Oprah extravaganza. We got to the Hollywood Bowl and walked a million years to the end of the line. We met some really cool ladies to hang out with and it was good that we liked 'em cuz we were in line with them for about five hours. Here was the line that formed behind us...

Finally! Jackpot! A wristband. We didn't know what the color indicated but there were a lot of blue ones around, so we figured it wasn't the first row like we had hoped.The Kodak Theater is huge. It was amazing, even if we were a little high up. It holds over 3,000 people and it was FULL!Oscar was still there too. The show was over too fast and then we were back out into the light of day. It was still early so Jami and I grabbed a snack and headed off for more adventure.We did the tourist-y thing and grabbed a tour bus. It was really fun and we got to see a lot more than we would have otherwise because we didn't rent a car.Here's Rodeo DriveAnd we saw Shawn White in his sweet car...bummer that he's in the shade so you can't see his face hereHere's the hotel from Pretty Woman

And we ate at The Ivy, which was just super delicious...

The kind of food that makes you want to take pictures of it, it's so good. So we did!

Yummy drinksCalamari :)Amazing blackberry apple cobblerCarson Kressly was there too...still wearing the lavender ensamble we say him in at Oprah a few hours earlier.We hopped back on the tour bus and were planning on heading home but a stop at The Grove was more than we could resist. We were back home the next day but it really was a dream weekend.

SUCH a fun time and I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity!!!

Thanks Jami!

A Quick Note

So I should be packing for my Oprah adventure right now but it seems I just can't get organized. Here's an update from the last couple of weeks...

Basketball at Wittenberg meant that Oliver and Harper got to catch up on after months apart.Oliver brought his new Valentine's present from Grandpa Doug and Grandma Judy.And the next game we went to that week was parent's night, so Oliver broke out his dad's old-school basketball pin for the occasion.And then last weekend, we had a crazy storm...13 inches by the time it was done. I caught a video on my phone...

Here are a few pictures too.

Dad takes a break from shoveling to wave.Oliver was inspired to go hang out in it too.But not for long! This is how he spent the rest of the afternoon...snugly jammies, some good books, and a cartoon or two. The politics of this week have been particularly awful. I feel lucky that I can come home to my little monkey and try to forget about all the drama!

Ok. Now I gotta go pack.

Go Packers! Go Truckers!

Happy February!

The month's been off to a good start.

The Packer's won, the weather's getting warmer, and basketball is winding down.

My most exciting news is snagging tickets to Oprah's After the Oscars show later this month.

As most of my friends know, I apply for Oprah show tickets whenever they are available and, this being the last season, I was getting a little nervous everytime I got the e-mail saying I was out of luck again. When I was visiting Jami last month she mentioned that she should try to apply too and then our chances would be doubled. When I saw tickets were going to be available again (this time in L.A. for the Oscars), I let her know. And SHE WON THEM!

I'll be headed to Hollywood at the end of the month so watch for lots of pictures to come...

As for the rest of it, here's a summary:

Oliver was as pumped as everyone else when the Packers won Super Bowl XLV. Here he and Brayden celebrate a touchdown. We spent the evening at Troy and Katrina's. A fun night!Oliver and Papa Jerry took a break for a pony ride but O kept an eye on the action.It got late so he decided to cuddle up next to G.g.Last weekend we decided to head to the Rec with Kaylie and Brayden. Oliver cried when we had to leave so we definitely need to get there more frequently.Love this action shot of Kaylie-kins!We also spent some time sledding around town. Shawn plays in the Saturday BABA league and so Oliver and I slid over to the middle school to watch.These bleachers are scary ones because they're so open to the ground below but since Oliver's getting to be such a big boy, he did just fine.And speaking of basketball, we've been watching Shawn coach as well as play. Oliver's favorite basketball friend is little Bella. She's so nice to him and such a little mama. Last week Patrick made his 1000th point (a crazy accomplishment!) and so the game stopped to recognize him. I was a little late with my camera, but I got the celebration huddle. We're very lucky to have so many students willing to help with Oliver. Here he is hanging out with the Super-Fan ladies at FVL.We had a nice visit with Great Granny Daisy earlier this month and then stopped to see Addy on the way back. She's in a dance class these days and I can't wait to see her new moves!Oliver is busted crawling up on the office desk in the picture below. He even looks a little guilty. He's starting to make his opinions known these days. He lets us know if he does or doesn't want to be doing something. He's drinking out of real cups more and putting his own boots on without help. He loves to play in the back of Shawn's closet where there is a little cubby area. He is obsessed with any kind of button he can push and loves turning the lights off on me (because he's not quite tall enough to get them on by himself yet). Tonight we are off to dinner while he hangs out with Allison. He's started to be very unhappy when we both leave him but she does a great job of making him feel better fast. One of Shawn's players has a polka band playing in town tonight too, so we get to make a cameo at the bowling alley to see them :). Then it's off to Manawa to catch up with some friends. Should be a fun night...Happy Valentine's weekend!