Lets train

As much as we all love the online community (even me...or maybe especially me), sometimes it is important to put down the mouse and actually touch base with the people around you.

In 2012 I wrote a post on how Halloween, if done right, is actually a wonderful community building opportunity. And this year was no less spectacular. Our weather here this past Halloween was AMAZING and my neighbors were out in force; having front-yard gatherings and hanging out on their front porch to chat with trick-or-treaters. It took us forever to get around the neighborhood because we stopped to chat with everyone as we went around.

Enter Girl Scout cookies sales.

I am going to have to add door to door Girl Scout cookie sales to my list of awesome community building activities. (Although I wonder if we would have had such a great experience trying to sell a product that was a little less universally loved).

Through pounding the pavement with my six year old Daisy Scout, I met a whole slew of new neighbors (one's that don't typically have their doors open at Halloween). We met lots of lovely people along the way, but the following four stood out:

1. I finally learned the name of the neighbor on the corner at the bottom of our street. We have lived here for almost 6 years and that was the one house where we had never seen or met the occupants. As it turns out, they have lived there for decades and know our across the street neighbors well (from when their kids grew up together). I had always wondered who lived in that house and now, not only do I know their names, but will be able to interact with them if I ever see them.

2. My girls and I discovered that living less than a block away is a lovely homeschooling family with kids their same age. Not only that, but as it turns out, we belong to the same online community group (online is great, but in person is AWESOME). And here they have been living around the corner from us for years, but if we had never stepped out the door we might not have known. So, we exchanged information and talked about going to the neighborhood park together sometime.

3. I found out that a house a few blocks down is home to a lovely lady, whose husband happens to put in hardwood flooring. As it happens, we have been looking to put hardwood flooring in our house (AFTER my last child potty trains, of course.) Now I have the opportunity to support someone in my own local community, which is one of my favorite things to do.

4. As we were wrapping up sales for the night, I stopped at a house across the street from ours.  I was invited to come in and sit down while our kids played since it had been a while since we had seen each other. We then had the opportunity to have a really deep heart to heart about some things that were challenging her.

Lastly, selling to my friends and family forced us to take the time to deliver the cookies and stop and visit for awhile. In the last week we have sat down with friends we haven't seen in months, family we rarely take the time to visit and neighbors who typically only get the acknowledgement wave when we are leaving or returning to the house.




The 21st century finds us so insulated and isolated on our own busy islands, that we forget that there are families right next door. Families who appearances might suggest are picture perfect, may not be if you take the time to listen. Everyone needs support, and it is easy to miss those who project certain images. It is important to put the computer down from time to time and really listen to real people.

Whether it is selling cookies, or just making the excuse to make the rounds, we all need to remember that face to face interactions can never be replaced with online communities. They both have their time and place. Online is easier because we can do it on our time, in our environment, under our control, but in order to build a strong, interconnected community, we need to nurture the face to face as well.

Sure we sold enough boxes that we may actually meet my daughter's sales goal, but more importantly, I feel like I plugged in to the people in my community in a very real way. That, to me, is worth more than any money in the world.....well, maybe not worth Thin Mints dipped in coffee, but what can I say? I am an addict.

aka 'Miscellany'

-Did I forget to tell you that my iPhone 4 catapulted out of my sweater pocket one night, directly into the toilet? I screamed, grabbed my baby phone from that putrid water, and ran to the kitchen to find rice. Since Nate likes to pretend he is in charge of the kitchen, I did not know where he hid the rice. Yelling to him frantically only made him chuckle, which in turn made me dangerously angry. First my beloved phone might have just committed suicide, and now my husband thinks it's funny? Well, we did find the rice. And everything seemed totally fine with my phone. Until I realized that the speaker didn't work for videos I would take of the kids, and Nate couldn't hear us talking when we put him on speaker phone during calls. Not cool. And so? I got an iPhone 5 and it's glorious. Siri is my new best friend. And I'm in love with the camera, of course. Somewhat shocked that Nate didn't upgrade at the same time, since we were both due for a two year contract. But I guess he is holding out for the next model or something--and in the meantime he loves giving me hell about dropping my phone in the toilet. I'm so glad I can entertain him daily.



-I don't even want to post about this, fearing the blog gods will seek their revenge on me with a curse. But Cecelia has slept through the night TWICE this week. Pretty sure that has never happened in the history of her short life. She was averaging a stellar night once every 3-4 weeks and now she has me foaming at the mouth for more of this lovely thing called sleep. We've done nothing different so I have no clue what 'worked'---probably just time. And let's get real: it's not like the sleep woes are over or anything, but maybe we are finally on the road to REAL rest? Please keep it up, darling. Sleep is the most amazing gift in the entire world.



-In a similar vein, Cecelia is still nursing like a champ. In fact, she is nursing for longer sessions and more frequently than she has in many weeks. She seems happy, satisfied, and I can tell she is actually gulping down milk for most of the time she is latched so I'm trying my hardest not to worry about the pump. Which, I've decided to only torture myself with pumping once during a work day now instead of the three times I was doing previously. It makes my work day about a hundred times easier to just pump around lunch time and not deal with it first and last thing of the day on top of that. At first I was getting about six ounces in that one session and now I'm down to about four ounces, but whatever. I have started to add an ounce or two of whole milk to her breastmilk bottles at daycare and I will just use a frozen bag to cover the second bottle she gets there. When we are together she nurses great. When we are apart my pump just doesn't seem to be as effective anymore. And I'm going into this long weekend of travel feeling like she will nurse just fine. Hopefully ;) Very happy that I only work three days per week this time around, so bottles are needed less often than we can nurse.



-I was going to do a whole Easter post but then I didn't really feel like it. So here are a few pictures instead. Easter happened and it was awesome. The End.





















-Half marathon training is coming right along and we are up to 8 miles as our longest. I've been feeling pretty good during each run, but I will admit that I just feel OLD this time around. I turn 32 in a few weeks, folks. This is no joke anymore. But I still love running and therefore being guilt-free when I eat enough to fill a 400 pound man. Seriously, my appetite is ridiculous. And I'm not complaining.

(Me, pounding coffee before our 8 mile run. Because I had a decent amount of wine the night before and I'm almost 32 years old, so I'm feeling it here).


-I started packing for our Missouri trip already. CC and I fly out on Friday night and I'm already picking outfits and putting them in a pile because packing seems to make me more anxious each time I do it. Also, apparently it's actually spring-like in Missouri (in the 70's?!) and it's a balmy 36 degrees here as I type this. How do I even dress us for warmth? I do not know. But also, I hope I can handle my child alone in the airport and on the plane. Other than that minor detail I'm really excited!

(a day when it was above 40 degrees for a change)


-Brandy Old Fashioneds are the best drink ever. I did not know about them until recently and now I'm hooked. It's a classic Wisconsin drink which means I'm officially a local now.



-My baby girl is going to be ONE soon, you guys. Soon enough that I'm planning her first birthday party and beginning some crafts already, stalking Pinterest nightly. I have a theme in my head and a huge list of things I want to make for the party because it's her FIRST birthday party and I kind of want to go all out. Also, I have realized that I truly enjoy crafting projects---they aren't a burden and don't feel like work to me, so when I make a huge list of ideas I want to complete it doesn't feel all that stressful. Trips to Michaels and Home Depot are right up my alley;) We will see if I get everything done but for now I'm enjoying the planning stage. Here is a sneak peek of something I'm painting--spray paint is my new best friend, btw.



And here is her birthday dress I ordered from Etsy seller Charlie & Mills. To say that I'm obsessed is an understatement.


-Things about Cecelia: she is into everything now, like for real this time. No kitchen cupboard is safe, no stair left unturned. I'm not sure this old house has seen baby-proofing in 40 years but it makes me all sentimental to think about how the previous owner raised her kids here (literally 40 years ago) and now here we are, thinking about putting latches on our newly updated cabinets.









And she is all up in Truman's biz, which is both hilarious and exhausting.


-Our neighbor is going to move in the next year because she is retiring. So she is cleaning out her house and we were gifted a set of AMAZING handmade wooden blocks, and a vintage wooden highchair. The blocks are a favorite of the kids right now and I'm totally going to spray paint the highchair hot pink and use it for Cecelia's cake smash at her party. Both gifts are awesome.



-I'm back to watching Breaking Bad with Nate again and have only witnessed about three gruesome murders in the last week. Eesh. But I finished all of Downton Abbey and OMG, I can't even. I knew something bad was going to happen and I had two options in my head. Neither of which were correct and the way it ended? More heartbreaking than I could have imagined! Gah!! Loved it and cannot wait to watch it in real time for season 4. Also, I don't hate Thomas anymore and feel bad that I said that earlier. He was just really annoying and mean and horrible early on and now my heart has warmed up to him. Seriously. That show!

-We've been having some hilarious and amazing bathtimes lately. First there was Cecelia giving Truman tons of open mouthed kisses.


Then we decided to ditch the Bumbo and it only caused me to have two heart attacks, when her big brother knocked her over with his giant waves. It's sort of hard to actually wash them when my hands are hovering around her body the whole time so I think I'm going to get an anti-slip mat. Because they both loved it and she didn't seem to mind getting tossed around. Something about two kids sitting in our tub that gets me every time.






And you know what? How could I not end this post with two of the most adorable butts on earth? I can't help it. Sorry, you two! You can tell me I'm an annoying mom someday but for now I can't stop laughing at these cheeks.