Finally...

Well, Mary Ann's hair has been getting a little long. The "tangle monster" keeps attacking her and is getting more brazen. He used to only attack at night, now it seems she is tangled after just a few minutes of beating up Rose. So, Sunday night we mentioned this to her and that she needs a haircut. Katie and I talked, maybe one of us would just snip an inch or two off the back.

well.

Mary Ann took it upon herself to cut her own hair. She snagged the left half of her head before Katie found her. She put most of the hair in the trash can. But, still...funny if you weren't there, which luckily only Katie was. So, emergency appointment at the salon . Now, it looks cute but she has to remember to part her hair to the other side. The bangs keep hanging in her eyes so she automatically pushes it to the left, but because of her efforts it works better to the right. Ah, Christmas pictures...

Thanksgiving

Well, it worked again. Many people in the house at once. This time, our two kids and the Buschelman kids: Dom age 2, Will age 4 months. It was fun seeing the kids interact with each other. We had the actual Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday since Robert worked Friday and Eric didn't arrive until Friday. It was very good, with everyone pitching it. We had Nana and Li'l Opa; Eric, Liesel, Dominic and Will; Mitzi; and us 4 (well, really 5...). See the pictures page for all the pics, already with captions!

It's been snowing off and on for the last few days. Nothing major sticking, at least not for very long. I am done with November, the worst working month of the year. I worked 4 of the 5 weekends at the hospital, and the other weekend at Mendota moonlighting. Plus, I was on an inpatient month, which is always a hard rotation. For December I'm on epilepsy, which has a few inpatients but mainly is reading EEGs and going to epilepsy clinics. Much easier.

Katie's feeling fine at 14 weeks. A little tired and has a bad head cold, but handling the kids pretty well. Just a few more weeks and we'll be in Kansas and Missouri. Then, only a few more weeks until we know the gender!

October

Hello, friends and family!

It must seem that the Reddigs of Wisconsin have lost their blogging mojo. And alas, that may be true. Or at least when the time arrives to blog, memories and creative streaks are well past their peak. But, a few things have happened in the last month that we'd like to keep record of.

Robert celebrated his 29th Birthday with a dinner at Bunky's restaurant and the gift of a new Wii game (the Legos Star Wars) and a gift certificate for golf lessons. Following that Matt and Jen and the kiddos from KC arrived for a long weekend of boating, farmer's marketing, Trader Joeing, circus museuming, Pride and Prejudicing, zooing, and faux camping. (Just don't tell the little ones that roasting hot dogs and marshmallows in your own backyard and then going to sleep in your own bed isn't actually camping). We had a great time with them and Mary Ann and Luke got to see who had the strongest willpower/personality and we think it ended in a draw. Rose was torn between wanting desparately to be a big kid like Mary Ann and Luke and being a doting big sister to Faith.

We also have closed the season on our garden. Our tomato plants did fantastic, unfortunately we missed the largest harvest while we were gone on vacation and our compost will be rather tomato heavy next year. Until Katie learns how to can, she may have to limit herself to 2 tomato plants from now on. (No, Nana, that is not a hint for possible Christmas presents). We also harvested 16 pumpkins from our homegrown pumpkin patch and a huge number of gourds. Our house is decked out for fall!

The homeschooling experiment is going well. We're focusing on prereading skills, prewriting skills, and math concepts. Mary Ann is very excited to realize that the words we say have sounds in them that she is starting to associate with letters. It's pretty cool to see her stop mid-conversation and start sounding out a word with so much excitement and recognition. Rose is doing a good job too of participating. She is sorting colors and learning the sounds of things as well. She really wants to do everything Mary Ann does and does not fall for it when I try to give her a modified version of an activity to work on.

Robert is working on setting up a shed to give us some more storage and allow both cars to be in the garage for the winter. That has been quite a project and the girls have been able to help with things like putting washers on screws and things. They both think they are ready to use the power drill.

And today marks the end of our first boating season. We had a final tour of the lake and locks with our friends the Beiers and then pulled the boat out to be winterized and then stored.

And on that note, this post will close. Until next time, folks!

Vacation...done.

Well, we just got back tonight. It was a wonderful week: 2 nights in Chicago with Mitzi and then 6 nights with Liesel, Eric, Dom and Will in Dayton. It was going to be just 4 nights, but we had nothing pressing back in Madison so we spontaneously stayed an extra night. Crazy Reddigs!!
The time in Chicago was nice. We got to stay on Mitzi's new futon/fold out bed. It was much better than an air mattress. We went to the Aquarium, but unfortunately the Ocean part was closed so it was a pretty short trip. We then met up with Scott and walked around downtown a bit. We went back to Mitzi's for some deep dish Chicago pizza and a movie (or another for the guys). On Sunday we went to church and then headed to Ohio.
In Ohio we finally saw the recently baptized William Thomas Buschelman. He is, as Mary Ann says, "so cute!" We had a good time during our time in Ohio. We stayed at a hotel for 4 nights which included a very good size breakfast in the mornings. Eric and Liesel showed us around Dayton and the surrounding areas. We really enjoyed putting the girls and boys to bed and then breaking out games or the Wii at night. We finally headed home today and now everyone is pretty tired. so...goodnight!

Jayhawks

Poor former Jayhawks... I guess they didn't get life lessons at KU.

Farewell to Summer?

Happy Labor Day Weekend to All! We are enjoying one of the warmest weekends of the entire summer, so it is hard to believe our days of lazy summer days are fast coming to a close. We have had a beautiful summer, enhanced by the visits of many family and friends and of course the ability to get away from it all on the Madison lakes.

During late July and August we were running the Jayhawker Bed and Breakfast of the North, hosting all of our parents, 2 aunts, one uncle, 2 cousins, 1 sister/sister-in-law, and one very good friend . Katie turned 30, which she thinks isn't really that big of a deal, but appreciated the yellow caution tape decorating the door warning of the festivities. We learned that Rose's life jacket does really work, and Mary Ann discovered that she can swim for a bit without being "helped". Robert was on night float, so that gave our days and especially vacation-ey feel, and hopefully we didn't wear him out too much! Today is his last day/night! Our garden started yielding lovely tomatoes and even a few green beans. Katie's not sure she's as impressed with heirloom tomatoes as everyone said she would be. We should be set for lots of pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns, and also Thanksgiving's centerpiece will involve multiple gourds.

We're looking forward to September. Robert will have a week of vacation and we'll go to Chicago for some Windy City fun with Mitzi before traveling on to Dayton to see Buschelmans and meet little William. Then we'll try to get set with our home school preschool and look forward to the visit of the Vogrin-Thomas clan!

What makes me laugh

1. Listening to Mary Ann's version of "Just Leave Everything to Me" from the opening of "Hello Dolly", including the conversation to the train ticket seller.

2. Listening to announcers from some part of Great Britain pronounce "Chipotle" as they refer to the Garmin-Chipotle Tour de France team

3. Watching a news broadcast about a new sport called Chess Boxing

4. Listening to Mary Ann sing a song about how she needs to clean up the mess she made with the Candyland game so her mom doesn't get mad and she has to do a timeout, (while she is actually cleaning up the Candyland game)

5. Watching Rose bring a purse with her Elmo cellphone into the gym on her arm in the middle of a downpour

Celebrating Independence Day

Happy Belated 4th of July to everyone. Here in Madison the 4th seems like a quiet event since the big party takes place the week before at the Rhythm and Booms Fest. We went out on the lake to view the 31 1/2 minute firework display choreographed to music. It was really cool, and Mary Ann especially liked the fact that they played her favorite songs from Mary Poppins and Sound of Music. Robert did a fantastic job navigating the boat in the dark, dealing with a lot of boat traffic and pretty choppy waters. We also discovered that brownies are excellent for smooshing into the carpeting of the boat too. : )
Robert had a three day weekend for the 4th of July, a nice little break. We didn't make any big plans, which was nice. Both girls had little colds and Mary Ann developed an ear infection, so it was a good weekend to lay low. We did go out on the lake with our friends the Cornetts to do some tubing and explore the lock system between lakes Mendota and Monona and that was pretty interesting too. Robert also got to go to the Mendota Mental Health Hospital to do the orientation for his moonlighting hours there. He's pretty excited about the opportunity to work there a bit on the side.
Rose has learned a few more words, she especially likes pointing out the parts of the face, with particular emphasis on the eyes. She also likes to say the word "Mine" whenever the situation may or may not warrant it. She also says "Thank you" without prompting, which is rather nice. And her favorite song appears to be the "Wheels on the Bus", favorite action being "Beep, beep, beep".

Madison When It Drizzles (and pours)

We just wanted to let everyone know that we haven't floated away yet. The hardest hit areas in Wisconsin are close by and many of our roads and highways are closed due to flooding, but we are all safe and fine. We are thankful that the only effect of the recent rains has been a bit of water in the basement, and our thoughts and prayers are with those that have not been so lucky. We are also not able to boat for an undetermined time because the Madison lakes are contaminated with sewage because of overflows at the sewer plants. But again, we are thankful that is all we have to deal with.

Weather aside, we are doing well. Robert has happily adjusted back to working days in the Stroke ward and the girls and Katie are adjusting to not having him home during the day. Our major activity most days is a visit to our gym. The girls have just completed ten weeks of swimming lessons and both are very comfortable and confident in the water. In fact Rose would rather have her face in the water than not. Mary Ann can take a dance class and yoga class at the gym, so the benefit to Katie is that she does actually wind up going and so the investment is paying off. And just for the record, she completed a 1/4 marathon (which she thinks sounds better than 6.5 miles) in 70 minutes and ran a 5K in under 30 minutes this past week. Firsts for her.

Belgium humor?

Just saw this on CNN. A spokesman said "the plane is very seriously damaged." Duh.

Boat!

We did it! We picked up the boat today from the Wisconsin Dells. We bought a 2000 Crownline 180BR. That's an 18foot bowrider (open at the front so you can sit there). We towed it back with the minivan; we just had a hitch placed on it by U-Haul earlier this week. We have several pictures of it on our photos page. We've also finally got around to posting a bunch of pictures--3 more albums, all the way back to Easter.

Katie heads to KC and Lawrence this coming week, so Robert will either be stuck with a boat and no way to transport it (Katie will take the minivan) or else we'll have to find a slip to keep our boat in during the summer months.

Additionally, my next year's schedule came out, so now I know when I'm free to have guests come up. So, start making plans to come visit us in Madison! You can stay in the new guest room in the basement and then go out on the water!

Images to Savor

Congraulations and Thank You, Coach Self

Super Mario!!

Welcome Back, Danny!

Rock Chalk Roy!

Rock Chalk World!!!

National Champions! There were yells, screams, tears and shouts of joy (followed by a rapid flickering of the porch light) to signal the Jayhawks amazing win over the Memphis Tigers. 75-68, I've never seen sweeter numbers! A dream come true! Rock Chalk!!

Traitor

Well, it's almost here. Final Four Weekend. It seems to me that the 2 best teams are playing each other on Saturday: North Carolina and Kansas. A poll on ESPN had people rank who they thought would win the championship; North Carolina got the most votes, then Kansas. It's really too bad they are already facing each other. I wouldn't want to face Benedict Williams until the most important game of the year. Facing them in the semi-finals is like the US facing Russia in ice hockey, another semi-final game. I mean, who cares that they beat Finland for the gold medal? While I would rather win the championship than beat Roy (if I had the choice between the two) it is a little bit of a letdown to face UNC on Saturday and not Monday.
But still, I will be rooting for KU and against Roy. UNC used to be a team I would root for, and I probably still hate Duke more than UNC, but the feeling of betrayal is still there.
I remember from years past Roy would get emotional if people criticized him. Hopefully all the comments from Kansas fans in the last week have hurt Roy's concentration, though I doubt it has. Still, any edge is still an edge.
Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!

Life is Good

A couple of momentous events have taken place in our lives, well at least momentous for us, so I wanted to make sure they made it into the family record. The first is that Katie finally ran in her second 5K race (Shamrock Shuffle) and despite the more hilly than expected nature of the route finished with a satisfactory time of 35:06. She's now looking forward to participating in annual Madison Crazylegs Classic, an 8K race that ends at the 50 yard line of Camp Randall, the UW football stadium.
Also for the first time ever, Robert and Katie completed without error or cheating the Sunday (3/16/08) New York Times crossword puzzle. A last minute memory from Robert that the French word for water is eau saved the day! There was much rejoicing.
We also just had a couple of great visits from Liesel and Dominic (despite the fact that illness took over our house for a few days and their return to Ohio was challenged by a blizzard) and Stacy, Amanda, Ashley, and Meghan who made the trip up from Salina. We had a great time with all of you! While they were here we went to the KidsExpo where Mary Ann got to ride a miniature circus train and a pony and Rose became infatuated with the Oscar Meyer WienerMobile and we all got Wiener Whistles! Hurray!
Also, while I'm on a roll blogging here, I'll let you know that we also just got our carpet installed today in the new room, so now we (i.e. Robert) just need to put in the baseboards and it will be all ready for Mitzi!!
We wish you all a Blessed Holy Week!

Basement

Well, the basement is changing. My dad and uncle came up from KC and Salina to help work on our basement renovation. I had the studs and wiring done (and almost all the insulation) by the time they got up here last Sunday. The 3 of us were able to hang the drywall, mud and get primer and paint on. Today I (with Mary Ann's help) was able to get a coat of our "accent" paint on 1 wall. We have light blue/off white on the ceiling and 3 walls and a darker blue on one wall. It's finally looking like a room. But, it sure is long and thin. We still have to put up some caulk around the window, get carpet, put up baseboard and crown molding (or maybe just quarter round...). And get doors for the closets. It's a pretty nice room.

Vacation is over for Robert. 2 weeks off from work now gone. Who knows when the next vacation will be--the next school year's schedule isn't out yet. Any requests anyone?

Birthday extravaganzas!

Well, as briefly touched on in the last post, Mary Ann is now 3. 3! Wow. We've had 2 birthday parties. The first was just the 4 of us on her actual b-day. We had cake before dinner, spaghetti for dinner, and presents too! She really loved all of her presents. Then, on Sat Feb 16th, we had some of her friends over. 7 kids, other than our 2. Yikes! But, Mary Ann had fun. First the kids played upstairs, then downstairs. They danced, they rocked on the rocking horse (turning it into a see-saw) and then had cupcakes. It's still Lent, so no chocolate for us.
This past Tuesday and Wednesday were spent at the Kalahari resort. It's one of the biggest indoor water parks in America. We had gone there last December for the Wisconsin Neurological Society's meeting. Mary Ann's been talking about it ever since, calling it the "elephant place" since that is the theme for Kalahari. Anyway, we got a special deal and went there for 1 night and 2 days. 2 very long days. We reserved a queen suite which was very nice. 2 queen beds in one room for the kids. Another room for us. There were 2 bathrooms, 3 TVs, and a real-sized coffee pot. It was pretty nice. The kids stayed up until 9:30, giggling, turning the lights on, turning the TV on, and Mary Ann getting into Rose's pack-and-play. We all had a great time in the water park. We also went to the outlet mall. Those idiots decided to make an outdoor mall, which obviously isn't very smart in the winter weather of Wisconsin. But, we got some good deals. We left the Dells at about 6:30pm and made it back for a good nights rest.
And, Obama and McCain won the primaries in Wisconsin. We'll see if they both win the nomination. We DID vote on the way out of town on Tuesday, even if we did vote for different people.

What to do in the Winter

Well, in honor of the 13 plus inches of snow that fell last week and the arctic blast we are supposed to have this weekend (wind chills of 35 below zero are possible) I thought I'd brainstorm some ideas of what we can do here in the winter. For those of you who read this to keep up on the family, I'll let you know that we are all doing well, Rose is jabbering more, Mary Ann had a marvelous birthday on the 5th, and while we are all experiencing symptoms of cabin fever, I don't think it will reach "The Shining" level of insanity.

Winter Activities:
1. Painting finger and toenails
2. Playing with Play-doh
3. Watching a lot of movies
4. Emptying all toys from bins onto the floor
5. Spreading toys from one end of the house to the other, on both floors
6. Staring out the window in disbelief that snow can come down that hard and that fast
7. Staring at the window in disbelief that ice can actually form inside the window
8. Taking naps
9. Reading silly novels
10. Play Ring-around-the-Rosie
11. Play London Bridges falling down
12. Build a bear cave
13. Turn the bear cave into London Bridge
14. Go to bed at 6:30
15. Mentally thank the inventor of the snow blower multiple times
16. Call your sisters many times
17. Google anything and everything
18. Watch "Happy, Hairy Monsters" on YouTube
19. Teach a 3 year old how to start videos herself on YouTube
20. Have a family jam session
21. Have a family dance session
22. Smear toothpaste all over the bathroom mirror
23. Unroll the roll of toilet paper, it's totally worth doing a timeout
24. Play with your mom's fingernail polish by yourself
25. Learn how to make yourself dizzy (Rose is really good at this)

Politics

Now that the first state has spoken, I wanted to ask all of our readers:
If you consider yourself a Republican, are there any Democrats you would vote for over a Republican? And, vice versa if you are a Democrat. So, after the people are nominated by their parties, are there any match ups that you could see yourself voting for the other side?