Better late than never?

I won't get into all of the hairy details of why or how you are looking at this unappealing, dull/drab blog post in place of what was certain to be an exciting video of my boys revealing our first giveaway winner... (Can you say, "Run-on sentence!")

I will add, however, that even with the best of intentions life just got in our way today.

Traveling for the holiday+Three boys under 5 years old+One man (my father) who operates on his own time schedule not compatible with the rest of mankind=Me, not able to squeeze everything in.

Anyway, I do promise that for our next giveaway (perhaps in celebration of my 28th birthday sometime in January...) I will have the boys help me pick one of your names out of a hat. Or a mixing bowl. Or a tennis shoe.

But tonight, you just get me. Sitting alone, actually, at my desk. At work. Picking one of your names (all 19 of you who commented!!) out of a gift bag. I loved scribbling each of your names on a sticky-post and adding it to the pot. Two of my sisters, two of my best friends, Becca's Uncle Todd (felt a bit like I had a celebrity visitor to thisfamilysquish!) and my bloggies. Thanks for playing along!!

I will tackle all of your AWESOME questions in the next couple of weeks. Starting with my winner's.
But now, without further ado...

(Shaking the bag and picking now...)

CATHERINE from I Smell Elephants!!

(If you aren't picking up on it, that WAS terribly exciting for me!!)

Catherine, send me an email at honty3242@yahoo.com including your mailing address so that I can ship you your loot!!
Know that your new books were purchased out of love, for a good cause. I hope you enjoy them...

And, I hope you are getting some rest.
Good night!

Last call...

...for questions and comments below.
The boys and I will be picking our *first* giveaway winner tomorrow evening.
Get your name in while you can!!

A Family Squish First

That's right, folks!

Our first giveaway...

In honor of Becca and Open Books (see below) and the fact that we've had over 20,500 visits to our blog, I've decided to host a literary giveaway, Christine~style. (I said I was stealing it, didn't I?!)

Anyway, if you are unfamiliar with how to play...

Just leave a comment below to be entered in our drawing, and the boys (or at least one of them) and I will pick a name on Sunday evening.

(Warning: This is the part of Christine's giveaway that I really, really loved, and so I am copying it (nearly) verbatim...)

To make things a little more fun [for me more than anyone else, probably] leave a question for me [or one of the boys] in your comment and we will answer them throughout next week. Your question can by Theo-related, Emmett-related, Rubin-related, adoption-related, or life-related in general. I'm looking forward to having all sorts of new topics to blog on!!!

Exactly which books, you might wonder, are up for grabs??

Well, I picked up two this weekend at Open Books. One for the Mama:

and one for the little one:

Remember, both of these books have been gently used and were up for resale at Open Books, where proceeds are used to fight illiteracy in Chicago.

Ask away, people. And, good luck!

Open Books, Chicago

Just back from an amazing little getaway to Chicago with my friend Krista.

On Friday night we celebrated the Grand Opening for Open Books, a non-profit used bookstore and literacy program that's been about 4 years in the making at the extremely hard working hands of one of my dear friends, Becca.

I was so incredibly proud, to see this labor of love, built from the ground up in large part by Rebecca, who I've known since her ripe old age of 18 years old... Witnessing this event was just the coup de grace to a friendship that has been a staple in my life since my sophomore year in college. I've taken on so many of life's bigs and littles with this girl: breakups and makeups. long runs and road trips. new life and death. We've been, at times, roommates, classmates, co-workers... always, friends.

I can really only remember one other day witnessing her in this light:

(gorgeous)

Just like on her wedding day: certain. confident. full of delight.

in her own element. right where she belongs.

You have so much to be proud of, B.

This

(amazing lighting everywhere)

and this

(inspirational)

and this

(just plain adorable. and genuine)

But, most certainly and withoutanounceofadoubt this

(forever family)

I loved, loved, loved seeing you. and Open Books. and yours.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for including us.

And, as for Krista and I, we

(rode the el)

and

(bought books)

and

(partook)

and

(restaurant red light)

and then

(morning in the city)

and

(downtown)

and

(shopping)

and

(a lot)

and it was

so good.

Sumo: The Back Story.

Poop storm, people.

As in, take cover.

Because we've been hit with the Great Poop of 2009.

Which is why Rubin was wearing a towel last night instead of a diaper... because his buns are so chapped, I couldn't bear to think of wrapping them tightly.

So I didn't.

I stripped him (and his brothers, who wouldn't be left out... see below) down, and draped them in dish towels.

Much better than scrubbing stray poop off of the sofa.

And much gentler on the tooshie.

(I do what I gotta to get by somedays... Heck, let the truth be told on Wednesday.)

Wordless Tuesday Night

Our pants predicament.

Theo has grown over 3 inches in the past 5 months...

I noticed this morning, when we were getting ready for school.

I could not find a pair of pants to fit him.

His 4Ts are about 2.5 inches too short.

And he'll have to gain about 10 pounds before he fits into his 5Ts.

Tall and skinny.

What a problem to have...

Mission accomplished.

14.14 miles.

Up until yesterday morning,

the farthest distance I'd ever run was 13.1 miles.

I've biked and roller bladed around Lake Monona.

Yesterday, we ran it.

The. Entire. Route.

Two years ago I would have told you that

I could never,

would never,

did not care or dare to...

But right now? I can't wait for next weekend.

To run the Lakeshore in Chicago with Krista.

Bring on 16 miles.

A first 50 shot...

(...many more to come.)

The Purple Park

We refer to our neighborhood parks by color, mostly. We have the Purple Park (our favorite), the Green Park (which isn't the greatest for Rubin and Emmett, as it has a chain bridge that they are both too little to navigate), and the "Dark" Park (coined not for it's color but it's covered slide, which is dark inside.)

We've been squeezing in as many trips to our parks as we can while the weather holds out. Mid-week, we spent about an hour playing at our fave.

Swinging.

(Despite how it looks, Rubin was secured quite safely in his swing. I think.

Let's just say he didn't fall out.)

Balancing.

Jumping.

Climbing.

Just hanging out.

As an added bonus, "the guys" were there with their "big diggin' ma-cheens" (Emmett-speak.) Not sure what they were working on, but my boys could have watched forever.

Theo hopes they were digging for a pool. (Me too, buddy. Me too.)

I am NOT looking forward to the bitter cold and feeling all cooped up this winter... We will miss you, Purple Park.

Guess what??

Introducing...

Rubin!

The messiest eater...

east...

of the Mississippi River!

I almost forgot... Wordless Wednesday

Let the truth be told, on Tuesday.

The truth is:

I would much rather be sitting down right now to a loooong blog post, sipping a cozy cup of cocoa, than what I am up to:

Measuring and mixing and baking.

And not because I want to.

But because I have to.

For an actual bake sale.

A last ditch attempt at keeping a very special program that I have been blessed to be a part of at work afloat.

It makes me sick to think that it has come down to this.

A bake sale.

And, don't get me wrong, I would shovel poop for pennies if pennies were what we needed to keep on keeping on...

I just wish we were valued at more than $1 for a pair of cookies.

Um... hold on just one second! Who stole my weekend?

Seriously. It's already Sunday night? Where in the world did my weekend go?!

I guess what they say is true... Time certainly flies when you are having fun. And it's easy to have fun when it's over 70 degrees in November. In Wisconsin. Beat that!

Our Weekend Stats

Fresh air: Over 10 hours worth!

Parks visited: 3

Family walks: 2

Bike rides: 1

Dogs scratched: 2

Photos taken: I can't count that high.

Miles run: 12

Brownies eaten: 3

Boys I had to share said brownies with: 3

Leaves raked: See "Photos taken."

Household chores completed: none!!

Bring on Monday...

Less Wordy Wednesday, Kelly-style.

It is almost unfathomable that 6 months have already passed since the first time I met my baby boy, in his foster parents' apartment in Nowon-gu, Seoul, Korea. (Read my original post about our meeting here.)

(May 4th, 2009)

(now.)

I can't remember not having you.

I love you like there's no tomorrow.

Let the truth be told, on Tuesday.

Gray hair, people.

On. My. Head.

And not just one or two.

Many.

So many that, last night, Dave and I spent about 15 minutes in front of the mirror yanking them out. My husband, 7 years my senior, rejoiced a little bit each time he found a new one. I wanted to punch him. Hard.

I wish I could write that I am the kind of girl who can "grow old gracefully," not only accepting but embracing the gray hair, the laugh lines, the breasts deflated and flappy-in-the-wind thanks to breast feeding and gravity...

But I'm so not.

Rather, I'm fairly freaked out.

I'm considering some color, some botox, a tummy tuck and a lift...

Truth be told? I'm feeling pretty unattractive, on Tuesday.

That's a wrap!

Bidding another weekend ado...

This Sunday evening the task feels especially daunting, as we've been on break from work and school since Wednesday evening. We are not looking forward to getting back into the swing of things tomorrow morning.

Happily, I can write that we took full advantage of our time off. Since Dave had to work through Halloween, I packed the boys up and traveled north to spend the weekend with my family; my parents and all of my seven siblings. All of the boys did so well away from home. The rockiest part was the actual trip to and from my mom and dad's house. Emmett is not much for road trips, and quite vocal in his displeasure. Besides the 200+ miles of misery, our weekend went perfectly.

We squeezed in a visit (full of squeezes itself) with my good friend Lora who I have not seen in over a year (hard to believe...) I got to see, for the first time, Lora's beautiful new home.

And Lora got to meet our Rubin.

Of course, she's seen him plenty of times in photos and even heard him here and there in the background of our telephone conversations. But this was their first meeting. And her reaction to Rubin, live, was remarkably similar to the first time that I saw my son in Seoul... Lora couldn't believe that he is still just a baby. How small. Not grown up yet, at all.

Rubin made himself right at home. Digging right into Z's toys and rummaging through Lora's kitchen cabinets. Squealing, delightfully, over her little dog.

Our visit wasn't long enough, and I'm already looking forward to our next time.

Upon our return to Gramma's house we found Emmett with a much needed haircut (thank you, Mom!)

and cousins fresh from M with their mama, waiting to play.

I loved spending the afternoon at my mom's house with my sister Jessica and all of our kids. We spent as much time as we could outdoors: swinging, playing in the sandbox, tossing and kicking the football, playing "Simons says", and racing.

I can't help but include this following set of photos:

Yes, that is my 34 year old sister engaged in a foot race with our children and my parents' little neighbor girl.

Yes, that is the same said sister one-handedly wrangling and tossing her 7 year old son, who was quite clearly whooping her butt, to the ground.

Can you say, "competitive?"

__________________________________________________

Saturday was, of course, Halloween!

The boys and I got to Trick-or-Treat this year with all of our (little) P family cousins. Jonah and Ethan, Macy and Ellie, Gabe, Lucy, and Nora. We had a great time, and I do believe that we were the cutest bunch out and about.

After about an hour hitting the streets for loot, we all snuggled in to Aunt Meggan's house for soup (homemade chili, chicken noodle, and country mushroom... yum!) and sandwiches, wine and (of course) some candy. We did our best to tire them all out anticipating that, with the time change, everyone would be up and ready to go again at 5:30am. Success this morning was sweet when 1.) all of the kids slept until nearly 7am and 2.) my big sister allowed me to crawl back into bed and catch a few more zzzzzzzz. (Thank you, Aunt Sica!)

____________________________________________

Brunch this morning was an excellent ending to our long weekend at home. I was thrilled to be able to get a photo of all of my brothers and sisters, together in one place.

We gathered to send my youngest brother off, as he and his boyfriend are relocating to California.

Get ready, Uncle Eli and Damon, because with highs of 40 degrees in our forecast, we might be visiting sooner rather than later!