What? Is that Doops sitting with aliens-- I mean, children? And he survived it? Awesome.
5.04.2011
Relays fun
This past weekend we had a ton of fun and a ton of visitors in 2.5 short days. It's been awhile since I participated in any Drake Relays celebrations, so it was nice to partake this time around. Not that we actually went to the Relays--that's not what Drake students/alumni do. We drink at the Relays :) Sage and Swarup came back for the weekend and stayed with us. We also had the pleasure of seeing Alison, best nanny ever, my brother, and Matt and Sara (still haven't tried the wine, guys, because I want to save it for when we realllllly will enjoy it. Thank you SO much!) I went out two nights in a row (gasp, the horrors) and it was tons of fun. I learned that Baru 66 is far too pretentious for its own good. It was a nice 3-hr meal, but the flavor should've been better for a $600 bill (okay, that was for 6 people, but still...). Back to Alba next time :) Dos Rios was a delight as always, as was the fact that I learned I am WAY too old to really enjoy the bar scene these days. But the company made up for that.
What? Is that Doops sitting with aliens-- I mean, children? And he survived it? Awesome.
What? Is that Doops sitting with aliens-- I mean, children? And he survived it? Awesome.
Benjamin's 3rd Birthday
Benji's parties are this weekend. He wants a Diego cake more than anything. Here is fail #1 of the Diego cake. I made 2 more that are currently frozen (for ease of decorating). Next up, frosting colors for the cake. Only 12 colors. Sheesh...
4.25.2011
A nice, post-PhD weekend
Ahhhh. We had a very busy weekend, but it still felt like "ahhhh" to me since there was no dissertation work involved. And that requires yet another, Woo Hoo!
The weekend started off with a massive cleaning of the toy room on Friday night. It was worth staying up late for-- I now have zero anxiety every time I look at it, since it is no longer a chaotic mess we all avoid. And wonder upon wonders, the kids are *playing* in there now that you walk across the floor without tripping on toys, and now that it is set up to invite them in :)
We put up an "art wall" like we had done at our last house, to display the kids' preschool masterpieces. It goes with the general whimsy of the room:
Saturday I met my mom for a lunch and shopping date. We finally ate at restaurant #3 (it was a rocky start that involved cockroaches, dark rooms, and finally a good fit) and it was super yummy. We then did some shopping in the East Village. I'm not much of a mall shopper, but I get very excited about the shops in the East Village. I picked up some great spices, herbed oils, and vinegars at AllSpice, and then a kitchen rug from Seed
a natural broom from Seed
and a belated birthday present from my mom from From Our Hands:
3 peas in a pod! The significance is never-ending :) And the copper shell of the pod is made from an old copper rooftop of a unitarian church designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. When it was torn down, the artist got a hold of the roof, which had turned green naturally over time, and made jewelry out of it. Super fun!
The evening continued with a date night out with my hubby to our fave restaurant, Alba, to celebrate the completion of my degree. Many thanks to Shelly, fabulous baby-sitter du jour, for handling dinner and bedtime for our monsters!!
We went to my parent's house for Easter day and had a wonderful brunch, and a fun egg hunt for the boys. I was so pleased the weather cooperated and we got outside for the hunt, and some bike riding at the park. I'm not looking forward to rain again this week--BOO!
Here are the joyous weekend photos of candy fun:
The weekend started off with a massive cleaning of the toy room on Friday night. It was worth staying up late for-- I now have zero anxiety every time I look at it, since it is no longer a chaotic mess we all avoid. And wonder upon wonders, the kids are *playing* in there now that you walk across the floor without tripping on toys, and now that it is set up to invite them in :)
We put up an "art wall" like we had done at our last house, to display the kids' preschool masterpieces. It goes with the general whimsy of the room:
Saturday I met my mom for a lunch and shopping date. We finally ate at restaurant #3 (it was a rocky start that involved cockroaches, dark rooms, and finally a good fit) and it was super yummy. We then did some shopping in the East Village. I'm not much of a mall shopper, but I get very excited about the shops in the East Village. I picked up some great spices, herbed oils, and vinegars at AllSpice, and then a kitchen rug from Seed
a natural broom from Seed
and a belated birthday present from my mom from From Our Hands:
3 peas in a pod! The significance is never-ending :) And the copper shell of the pod is made from an old copper rooftop of a unitarian church designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. When it was torn down, the artist got a hold of the roof, which had turned green naturally over time, and made jewelry out of it. Super fun!
The evening continued with a date night out with my hubby to our fave restaurant, Alba, to celebrate the completion of my degree. Many thanks to Shelly, fabulous baby-sitter du jour, for handling dinner and bedtime for our monsters!!
We went to my parent's house for Easter day and had a wonderful brunch, and a fun egg hunt for the boys. I was so pleased the weather cooperated and we got outside for the hunt, and some bike riding at the park. I'm not looking forward to rain again this week--BOO!
Here are the joyous weekend photos of candy fun:
4.19.2011
the best email i've gotten in a LONG time
Dear Brandyce Case Haub,
The Graduate College has cleared the final deposit of your thesis "Together We Stand Apart: Island and Mainland Puerto Rican Independentistas". Once all graduation requirements have been satisfied, your thesis will be delivered to UMI. This submission will occur no sooner than your official date of graduation.
The Graduate College has cleared the final deposit of your thesis "Together We Stand Apart: Island and Mainland Puerto Rican Independentistas". Once all graduation requirements have been satisfied, your thesis will be delivered to UMI. This submission will occur no sooner than your official date of graduation.
4.17.2011
Relief
Relief is starting to set in as I finish up all the remaining items on my to-do list before making the final submission of my dissertation to the Graduate College. All is finished on my end, so as soon as I get the "go" from my adviser, I can submit it. Then relief will TRULY be here.
It's been a little anti-climatic, really. I was home again, back to life as normal, within 5 hours of completing my defense. I plan to have a graduation party this summer, but other than that, not much has changed for me. Except for that feeling of "Phew, finally finished that big item on the TO DO LIST."
Still, I can see remnants of the old me creeping back in. Slowly. For example, we are having homemade chicken and rice soup tonight with homemade raisin bread. And I made yogurt for the kids this morning instead of buying the store-bought sugary stuff. My joy for cooking is once again coming alive, and I'm enjoying the thought of having more time for it again. In just a few weeks we will receive our first CSA box of the season, and I relish the thought of having a full summer of more "down" time to really utilize all the veggies by trying new recipes and starting to eat a more whole foods diet again.
I'm turning my attention back to the house, and the settling we still have to do here. All the wall hangings from our old house have been stacked on the built-ins by our fireplace. It just hasn't been something that seemed to merit attention until "after the dissertation" (which has been a coined phrase around here lately). I'm hoping for that to be this week's activity; I want to hang up what we are keeping, and get rid of what we aren't. I don't want to buy a bunch of stuff for decorative purposes, but I'm fine with really waiting awhile to fill the walls so that I know we are hanging things that have true significance. I don't believe we'll hang our family photos now. They don't contain Gavin, so until we get new photos, they'll likely stay down. They just don't feel like a true reflection of our family.
Since moving into the house, the exterior has remained undone. I have had UPS delivery guys and random neighbors approach the house with uncertainty, sure that no one lives here. Now that the weather has started to warm again, little by little, things are starting to get done. First order of business: pouring the cement porch and the portion of sidewalk that already collapsed!!
I continue to fight the "stone battle." The stone contractors for our house swtiched stone colors on us, putting the color we chose for the interior on the exterior, and the exterior stone around our fireplace. I've adjusted to the stone around the fireplace, but the exterior continues to bother me. The red we chose for the siding is a dark, almost raspberry toned red, and I cringe when I see the samples against the warm, brown tones of the stone they mistakenly put up. I found out our builder hasn't yet paid them for their work (they aren't finished--must put up more stone around front porch when porch is done), so I've decided to have them correct the mistake. They are fighting it. We're going to dance.
We are next on the painters' list for exteriors, so I'm excited to have a nice long stretch of warm weather so that can get done. Then hopefully it will be some "real" pillars at the front porch, sod, fence and landscaping. Hooray!
It's been a little anti-climatic, really. I was home again, back to life as normal, within 5 hours of completing my defense. I plan to have a graduation party this summer, but other than that, not much has changed for me. Except for that feeling of "Phew, finally finished that big item on the TO DO LIST."
Still, I can see remnants of the old me creeping back in. Slowly. For example, we are having homemade chicken and rice soup tonight with homemade raisin bread. And I made yogurt for the kids this morning instead of buying the store-bought sugary stuff. My joy for cooking is once again coming alive, and I'm enjoying the thought of having more time for it again. In just a few weeks we will receive our first CSA box of the season, and I relish the thought of having a full summer of more "down" time to really utilize all the veggies by trying new recipes and starting to eat a more whole foods diet again.
I'm turning my attention back to the house, and the settling we still have to do here. All the wall hangings from our old house have been stacked on the built-ins by our fireplace. It just hasn't been something that seemed to merit attention until "after the dissertation" (which has been a coined phrase around here lately). I'm hoping for that to be this week's activity; I want to hang up what we are keeping, and get rid of what we aren't. I don't want to buy a bunch of stuff for decorative purposes, but I'm fine with really waiting awhile to fill the walls so that I know we are hanging things that have true significance. I don't believe we'll hang our family photos now. They don't contain Gavin, so until we get new photos, they'll likely stay down. They just don't feel like a true reflection of our family.
Since moving into the house, the exterior has remained undone. I have had UPS delivery guys and random neighbors approach the house with uncertainty, sure that no one lives here. Now that the weather has started to warm again, little by little, things are starting to get done. First order of business: pouring the cement porch and the portion of sidewalk that already collapsed!!
I continue to fight the "stone battle." The stone contractors for our house swtiched stone colors on us, putting the color we chose for the interior on the exterior, and the exterior stone around our fireplace. I've adjusted to the stone around the fireplace, but the exterior continues to bother me. The red we chose for the siding is a dark, almost raspberry toned red, and I cringe when I see the samples against the warm, brown tones of the stone they mistakenly put up. I found out our builder hasn't yet paid them for their work (they aren't finished--must put up more stone around front porch when porch is done), so I've decided to have them correct the mistake. They are fighting it. We're going to dance.
We are next on the painters' list for exteriors, so I'm excited to have a nice long stretch of warm weather so that can get done. Then hopefully it will be some "real" pillars at the front porch, sod, fence and landscaping. Hooray!
4.11.2011
Ding dong, Defense is Done
Finally, finally, I can wear my pin:
The defense went as well as defenses go. I am quite pleased. And now, despite having to make a few small revisions and get the rest of the diss. all formatted correctly, and I'm Officially. Done.
Champagne lunch after the defense with my committee members:
My ever patient chair, Virginia
Gavy and me in front of the old capitol building in IC:
I've said it once, and I guess I'm compelled to say it again:
WOOT WOOT
The defense went as well as defenses go. I am quite pleased. And now, despite having to make a few small revisions and get the rest of the diss. all formatted correctly, and I'm Officially. Done.
Champagne lunch after the defense with my committee members:
My ever patient chair, Virginia
Gavy and me in front of the old capitol building in IC:
I've said it once, and I guess I'm compelled to say it again:
WOOT WOOT
4.08.2011
in an attempt to help assure us that benjamin will make it to his 3rd birthday, we've done some massive childproofing of the house. we have locks at the top of each door that goes outside. this one is on the pantry:
17 hours after install, i caught him up on the counter unlocking it so he could get in and eat himself silly. but at least it slows him down.
no real good way to lock the bottom freezer, though. today i came down from changing a poopy diaper and found the freezer wide open, and he was finishing off a carton of ice cream with his hands.
the lock on the cabinet that houses the medicine and vitamins (and now, also the candy and lotions and coins and anything else we have to hide from him. if only it could hold ice cream....)
super duper patio lock
daddy story time. wow, they were all sitting. at once. too bad benj didn't have his super duo pjs on--that would've been even cuter.
easter bunny!
benj and his buddy. (that would be jaxson, not the easter bunny).
17 hours after install, i caught him up on the counter unlocking it so he could get in and eat himself silly. but at least it slows him down.
no real good way to lock the bottom freezer, though. today i came down from changing a poopy diaper and found the freezer wide open, and he was finishing off a carton of ice cream with his hands.
the lock on the cabinet that houses the medicine and vitamins (and now, also the candy and lotions and coins and anything else we have to hide from him. if only it could hold ice cream....)
super duper patio lock
daddy story time. wow, they were all sitting. at once. too bad benj didn't have his super duo pjs on--that would've been even cuter.
easter bunny!
benj and his buddy. (that would be jaxson, not the easter bunny).
3.26.2011
cheery pictures to brighten a gray day!
A Word to the Wise: Wear Pants when using Scissors
Cousin Lucas enjoyed his first birthday party
Gavin enjoyed Lucas's "Candyland" themed party, too
Last month some good friends celebrated with us the 1st Annual CarlHaub day. This was our answer to the insanity of over-buying during the holidays. Our two families (Carlsons and Case Haubs) decided to hold a separate celebration of honor the friendship of our two families during a time every year that is spaced out from the holidays and birthdays. For us that is February/March. Our 1st time doing this was lots of fun, and the kids exchanged gifts with another and I made a cake and we had great food and conversation. Love to have a party just for the fun of it!
Baby Maggie and Gavin playing nicely together
Caleb and Jack exchange buddy gifts
Gavin's been asking to go potty lately, and actually pooped on the potty once. He had a little snafu one day, though, when he got the potty seat stuck on his head. He was NOT happy about this.
Somewhere in the haze of the past several weeks I turned 33. Mike remembered my favorite cake from the whole in the wall bakery across town. Best champagne cake ever. Too bad the box had been open for only 2 minutes before we went to answer the door and Benj got to it:
It really feels like someone is always crying at our house
Cousin Lucas enjoyed his first birthday party
Gavin enjoyed Lucas's "Candyland" themed party, too
Last month some good friends celebrated with us the 1st Annual CarlHaub day. This was our answer to the insanity of over-buying during the holidays. Our two families (Carlsons and Case Haubs) decided to hold a separate celebration of honor the friendship of our two families during a time every year that is spaced out from the holidays and birthdays. For us that is February/March. Our 1st time doing this was lots of fun, and the kids exchanged gifts with another and I made a cake and we had great food and conversation. Love to have a party just for the fun of it!
Baby Maggie and Gavin playing nicely together
Caleb and Jack exchange buddy gifts
Gavin's been asking to go potty lately, and actually pooped on the potty once. He had a little snafu one day, though, when he got the potty seat stuck on his head. He was NOT happy about this.
Somewhere in the haze of the past several weeks I turned 33. Mike remembered my favorite cake from the whole in the wall bakery across town. Best champagne cake ever. Too bad the box had been open for only 2 minutes before we went to answer the door and Benj got to it:
It really feels like someone is always crying at our house
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