The Hayes Trio had a lovely Easter weekend. We started it a day early, on good friday, since our daycare provider had the day off. Daddy took the day off, and Miss O and I had a wonderful morning of playing at the park and running various errands. Momma took the afternoon off of work, and we spent O's naptime mixing potting soil and fertilizer in the kitchen and proceeding to transplant our seedlings.
Saturday morning, Daddy got away for a little fly fishing. The Trout were not biting, I think from a heavy rain the night before. I could see plenty of them in the stream, and tried every trick I know of, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Momma and O played w/ Aunt Sal & Boppy. In the afternoon (it was a GLORIOUS afternoon!!!), we rode bikes to the Zoo with our pal Pete, and enjoyd the Animals. That evening, Momma and I prepped somethings for our family Easter brunch.
Easter Sunday was a blur off good food (Lavender Braised, Honey Glazed Lamb Shanks, etc for Brunch, Ham etc. for early supper at Boppy's), and too much sugar, and alas, we are back to work.
It was a glorious celebration, and very meaningful, considering the resurrection of our family & marriage.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
A weekend getaway...
Lee and I are both very excited to be getting away this weekend! We will be taking a quick overnight camping jaunt to Blue Mound State Park (click the link for the official WDNR site). The park only clears the snow into the parking area, so we will get to pack our gear into a site, and I am guessing we will be able to find some solitude this time of year. It will be so amazing to be in the woods of the north country together in the winter time. The brittle blue sky, the naked trees, the white expanses of snow. Our plan is to find a magical spot where we can renew our wedding vows, and just generally enjoy the quiet calm, and the pleasure of sitting in front of a camp fire.
Sweet Olivia will be having a slumber party with her God Mother, Jane Mount, and I know that they are both very excited to reunite after not having their weekly playdate for the last few weeks! Speaking of O, she continues to thrive at her new day care, and we count ourselves so blessed for the two providers we have used, the amazing Karen Cichon in the past, and now Suzie.
Well, hopefully we will remember to take a few pictures that I can put up on the blog... we shall see.
Sweet Olivia will be having a slumber party with her God Mother, Jane Mount, and I know that they are both very excited to reunite after not having their weekly playdate for the last few weeks! Speaking of O, she continues to thrive at her new day care, and we count ourselves so blessed for the two providers we have used, the amazing Karen Cichon in the past, and now Suzie.
Well, hopefully we will remember to take a few pictures that I can put up on the blog... we shall see.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Hayes Family 2.0!
The Hayes' have been on quite a journey over the last few months. Lee and I have risen to many challenges, as individuals and as a couple. It was certainly touch and go for a while there, but I am so happy to say that we have recommitted to each other, and the love and light of God is guiding day by day. It didn't kill us, and it is already making us stronger.
Our sweet little O has grown and changed so much. Her second birthday was last month, and she is talking, dancing and learning so much. We found a new day care provider that is working out very well, her name is Sue, and Olivia seems to be thriving with her. Sue runs a very organized day care, with seven other children. There is always alot of activity and learning going on, and O seems to relish the opportunity to expand her fast growing horizons.
I want to thank our families and friends for seeing us through these times. Your love and support mean the world.
Stay tuned for more updates and continued blog refining...
-Pappa Hayes
Our sweet little O has grown and changed so much. Her second birthday was last month, and she is talking, dancing and learning so much. We found a new day care provider that is working out very well, her name is Sue, and Olivia seems to be thriving with her. Sue runs a very organized day care, with seven other children. There is always alot of activity and learning going on, and O seems to relish the opportunity to expand her fast growing horizons.
I want to thank our families and friends for seeing us through these times. Your love and support mean the world.
Stay tuned for more updates and continued blog refining...
-Pappa Hayes
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Summer Fun!
Well, the summer is winding down. The days are getting shorter, the nights are cool. We have managed to have alot of fun this summer, though.
As Mama Hayes mentioned in her last post, she "conned" me into coming home early yesterday (it didn't take much convincing!). O' awoke form her nap shortly after I arrived, and Mama had the fun idea of building a fort in the living room. We spread an old sheet across a couple chairs, climbed in and read books, had some snacks and played away the afternoon. A great memory for this Daddy!
This morning, we got out the door by 7:30 to go to the farmers market, which goes rain or shine, and it was rain this morning. Thunder and lightning on the drive down, torrential downpours. Mama was a little worried, but I thought it would be fun. Our kid-pack has a great rain cover, and Olivia was plenty well protected. We almost had the place to ourselves, which was fun, but the farmers were definitely bummed about the bad turnout. It cleared up later, and hopefully the crowds arrived!
Afterward, we went to Grandpa Peter's place for a yummy breakfast of quiche with garden fresh veggies and some fun playtime! After all this, it was family nap time.
We spent the afternoon with Marshal, Christy and Everett at the CSA they are members of. They were having a corn boil, which was a blast. Great food, good company, and a beautiful setting.
The humidity is here now that the storms have passed, and I am bakling bread and listening to the radio. Tomorrow we will go to church and off to Grammsie's for a Brats (from the farmers market), corn (form our CSA), and a yummy raspberry desert.
I hope you all are enjoying the dog days, love and God bless!
As Mama Hayes mentioned in her last post, she "conned" me into coming home early yesterday (it didn't take much convincing!). O' awoke form her nap shortly after I arrived, and Mama had the fun idea of building a fort in the living room. We spread an old sheet across a couple chairs, climbed in and read books, had some snacks and played away the afternoon. A great memory for this Daddy!
This morning, we got out the door by 7:30 to go to the farmers market, which goes rain or shine, and it was rain this morning. Thunder and lightning on the drive down, torrential downpours. Mama was a little worried, but I thought it would be fun. Our kid-pack has a great rain cover, and Olivia was plenty well protected. We almost had the place to ourselves, which was fun, but the farmers were definitely bummed about the bad turnout. It cleared up later, and hopefully the crowds arrived!
Afterward, we went to Grandpa Peter's place for a yummy breakfast of quiche with garden fresh veggies and some fun playtime! After all this, it was family nap time.
We spent the afternoon with Marshal, Christy and Everett at the CSA they are members of. They were having a corn boil, which was a blast. Great food, good company, and a beautiful setting.
The humidity is here now that the storms have passed, and I am bakling bread and listening to the radio. Tomorrow we will go to church and off to Grammsie's for a Brats (from the farmers market), corn (form our CSA), and a yummy raspberry desert.
I hope you all are enjoying the dog days, love and God bless!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Biker Babes
Up until today, this week was a PERFECT weather week: highs in the upper 70s to low 80s, zero to low humidity, sunny skies, and cool breezes. Olivia and I took advantage of the sunshine and went on lots of bike rides. We biked to work with Daddy on Tuesday morning, stopped at a park on the way home to play with friends, and got back on the road after naptime to meet up with other friends. We went for a long bike ride with Grandpa on Thursday morning and another series of short bike rides that afternoon to run various errands around town. This morning we biked to playgroup, and I think Olivia enjoyed the rainy bike ride home - I wish I would have remembered to pack my rain jacket!
The sun and now today's rain should make our wildflowers and carrots grow faster. :)
I convinced Sean to take the afternoon off - he should be home soon, and we will scheme up something fun to do this afternoon! I'll try and convince him to blog about it, too...
(P.S. I finally posted some recent pictures of Olivia from this summer - check out the Hayes Family Photo Gallery II!)
The sun and now today's rain should make our wildflowers and carrots grow faster. :)
I convinced Sean to take the afternoon off - he should be home soon, and we will scheme up something fun to do this afternoon! I'll try and convince him to blog about it, too...
(P.S. I finally posted some recent pictures of Olivia from this summer - check out the Hayes Family Photo Gallery II!)
Monday, July 27, 2009
Summer Blur
Greetings, dear ones!
My jaw dropped in amazement when I noticed that our last blog entry was more than two months ago. The summer months brought us the most sunshine of the year, and we seem to have let the light and warmth distract us from our family musings. Nevertheless, here I am, and behold - I bring to you the lightning round of The Hayes Family Summer '09.
JUNE
It's Dairy Month here in WI, and we celebrated by visiting the Cows on the Concourse during the Farmer's Market on June 6th. Olivia received sweet kisses from a baby holstein, baby guernesey, and baby swiss brown. It was precious!
I started my worker share at Vermont Valley Farm, a CSA operation in Blue Mounds, just west of Madison. Every Wednesday through October, Olivia heads to Jane's house for the day, and I head to the fields. In exchange for my work, our family receives a box of fresh produce each week. Favorites so far include strawberries, salad mix, kohlrabi, and new potatoes.
I made it to American Player's Theatre in picturesque Spring Green, WI, with Mumsy and Sal for a roaring performance of Shaw's "The Philanderer". We enjoyed a picnic dinner beforehand and toasted Mom's friend (and fellow theatregoer), Bonnie Reinke, for winning the 2009 Governor's Business Plan Contest. The show was witty, satirical, biting, basically everything that makes me love Shaw's work.
Father's Day - Sean's second! Also the day of cousin Holly's wedding. The three of us traveled to the Milwaukee War Memorial, site of the beautiful event. We celebrated Holly and Erik, caught up with family, and enjoyed cheesecake lollipops!
We ended the month in seasonal style and headed to a Brewer's game with old high school buddies of mine. Me, Sean, Bodo (her first pro baseball game!), Allen and Harpo tailgated, picked up bobbleheads on our way in, sat next to Bernie's dugout, and groaned as the Brewer's lost the game after hitting the ball maybe half a dozen times. Ah, well - here's to the peanuts and crackerjacks! (Or lemon ice and ice cream sundaes, as the case may be...)
Logfest '09: On the Road! I roadtripped with Mumsy and Sal to Ohio for Sal's second round of chemo, which had been agonizingly postponed a week due to her low white blood cell count. Fortunately, after a super duper booster shot, Sal's blood counts were high enough to protect all of us from harm that week, and she went ahead with round two. I was so glad to be there with her, to be able to support her in that way. Ben, the conquering hero, ordered us all road trip t-shirts afterward, and I love the memories mine conjures! (A special thanks to Therese and Jane for being with O during the day while I was gone and making this trip possible for me.)
JULY
Happy Independence Day! We celebrated the 4th of July in Verona with Mumsy, Sal, Ben and his parents. We had a wonderful picnic feast and ended the afternoon's festivities with fireworks. (Yes, the men took a fieldtrip - yes, the ladies stayed home cackling and gossiping.) It also happened to be O's first experience with fireworks! She was all over the sparklers, poppers ("Pop!"), and various incendiary creations - that is, until the Crop Circle. For those of you familiar with homegrown fireworks, this one looks like a turtle, spins really fast, makes a high-pitched squeal and is projected into the air with a whizbangboom. Hands over her ears, O hollered and looked at the men disapprovingly before making her exit.
Olivia reached the 18-month milestone this month. Folks, we have a toddler! Our little baby is growing up fast. Her 18-month checkup proved that. O is running, climbing, talking, inventing and oh, is she a blur of energy and laughter. :) She can climb the junglegym at the playground by herself. She is learning more and more words every day (my favorite thing to hear her say: "scratch").
On Saturday we went to a march and rally for health care downtown. We road our bikes to State Street, locked them up, and joined the hundreds of people marching to the tunes of Mama Digdown's Brass Bane and waving "Healthcare for All" placards, among other homemade slogans. Olivia road in her chariot, sign in one hand, cell phone in the other. She was a posterchild for the next generation, let me tell you! It was exhilirating to be out there with everyone and show our support for Obama's health care reforms. Our Representative, Tammy Baldwin, spoke, as well as a couple of doctors and a few citizens with their personal stories to share. We took to the streets and marched for what we believe in!
***
Happy summer to all, and to all a good night!
My jaw dropped in amazement when I noticed that our last blog entry was more than two months ago. The summer months brought us the most sunshine of the year, and we seem to have let the light and warmth distract us from our family musings. Nevertheless, here I am, and behold - I bring to you the lightning round of The Hayes Family Summer '09.
JUNE
It's Dairy Month here in WI, and we celebrated by visiting the Cows on the Concourse during the Farmer's Market on June 6th. Olivia received sweet kisses from a baby holstein, baby guernesey, and baby swiss brown. It was precious!
I started my worker share at Vermont Valley Farm, a CSA operation in Blue Mounds, just west of Madison. Every Wednesday through October, Olivia heads to Jane's house for the day, and I head to the fields. In exchange for my work, our family receives a box of fresh produce each week. Favorites so far include strawberries, salad mix, kohlrabi, and new potatoes.
I made it to American Player's Theatre in picturesque Spring Green, WI, with Mumsy and Sal for a roaring performance of Shaw's "The Philanderer". We enjoyed a picnic dinner beforehand and toasted Mom's friend (and fellow theatregoer), Bonnie Reinke, for winning the 2009 Governor's Business Plan Contest. The show was witty, satirical, biting, basically everything that makes me love Shaw's work.
Father's Day - Sean's second! Also the day of cousin Holly's wedding. The three of us traveled to the Milwaukee War Memorial, site of the beautiful event. We celebrated Holly and Erik, caught up with family, and enjoyed cheesecake lollipops!
We ended the month in seasonal style and headed to a Brewer's game with old high school buddies of mine. Me, Sean, Bodo (her first pro baseball game!), Allen and Harpo tailgated, picked up bobbleheads on our way in, sat next to Bernie's dugout, and groaned as the Brewer's lost the game after hitting the ball maybe half a dozen times. Ah, well - here's to the peanuts and crackerjacks! (Or lemon ice and ice cream sundaes, as the case may be...)
Logfest '09: On the Road! I roadtripped with Mumsy and Sal to Ohio for Sal's second round of chemo, which had been agonizingly postponed a week due to her low white blood cell count. Fortunately, after a super duper booster shot, Sal's blood counts were high enough to protect all of us from harm that week, and she went ahead with round two. I was so glad to be there with her, to be able to support her in that way. Ben, the conquering hero, ordered us all road trip t-shirts afterward, and I love the memories mine conjures! (A special thanks to Therese and Jane for being with O during the day while I was gone and making this trip possible for me.)
JULY
Happy Independence Day! We celebrated the 4th of July in Verona with Mumsy, Sal, Ben and his parents. We had a wonderful picnic feast and ended the afternoon's festivities with fireworks. (Yes, the men took a fieldtrip - yes, the ladies stayed home cackling and gossiping.) It also happened to be O's first experience with fireworks! She was all over the sparklers, poppers ("Pop!"), and various incendiary creations - that is, until the Crop Circle. For those of you familiar with homegrown fireworks, this one looks like a turtle, spins really fast, makes a high-pitched squeal and is projected into the air with a whizbangboom. Hands over her ears, O hollered and looked at the men disapprovingly before making her exit.
Olivia reached the 18-month milestone this month. Folks, we have a toddler! Our little baby is growing up fast. Her 18-month checkup proved that. O is running, climbing, talking, inventing and oh, is she a blur of energy and laughter. :) She can climb the junglegym at the playground by herself. She is learning more and more words every day (my favorite thing to hear her say: "scratch").
On Saturday we went to a march and rally for health care downtown. We road our bikes to State Street, locked them up, and joined the hundreds of people marching to the tunes of Mama Digdown's Brass Bane and waving "Healthcare for All" placards, among other homemade slogans. Olivia road in her chariot, sign in one hand, cell phone in the other. She was a posterchild for the next generation, let me tell you! It was exhilirating to be out there with everyone and show our support for Obama's health care reforms. Our Representative, Tammy Baldwin, spoke, as well as a couple of doctors and a few citizens with their personal stories to share. We took to the streets and marched for what we believe in!
***
Happy summer to all, and to all a good night!
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