Continued from Part 27…

On Friday, March 5, just three weeks after our wedding, my high school had a full week of vacation for spring break.  We decided to take advantage of every minute and left immediately after work that Friday evening to spend the night in Indianapolis before flying to Hawaii.  Because we were paying quite a bit for the honeymoon, I decided to try to save money by booking the cheapest hotel I could find for the night prior to our flight.  That was definitely a mistake and a lesson learned!  Our room ended up being by a truck stop, the bottom of the door was practically kicked in, and I was afraid to take my shoes off.  Not the way I wanted to start our honeymoon and a very long night!  Luckily, our flight left early the next morning and we were out of there in record time.

Our flight stopped at LAX before continuing to Maui.  We arrived in Maui mid-afternoon on Saturday and went directly to rent a car.  I’d booked online and rented the cheapest car possible.  Mike went in to pick up the car and upgraded us to a Jeep Wrangler.  Apparently he’d had enough of my penny-pinching ways and knew we’d need it if we wanted to explore the back section of the road to Hana.  Before we drove to our resort, we stopped at a grocery store for snacks and coconut shampoo. 

We stayed at the Maui Prince, and at check in they offered us towels.  I remember they smelled like cucumbers and felt so good after our awful night and long day of travel.  The nice part about the resort is that it was more secluded than many of the larger hotels there – probably because it was a good 45 minute drive from the airport.  It was perfect for a honeymoon.  The beach was private and usually empty.  The hotel grounds were gorgeous.

We explored the resort a bit and went to dinner that evening in the hotel.  I don’t remember what I ate, but I remember that the strawberry daiquiri was the best I’d ever tasted.  I think it had ginger in it!  I’ve tried in vain to recreate it.  I also remember I was very uncomfortable after so much sitting that day!

I don’t remember the exact order of what we did each day (and I can’t seem to find anywhere that I wrote it down – shocking, I know), but I do remember many of the highlights of our trip.  Everything we ate was amazing (of course it comes back to food…).  I remember an avocado omelet at the hotel that was to die for.  We also found a little hole-in-the-wall not far from the hotel where we went for breakfast several times – I think it was called Amy’s Cafe.  I had the best banana pancakes there and I found it so strange that breakfast came with rice!  The most memorable lunch was one day when we were out shopping – I can’t remember the name, but I’d know it if I saw it.  It was a local place down the street from Bubba Gump Shrimp.  Mike had an Ono burger that he still talks about and I had fish tacos.  Mmm…

We spent at least two days driving around and exploring the island.  The road itself is curvy, steep, and right by the ocean – I remember holding on to the grab bar several times during the drive.  There were tons of bridges, amazing views, and stop points where we were able to park and explore.  We picked up snacks and had a picnic lunch close to the Seven Sacred Pools.  The eco-system there is just amazing!  We passed cattle, chickens, pineapple plantations, and lots of rainforest.

Another day, we drove to the top of the volcano.  It was amazing the temperature difference at the top.  I’d never been remotely close to a volcano before so I was in total awe.  The view was pretty amazing too!  We were above the clouds.  I wish now we would have biked down.

We spent some time at the beach, but Mike isn’t a big beach bum.  He hates being sandy.  Our relaxation time was spent in the shade by the pool, reading novels and drinking cocktails, which was also enjoyable.  Of course, we couldn’t sit still for long and had other adventures while we were there.  We went whale watching (phenomenal!!), went to a Luau (something you have to do if you go to Hawaii, but I wasn’t impressed with the food – except for the purple potato rolls), went shopping (I bought my first pair of Merrells at the mall there – my feet hurt badly from so much walking!), ate good food, and explored all of the towns and parts of Maui.

We flew out on Saturday and returned home early in the morning on Sunday, March 14.  Before we left, we ate a cheesy shrimp pizza.  Yum!  When we arrived at the airport, we found that Mike’s Jeep had a dead battery, but eventually were able to get the Jeep jumped and head home.  My mom and grandpa were at our house to meet us and mom made us a big breakfast that morning.

The trip was everything a honeymoon should be and we hope to go back for our 10 year anniversary in two years.  I’d love to renew our vows on the beach – and who knows, by then we may even be brave and take the kids.

To be continued…

With Grandpa before my high school graduation ceremony in 1999.

If you don’t know my Grandpa, you haven’t read here long enough. Today, he would have been 100 years old.

I credit Grandpa for much of who I am today. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about him and experience his influence on my life. I never once questioned his love for me. Luckily, I can still remember the sound of his voice and his gems of advice when I need his support the most.

I’ve written about Grandpa numerous times, but I searched through the archives to find some of my favorite posts about him.

1. Memories – I still cherish the letters.

2. Grandpaisms – If you look closely, you’ll see he wore the same shirt for my college graduation as he did when I graduated from high school.

3. Happy 96th Birthday – Lots of pictures of the two of us.

4. Happy Birthday, Grandpa – One of my favorite pictures of the two of us.

I’ll be having cake at some point today – and enjoying every bite – while thinking of this very special man. I was lucky to have him in my life for as long as I did!

On Thursday, Mike took the day off, we took Bo out of school, and the five us drove into Chicago to spend the morning at Shedd Aquarium.  The drive was easy and we enjoyed a fun day together.  We found Nemo!  We also saw tons of fish, crabs, frogs, turtles, seahorses, penguins, dolphins, whales, sharks, string rays, etc.  Bo said the sharks were his favorite.  The next morning, Bo woke me up by telling me that he was scared because a whale was peeking at him…

***I actually took my camera but never got it out.  I ended up just taking pictures with my phone.***

On Sunday afternoon, after rest time (Bo is allowed to have the iPad halfway through) we found the iPad surrounded by cars.  Mike’s response, “Looks like the cars are addicted to the iPad.”

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I was sitting on the couch working early one morning last week when Bo emerged from his room clinging to Cinnabear.  He curled up on the couch next to me to give me a big hug.  His first words of the day, “Can you help me get these crumbs out of my eyes?” 

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Bo: “Sometimes, I have to be brave when owls pass by.  Did you know bears can jump over rivers and come up to our house?”  Where does he get this stuff??

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Oftentimes, when Mike comes home from work, the kids will be sitting around the table eating dinner.  I’ll be standing in the kitchen (our dining room and kitchen are all one big room) usually putting away dishes, starting dinner for Mike and I, or just cleaning up from the mess I made making the kids’ dinner.  Mike will give me a hug and we have a tendency to stand there for a moment.  When this happens, Clara, usually standing on her chair with a gigantic grin on her face, breaks in with an “I love you!”  Even if the day has been one of the longest on record, I know, albeit briefly, that Mike and I must be doing something right. 

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I have a pair of jeans with holes in them.  I think this trend has already expired for the second time in my life, but they fit and are comfortable, so I still wear them.  Both Clara and Anna are very disturbed by the holes and quite concerned that I should “fix it!”

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The biggest news of our week is that Chez Sticky Feet is now a crib free household.  We converted the girls’ beds to toddler beds on Saturday morning and thus far, it’s gone swimmingly.  They haven’t even tried to get out of bed at night and the first night they slept until we went into get them at a little after 7.  The second night, Bo heard Mike leave for the gym and ended up going in to get them up.  By the time I heard them all and got dressed they were all in Bo’s room playing.  Last night, they did great again, and were once again greeted by their brother. I thought this might be a good time to attempt this transition since they are dropping nap and so tired in the evening.  So far, so good.

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Bo has started grabbing the iPad and visiting the girls in their room in the mornings.  Honestly, I think the girls would sleep later if Bo wasn’t so antsy for them to wake up!  On Saturday morning, Mike put Anna in Clara’s crib (Bo was already there) so they could all watch together for a little while.  This is the scene I found – they were all watching Bob the Builder.  Thanks to our toddler bed conversion, now they can all get in bed together without assistance or me freaking out that Clara is going to break her arm climbing between cribs.

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One day after lunch, Bo asked Mike, “Why are the stools new?”  (We finally bought barstools just after Christmas – we’ve only lived here 2 1/2 years – no rush!)  Mike replied, “We bought them.”  Bo, “On the international?”  Mike, “Yes, on the internet.”

It’s transition time at Chez Sticky Feet.  Clara and Anna have officially given up their naps which means Mama is in need of ways to keep the trio occupied to squeak in a little more work time in the afternoon.  Working the equivalent of 2 full-time jobs teaching online, plus writing and blogging, plus caring for children for all but 12 hours a week (oh yeah, and laundry, cooking, etc.) – well – let’s just say I need at least an hour of “rest” time each afternoon to attempt to get a few things done.  I am sure someone will say or imply that this makes me a bad mother, but I’m beyond caring.  I’m just trying to keep us all sane.

Clara and Anna had gotten to the point where all they did during nap was take all of their clothes off, throw diapers at each other, sing, and chatter.  I was at my wit’s end.  After researching Pinterest and chatting with my friend, Laura, I bought six tubs at Target and filled them with different toys and activities that the trio could do in their room during “rest” time.  Most of the contents were things we already had that I stole from around the house.  Amazingly, they seem like new again!  I did purchase a few new Color Wonder sets and I have a lacing set in my Amazon cart, but the biggest expense was the tubs.  Each box has a few board books, some type of puzzle or little pieces project, some type of electronic/noise making gadget, and other randomness. I am looking for good ideas for other activities, projects, etc. that I can put in the tubs.  If you have any suggestions, please share!! It needs to be items that they can do independently and that won’t destroy the room beyond normal pick-up (i.e. no PlayDoh or real markers). 

We trade the boxes and let each child choose a box each day filled with items that would seem new to keep them occupied for a little while. 

In many ways, the busy boxes have been very successful.  The kids love selecting which box they will have for the day and carrying it from our room (there is no where to store said boxes…) to their room.  Even better, they are all entertained.  The girls actually stay in their room better than Bo stays in his and I have a bit of time to grade essays mid-afternoon.  However, what I didn’t anticipate was how much two-year-old, twin toddlers can destroy a bedroom.  The pictures above are mild compared to when they decide to empty their pajama drawer. 

Bo has had rest time since he was the girls’ age and while he definitely makes a mess, the girls put him to shame.  They seriously must work together to destroy everything in sight.  Even though it takes me a good half hour to clean up the destruction after every rest – it’s still worth it.  

My crazy kiddos…  This was one of those perfect afternoons to play in the snow.  It was warming up (already in the 40’s and wind) so it actually felt very pleasant outside.  Mike helped the trio build a snowman and they all ran around the backyard dodging snowballs Mike launched.  I think he hit the trees more than anything else.  Bo got in on the action and threw a few snowballs of his own.  The girls just galloped around the backyard trying to avoid being caught in the battle. 

After the wedding, we were all ushered into the room next to the great hall so the staff at Starved Rock could flip the room for dinner.  We greeted our guests, the bar started serving (the Mai Tais were not good), and I remember feeling elated.  Both that the wedding itself was over and that we were finally married.

While everything was being setup for dinner, Mike and I slipped outside with Mike and Mary Lou for some chilly pictures on the deck at Starved Rock.  Our first photo together was taken there, and I wanted to attempt to recreate the same setting.  These are some of my favorite photos from the day.  At that point, we were both in that magical “we just got married” high and we let our true colors shine. Holy crud, we were married!

When we went back inside, it was time to cut the cake, listen to toasts, and eat dinner.  I don’t remember much about the dinner except for what is on the video – and the sadness that I didn’t get to eat more cake.  Mike and I both wish that we’d had more cake…   We had chocolate with chocolate mousse filling, lemon with lemon filling, and white with raspberry filling.  Mmmm… 

After dinner, we moved back into the next room for the dance portion of our reception.  Mandy sang “A Moment Like This” which was the Kelly Clarkson song that was popular during that time and then we also danced to “My Valentine” by Martina McBride.  Two songs was way too long for a first dance, but I only remember dancing with Mike one other time that night!  Mike danced with his mom and I danced with Grandpa (after retrieving him from his room) and our bridal party danced before everyone else started partying.  This part of the video is very entertaining – both to watch everyone dance (and me with gum in my mouth!) and because this part of the video has interviews with the guests which are, quite frankly, pretty hilarious.  Several of our friends were pretty far gone…

We had discussed paying the DJ extra to stay longer, but by that point both Mike and I were tired of the party and just ready to be done.  We were back in our room at just after 10.  I’ll leave out our wedding night because some memories just aren’t meant to be shared…

The next morning, we opened gifts in Mike’s parents’ room next door and had breakfast with everyone who was still there in the dining room at Starved Rock.  Mom and Grandpa rode home with Mike and Mary Lou (after much cajoling) so Mike and I could enjoy our first few hours of wedded bliss.  We had Monday off for President’s Day, but we were back at work on Tuesday, counting the days until our honeymoon in Maui.

To be continued…

Photos courtesy of Spieth Photography.

For breakfast on Sunday morning, I made these phenomenal lemon blueberry multigrain pancakes and served them with crunchy bacon.  The best part?  The bacon required no frying (or splattering!) and was ready at the same time as the pancakes!  Mmm!

If you haven’t heard the news, my friend Mandy is expecting her first child and one of her cravings has been bacon.  She and I both found a pin on Pinterest for baking bacon and she tried it first with great success.  My method is slightly different, but still yields the same great results – crispy, yummy, bacon!  Perfect for a lazy Sunday morning breakfast – or even a week day breakfast if you’re so inclined. 

I heated some of the leftover bacon in the microwave to make a bacon sandwich for lunch today and it returned to its crispy goodness in less than a minute.  Yum.

Baked Bacon

• 1 lb bacon

Line a baking sheet with foil.  Lay strips of bacon on the foil so they are not overlapping.  Stick the pan in the oven and set on 375.  Do not preheat the oven!  Set a timer for 20 minutes and make your pancakes (or dress your children!).  Remove bacon from oven and use tongs to move onto a plate lined with paper towels to drain.  Viola!  Baked bacon!

My trio likes pancakes and bacon too!

Each Monday, I’ll showcase a family and kid-friendly recipe to share with your family. Please let me know if you try one of my recipes! Enjoy!

Amber and I discussed this a little (in between climbing in the play area to save our children) but after we talked about it a bit, I went searching the blog to see if I’d ever really addressed this question. I know I’ve talked about the pageants, especially in the story of the first years of my relationship with Mike, but I couldn’t find much where I actually addressed my views on pageants – if you’d heard this all before, I’m sorry! I did find this post from 2008, “Cure for the Pageant Bug” but since I’ve had the girls I haven’t really talked about my thoughts on pageants and how I would feel about my girls competing in one.

This is a timely post as this weekend is the Illinois Association of Agricultural Fairs Convention in Springfield. Just nine years ago, I was checking into the Crowne Plaza for the pageant weekend I’d spent months preparing for. It turned into one of the craziest weekends (and years!) of my life when I ended up winning. Even now, nine years later, I still can’t believe I actually won.

So, how did I become involved in pageants in the first place… well, when I was in middle school, my mom worked for my hometown newspaper. One of the stories she was required to report on was the local fair queen pageant and she took me along. We were able to sit in one of the front rows and I had birds-eye view of the cattle call that is the swimsuit competition. I remember that night she said to me, “When you turn 16 you should do this. It would be so good for you. You’d learn so much.” That was repeated a few times and when I was 16 I decided to compete. I knew I didn’t have a snowballs chance in hell of winning and was completely happy when I walked off the stage able to say, “I picked the winners!” I had a lot of fun competing and several of my friends (including two of my future bridesmaids, Jenny and Jenna) competed with me.

As there always is, there was drama surrounding the pageant. My mom had been told that there was no way I was going to win (ummm… well, yeah. I could have told her that.) but of course it was frustrating. No one wants to hear negative comments about their child. It festered in my mind that certain people either didn’t think I was good enough, pretty enough, smart enough, whatever enough, to win. Suddenly, I found my motivation. I found myself secretly thinking – join a club? That would look great on a pageant application. Straight A’s? Wouldn’t that GPA be nice to hear read while I’m walking in my swimsuit. I kicked the idea of competing again around a bit and settled on running again when I was older.

The summer I turned 20, Mandy called me at home a few days before applications were due for the pageant. I’d made it pretty clear I planned to run again the following year, but Mary Lou had convinced Mandy to run and she wanted me to run with her. It didn’t take much for me to agree and before I knew it both Mandy and I were spending our summer printing photos and trying on pageant dresses. Let’s just say that we were all surprised when I was announced as 1st runner up. I couldn’t have been any more thrilled if I would have been crowned queen.

I convinced Mandy and Mary Lou to go with me to the state pageant in January to support our local queen. I was in total awe of the entire experience. I picked the winner almost immediately and aura and the atmosphere sucked me in. I wanted to be on that stage. I had no delusions that I could actually win, heck, I would be competing for the third time at my local pageant which brought about it’s own stigmas. But I knew I wanted the opportunity to try. So I ran again, which is much more convoluted then this one sentence, and managed to win the local crown. Then, I set my sights on being in the Top Twelve at State.

On that Sunday evening, 9 years ago, when they called, Contestant #64, Miss Richland County is now Contestant #10, I was 100% satisfied. I relaxed completely and would have been more than happy to go home with nothing else. That meant that I was relaxed, myself, and spent more time chatting with the other girls backstage than fixing my lipstick. The look on my face when they announced me as the winner says it all. What I really wanted to say in that moment was, “Holy shit! What?! Really?!!” I still kinda feel that way. My first thought after the initial shock was, “Hmmm… maybe a Valentine’s wedding.”

When asked if I want my daughters to compete, my answer is a quick no. If given my druthers, I’d rather they stay far from the pageant circuit. When they are older, if they choose to compete in a pageant, I’ll support them, but it definitely is not something I will encourage. There are many reasons that I feel this way – most importantly, I don’t want them to have to deal with the extreme judgment and scrutiny that comes with being a pageant contestant. Everything from the thickness of my eyebrows to the lift of my butt (at 21 – please…) was under fire. I was young and cute (hindsight is 20/20) and I wish I could have just enjoyed it. All of this was before I was even queen!

As a “public figure” everything I did – from the way I wore my hair to what I did in my personal and private life was judged and discussed by people who didn’t even know me. Those that did know me usually knew the truth – that I wasn’t perfect (shocking, I know!). I think most ‘pageant girls” must be perfectionists at heart, which makes the constant scrutiny even more difficult.

As a parent, I just don’t want to see my girls be judged and ridiculed. Yes, I want them to excel and succeed, but more than anything, I want them to be happy. And trust me, when every move you make is being analyzed, it’s very difficult to truly be happy.

One nice aspect of moving away is that I now control who knows I was a “queen” – at least until they find my blog… It isn’t something that is immediately known – especially considering my life has changed pretty considerably in the last nine years. On a typical day, I’m unshowered, wearing sweatpants, and have three small children attached to me. I’m at the other end of the spectrum! When people do find out, they usually just look at me strangely and I can see their mind whirling and can almost see the “Really??!” cross their lips before they think better of it. And honestly, I’m totally okay with it. It’s nice to be just be me– totally myself. It’s also nice not to care what everyone else is saying about me anymore. (If you’re reading this on an iPhone in the Crowne Plaza ballroom, feel free to discuss. At least if you’re talking about me, you’re not talking about one of the contestants. Give your favorite contestant a hug and tell her that you think she’s the bee’s knees no matter what!)

The pageant experience and being a queen definitely helped shaped who I am. They are experiences I wouldn’t trade and have blessed me in many ways – from interview skills to meeting many phenomenal people. That said, the reason I’m not attending this year doesn’t have anything to do with my muffin top.

Last week, it finally snowed. The trio was thrilled. Especially Bo. Bo has been waiting for snow since well before Christmas. We made the most of it and spent plenty of time playing in it.