Speed Bump

Hello blog (and any loyal readers out there). I've missed you! I haven't written lately because I just plain have not been able to find the time. Kindergarten and two pickup/drop-off locations is a game changer. You know how it feels when you turn the clock ahead for daylight savings and you lose an hour? I feel like that every day now. I am struggling to get everyone out the door in the morning with full tummies and in clean clothes. And then again at night everyone must eat, bathe, sleep. Basic events that have to happen and should be so easy but sometimes feel impossible (someone in our house is 3 years old. Need I say more??) We're all working on sight words and letter sounds. Learning to read is important stuff! And yet where does it fit in the mad dash of the post-work-pre-bed rush? It is a work in progress for sure. I've written here in the past about the pros and cons of my career. I love the variety of my days that sometimes have me in the research lab or i...

It is the second week of November and I'm just getting around to our pumpkin patch pictures taken a month ago. October for me was a whirlwind and all my time seemed to disappear in long baseball games and grant reviews. I love experiencing Fall and October with the kids - pumpkins and costumes and falling leaves are a welcome change from hot summer days. But it is also one of the busiest months of the year for me at work with grant reviews and travel that cause all my other daily work to pile up and up and up. The month finished in a frantic blur of our first kindergarten Halloween parade and class party, our last soccer game and end of season pizza party, pumpkin carving, and trick-or-treating. Somehow we fit it all in.   Since the end of October, I've been enjoying the lull between holidays and pretending another one is not just around the corner. I'm looking back on this sunny day in October when we wore short sleeves, Royals' blue, and boots to the pumpkin patc...

While this pumpkin bread is my go to fall recipe, the muffin version is my new favorite. The recipe makes almost 2 dozen muffins - those that don't disappear immediately go in the freezer. They are a great addition to our weekday lunches or for a quick snack on the way to soccer. I really should consider making this recipe a bit healthier (in my spare time) but for now, it is a fave fall treat! Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread  Fall is one of my favorite seasons. After a long, hot and sticky summer, I look forward to the chill in the air, seeing bursts of colors in the turning leaves, carving pumpkins, and wearing sweaters! And I love the kitchen to be filled with the smell of cinnamon and pumpkin. This pumpkin bread recipe has become a new seasonal favorite in our house. It is easy to make and utilizes simple ingredients. Plus, it combines pumpkin and chocolate, a perfect combination for fall baking.  I recently made this recipe with Charlie's class a...

Thanks to last minute tickets and grandparents willing to pick up the kids, we got to #BeRoyal for a day!  All I can say about this Royals team is WOW. I love the way they play the game. The World Series is next. GO KC!

We had a ton of pictures taken this past week. We had a photo session at Modern on Meadow for an upcoming spread in a local KC magazine on the house. It was no easy feat to have the house clean and staged and all four of us picture-ready by 5pm on a very busy Thursday afternoon of a very busy week. Whew! Glad that is over. I am really curious to see the pictures. I hope we like them. We also took family photos this weekend - everyone was so thrilled to spend an hour trekking around the Nelson in their fall finest. Ok, I was the only one happy to be there and to be getting what I hope are new and fabulous family pictures. The kids are growing up so fast and we haven't had a family picture taken in 2 years, and not a professional one since before Izzy was born. It was time. Like everyone else in KC, we have baseball mania in our house. As Cardinals and Royals fans, we are in baseball overdrive right now. I'm avoiding thinking about the scenario that everyone in STL and KC ...

These days our Saturdays begin with ballet (notice the excellent plie in the photo above - with boots!) followed by a soccer game. This past Saturday we also took in a KU football game which meant the kids required three sets of clothes to get through the day. I went to Lawrence early Saturday morning for an alumni rowing event and left Ryan to be Super Dad and get the kids to their events. But first, I set out all the necessary outfits... They all managed to join me for the second quarter at the KU game, in their game gear and with smiles on their faces. The game wasn't very exciting, but the kids have fun playing on the hill afterwards.  And here is a short video of me rowing for the first time in almost 20 years! I am the third rower from the front, in the blue t-shirt. I didn't realize how much I missed the sport until I felt the run of the boat underneath me - so fun!  My friend Allison and I were two peas in a pod while we were on...

I'm not sure which one of us registered more shock when our neighbor, fellow kindergartner, and Monday morning carpool friend, hopped out of her minivan and onto our driveway in full cowgirl attire this morning. Charlie turned to bury his head in my legs, while my brain churned ever so slowly back to an announcement that came home on Friday about Spirit Week. I'm not sure if Charlie was upset about his lack of western attire, or if he was just overwhelmed by the exuberance of an unexpected cowgirl on Monday morning. The cowgirl's mom smiled and muttered something about how she had thought about reminding me. I stood frozen, with Charlie attached to my legs, trying to think. We had nothing he could throw on at the last minute - no vest, no cowboy hat, not even a bandana. It was a major Mom Fail to start the week. As I drove to work fighting back tears, I marveled at how something so insignificant could completely wreak my morning. Turns out nothing is insignificant when it...