Birthday weekend!

Happy birthday, Auntie Pam!

The Ives family's hot streak of summer/early autumn birthdays rolls on this week with Auntie Pam's 27th birthday today. Grampie and Grammie came in from Iowa City to join the party (remember, it was Grammie's birthday just six days ago). Highlights included lots of time to visit and play, two trips to the fire station, where we saw the brand new ambulance (just three days old and fresh with that new ambulance smell), and a special birthday dinner out last night.

We went to a local Italian place which has a gluten free menu, so Owen had a great time.

Maya, meanwhile, finished eating early and then provided the entertainment by playing peek-a-boo with her grampie.

The new ambulance at the fire station was very inspiring to Owen. He decided he wanted some flashing lights for his bicycle, so we outfitted the handlebar with a flashing bike tail light he can turn on and off.

While it was unseasonably cool this weekend, each bike ride was followed by a cool down period featuring Popsicles.

(A shout out to Nana and Grandpa here. Doesn't the above picture remind you of the picture of Daniel with his ice cream cone out in California when he was a little boy?)

Today was a little more about work. I got Maya down for a nap around 12:30. When I walked out of the room, Amy and Owen were going into his room with a stack of books and the hopes Owen would have an afternoon snooze. I hadn't finished lunch, so I went downstairs. About 10 minutes later I heard some footsteps going across Owen's floor. I peeked upstairs, hoping to catch Amy as she left the room, but what I saw was Owen sneaking out the door and closing it behind him, so as not to awaken his sleeping mother.

Affirming he was not tired, I asked him if he wanted to A) go to the pool or B) paint the fence. He chose the latter. So Owen and I went outside and got a lot of work done. It was a wonderful afternoon. Two hours of talking and painting on a perfect end-of-summer day.


The ladies got into the action when they got up. While I kept painting, Amy had Owen and Maya help her in the garden. Maya threw herself into the work, climbing into the potato barrel.



And one final first. We grilled hamburgers for dinner tonight and threw in a special treat, a fresh gluten free hamburger bun for Owen. Believe it or not, this is the first time he's ever eaten a hamburger as a sandwich.


Pretty cool. And very tasty ...

For the love of grandmas

First off, happy birthday, Grammie Ives! I hope yesterday was a wonderful day. We're looking forward to celebrating your birthday with you this weekend.

The past few weeks have provided a good reminder of how important family is. Whether you're celebrating long-awaited news or coming together to rally behind someone who needs your help, or both, we're lucky to be surrounded by people who love and appreciate each other, their needs, and their gifts.

As many of you know, August has been full of challenges as Owen and Maya's Nana Aalberts was diagnosed with a brain tumor three weeks ago. On August 7 she had surgery to have the tumor removed from the speech/reading center of her brain.

I was with her and his dad the day of the surgery. Amy took on more with Owen and Maya and Auntie Pam came over that Friday to help out and spend time with her favorite nephew and niece. I am so thankful for both of you in giving me the support I needed to be there and not worry that things might be in chaos at home.

The surgery went very well. Her neurosurgeon was confident, if not even a bit giddy, that he was been able to remove the whole tumor. Indeed, the entire surgery team was very impressed at how the procedure had gone and what an over-achieving patient Mom was.

She recovered well and continued to impress the staff at her cognitive abilities, which they said would be further impaired as the post-op swelling of the brain further prohibited the functions of that part of her brain.

We all drove up again this weekend to see her.

It was an exciting week for us at home. Amy and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary on Wednesday and I finally got the news that the "interim" title had been taken off the title of the job I have been doing since April. As of Tuesday I am now the Performing Arts Director for the City of Bloomington and the director of the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts.

Many months ago we planned this weekend as a celebration time for Amy and me. After we took Owen to a Celiac Disease conference and food expo, Mom and Dad were going to sit for the kids and we were going to go downtown for a show and an overnight by ourselves.

We still went to the Celiac conference, where we loaded up Owen on a wonderful variety of gluten free food ... but the celebration took on a different focus.

We had a wonderful time on Saturday just hanging out with Mom and Dad. We made dinner, the kids went to sleep early, and we just sat and enjoyed a wonderful, relaxed night of conversation. Mom's focus is really on being around family. And her appreciation for the people in her life has come into even sharper focus. As has ours for her. She's been doing a great job of taking care of herself and preparing for the treatment and recovery ahead.

Speaking of, the pathologist report came back on Friday and her tumor was categorized as a malignant stage four astrocytoma. She meets with her neuro oncologist on Thursday, but it is almost certain the tumor will require a mix of chemo and radiation to make sure whatever highly aggressive cancer cells might remain can be contained and removed.

There is more information about her treatment through a CaringBridge page we have started for her: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/leonannaalberts1

Family is so important, so I'll end this post with a couple pictures taken of Nana with two of her three favorite little people.

But first, a little reminder to the two grandmas. I hope you know you don't need to be celebrating a birthday or fighting to get your health back to know we all love you. These occasions and challenges bring that affection into sharper focus, but it's always there.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

GO YANKEES!



It was a great day as Owen, his dad, and grandpa went to the ballpark this past Saturday to cheer on their Yankees. Of course, it would have been a better day if the Yankees had won, but the trip was memorable nonetheless.



Owen's first MLB experience began with a commuter train ride in from Mom and Dad's house to Chicago's Union Station. Following a quick lunch downtown it was time for our second train ride of the day, boarding Chicago's El for a subway ride that would take us to the White Sox' U.S. Cellular Field for the ballgame.

For Owen, the day couldn't have started better. He loves trains and had a wonderful experience clickety-clacking his way to the ballpark.

It was an atypically cool August 1, with rain showers and temps checking in only at 68 degrees at game time.

We arrived with plenty of time to check out the stadium and the terrific view of downtown.

The woman who took this picture was absolutely tickled with the three of us. "Are you three generations?" she asked. When we said yes she said, "That's wonderful!" Indeed, I think Grandpa and I felt very lucky to be having this day together.

Owen was, admittedly, a bit more nervous with his new surroundings. He gave his belly button a good workout -- his calming mechanism in new situations. And I have to admit the pre-game fireworks, music, and general hoopla were pretty overwhelming.

We stayed almost two hours. Owen had had his fill, so we watched the Yankees bat at the top of the sixth inning before packing up for the day.

He was really tired. I carried him out of the ballpark and we caught the subway and then the Metra back home.

The Yankees lost 14-4 ... but I think we won regardless.

Happy birthday, Grampie!

Have a great day! We're looking forward to seeing you this weekend!

A blast from the past

Last Wednesday, our dear friend Joanne passed through Normal on her way to Santa Fe from her home in Ann Arbor. Joanne was one of our very good friends when we were living in Michigan, a coworker of Joel's at the University and a devoted bunny sitter for our dear Greta.
Joanne would read to Greta when she would stop by our apartment to feed her ... a devotion I don't think she regrets even though we learned later Greta was, for all intents and purposes, deaf.

We hadn't seen Joanne since we moved to Tucson in 2003, so it was a real treat to catch up and introduce her to both of the kids. They worked their charms on her.

And, indeed, I think it's safe to say, Owen and Maya, Aunt Joanne will always take the time to read to you if you ask.

We have lots of other discoveries to report this week ...

One of our tomato plants has become the home to a family of caterpillars (actually, tomato hornworms). I'm sure my grandpa the farmer would be devastated to learn we are happily sacrificing this tomato plant to their munching in order to watch them grow and eventually turn into moths, but it's really fascinating to watch them. Amy and Owen pulled this guy off the plant last night ...

And Owen enjoyed taking a closer look at its legs and the row of "eyes" along its side.

Maya had her 15 month checkup last week. She's now in the 30th percentile for weight, which makes her pediatrician happy, as she'd been in the single digits percentage-wise a couple of months ago.

She's saying many more words, but excels at "Daddy" (a good choice), "bubbles," "uh oh!" and "hi."

Owen has lots more to say.

The other day I was getting him in the car so his mom could take him to pre-school as I was on my way to work. He gave me a huge kiss and said, "There's something you can tell your friends at work about."

And the other night I was singing him a few songs at bedtime, as is our routine. He asked for one more and I started singing "Over in the Meadow." He stopped me in mid song and said, "I don't like that song, it's too yakkity."

Mr. Entertainment has also designed a new Mii for himself to go with our Wii game. We sat together a couple of weeks ago and he picked out the characteristics he thought looked right for the on-screen "Owen."

Here's what he chose:

I love it.

Breck Girl

An Independence Day Retrospective

I'm going to claim it took me this whole week to digest all that we did in Chicago over the 4th of July. It certainly was a jam-packed weekend of fun.

Not quite a scene from "On the Town," Owen's downtown romance with the pretty girl dressed in the lemon colored frock was fully sanctioned by both sets of parents, as we delighted in meeting our long-time friends Jake and Laura for the weekend, along with their daughter Annabelle.

My parents played host to all seven of us, joining us for our planned trip downtown ... and patiently enduring a day of cabin-fever activity planning when the 4th itself arrived both cold and wet.

Our big Friday outing was a trip downtown for lunch at Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill. Jake and Laura are long-time devotees to Rick's Mexican cookbook. They even gave me my copy ... to which I gratefully returned the favor by giving them the book Rick wrote about cooking with his daughter, "Rick and Lanie's Excellent Kitchen Adventures."


The train trip downtown was an adventure for everyone ...

... as was the lunch itself.

And it turned out Lanie Bayless herself was our server.

We then walked down to explore Millennium Park. It was an absolutely beautiful day and we all enjoyed our first look at the Pritzker Pavilion and the glorious "Bean" sculpture.

Maya was energized by walking on one of the walls ...



... just as Owen was feeling the hang-dog exhaustion of a four-year-old who has walked too much, missed his nap, and was desperately thirsty.

Independence Day Saturday, as I mentioned, was cold and wet. Jake and I spent some time rehearsing the duet we would sing at Dad's church on Sunday, and then we all made ice cream, as is Jake's family's tradition on the 4th.

The kids were exhausted and it was too drizzly for an official fireworks show. But we tried our best with sparklers. Although, as you can see, Owen was less than impressed with my dizzying light show.

Not wanting to let him down, we took him out later in the night into a park where we could see some of the fancy "neighborhood" displays around Mom and Dad's.

All in all, had a wonderful time.

And Owen's got his eyes open for when he'll see Annabelle again ...