Christmas in Fulton

We'd discussed driving to Fulton for Christmas at How's on Sunday, Dec. 27. Kristie had to play bells in the morning, and we had a going-away party to attend Sunday afternoon, which is why we didn't leave Dec. 26. Thanks to Jack's intestinal issues, we opted not to leave Sunday at all — Jack stayed home from church and the party and we figured we'd be visiting the pediatrician Monday.

However... everything seemed to be running smoothly all day Sunday, and he woke up Monday without any further issues. So we left after lunch Monday. Special thanks to Pops & K, who let us borrow their minivan so we were sure we'd have enough cargo space to make both trips (we had a rough idea how much stuff needed to come back with us, and the extra space gave us license to bring more things west with us).

Monday night was the designated time to open presents. Pop brought his parents over for the experience, which began after Jack, Max and Aunt Kelly stopped playing with a beach ball...



Here's a shot of Jack in his new winter hat showing off a new DS game.

From How's House

Never forget that Max loves to be the center of attention...

From How's House

If you pay attention right at the begging of this clip, you can hear Max saying "thank you" as he begins to open a present.



The middle of this clip features Max's excitement at opening even more fruit snacks. Have I mentioned how much he loves these things? The look on his face says it all (sorry about the lighting situation ... beyond my control).



How, bless her heart, decided Jack would love having a microphone to play with. And it's true, he does love it. A lot. However, this is a boy who never really needs help being heard. It's like, well, I can't think of analogy. He's already noisy, now he's military-grade boisterous.

From How's House

Just to show how much he loved the mic, he took it around the room and interviewed everyone. Which, I have to admit, was pretty cute.

From How's House

Max, who used to be the kind of playing strange with family members, has really come out of that shell. Whether it's better recognition/remembrance of his surroundings or simply just being more comfortable in his own skin, Doodle is quite the social butterfly. He played happily with his grandparents and great-grandparents and even dished out some of his patented "hug bombs," in which he sees you across the room, gets a running start and slams into you (watch out for the head-to-crotch collisions) and wraps his arms around your legs.

Here's a shot of him spreading the love near the end of the night:

From How's House

And a video of similar events:



One last shot ... Max on the end of a tickle attack from How.

From How's House

Tuesday we got a visit from Aunt Pam and on Thursday Aunt Peg and Great How came over with more presents. We'll head back to Gurnee Friday afternoon and hope for naps from both boys, instead of just Max, who did a good job napping on the trip here. I'm not sure where we'll put all the toys we got out here (we haven't put away all the toys we opened in Gurnee...), but that's a pretty good problem to have, right?

The last Christmas event of the season is a Jan. 10 date with the Ergang family at Pops & K's house, which should be another wonderful celebration. As always, expect pictures. Lots and lots of pictures.

Christmas night in Gurnee

Here's a few quick pictures from Christmas night at our house, which was punctuated with the smoke alarm going off, sending Jack into an immediate and intense panic. He was downstairs playing Wii (he got tired of watching the rest of us open presents) and raced upstairs, Wii remote still attached, screaming incoherently. Good times. He eventually settled down, but that was pretty intense.

Here's a shot of Max enjoying his strawberries.

From Hollands at Home

Kristie didn't want Max to get his sweater soaked with strawberry goo, but she also wanted him to look nice for all the pictures I took. Hence the action in the foreground of this video.



Here's Kim and Jack playing with the Slinky she gave him.



Aunt Kim helps Jack open a present.

From Hollands at Home

Max and I open a cute outfit. Max loves clothes...



After Max ate strawberries (and the orange popsicle I gave him so the rest of us could enjoy a delicious holiday meal) I took him straight to the bathtub. This picture of him playing with Uncle Matt (who may be Max's new favorite person) was taken shortly before everyone left for the night.

From Hollands at Home

Amazingly, bedtime was not too much of a struggle, and I don't recall the next morning starting terribly early, either. A good time was had by all.

Christmas morning in Gurnee

This year was our first Christmas in our Gurnee house, and the first Christmas morning spent at our house since 2007, when Kristie was pregnant with Max (and while she and Jack battled pinkeye). The stockings were mostly hung by the chimney. Kristie's did not survive being stored in our Ottawa basement and a subsequent laundry treatment. K made Max's stocking, and got an M on it. The A and X will come later. And, of course, as soon as the presents are in, the stockings no longer hang...

Jack showing off his new dinosaur PJs. First Christmas at the new house. Fireplace needs to be repaired before we use it.

From Hollands at Home

I could not get both boys to smile at the same time, and I could not get Max away from the Goldfish. So this is as good as it gets.

From Hollands at Home

From Hollands at Home

Max got two different kinds of toddler fruit snacks in his stocking, and by the end of the day ate all 10. Plus most of a pound of strawberries (he ate the rest the next morning).

From Hollands at Home

Christmas Eve in Libertyville

We went to Pops & K's house for Christmas Eve dinner, then to the 7 p.m. church service. Jack got to sit with us in church, which is always somewhat of a task. He gets bored quick, talks loud during the quiet parts and at one point swore he was hungry. Fortunately, Kristie had the foresight to sit in the back row in the back corner right by the back door. We could still see the whole thing (including K in the back row of the choir, and Jack dutifully waved), and she also was able to sneak him out when needed.

His favorite part, of course, was the candle lighting during "Silent Night." It was the only time he was silent the whole darn night. But when I turned to look at him staring up at the flame with the perfect look of wonder on his face...

I'd already had my mind on my Aunt Lynne and all the years we traveled to Florida on Christmas morning to see K's extended family. I hadn't seen her or most Thompsons on or around Christmas since my senior year of college, but her loss, and how it's affecting my cousin, was weighing heavy on my mind. Plus, ever since the funerals for Lynne and, earlier, my mom's dad, really good, classic church music tends to affect me emotionally. It makes me think of my loved ones, and also hits me on a religious level. So when you see me tearing up during the descant verse of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," you know why.

But enough about me.

After church, we headed back to Pops & K's so the boys could open two presents. K wanted to pass on a family tradition of her own, giving grandkids new pajamas on Christmas Eve. Max LOVED his (pictured below), but he loved opening every present. The look on his face was a mixture of "Wow, this is fun!" and "I can't believe all these big people are letting me do this!" Jack was less enthused. He did like the Play-Doh he opened that night. Max also opened a book about the Nativity story, one with a lit star that glows as you turn pages. He did not want to share with Jack, and he insisted on reading it before bed that night. Twice.

Anyhow, here's a picture of Max in his new Christmas PJs. With food in his mouth, which is how he spent the entire Christmas experience. Eating.

From Pops and K's

Also took this nice shot of Uncle Matt and Aunt Kim. When Max sees this picture on my computer, he points back and says their names. Adorable.

From Pops and K's

Jack at home

Jack is off from kindergarten for two weeks, and he's certainly making the most of his time.

From Hollands at Home

He's a big fan of helping us shovel the driveway, which has been a pretty recent occurrence this month thanks to a good deal of snowfall. He isn't usually fond of snow (he still likes to be carried to and from the car if there's snow on the ground), though once he realized the kids with snow pants got to do more things at recess, he asked for his own pair.

However, he asked for snow pants about five minutes before he had to get on the bus a few weeks ago, and he was royally peeved I could not magically produce snow pants at a moment's notice. He was equally annoyed later that day when we learned the Gurnee Wal-Mart was sold out of snow pants. Every size, every color, for both genders. Lovely. Kristie was able to score a pair for Jack (and Max, and Max's new boots) that weekend at Target. Crisis averted.

From Hollands at Home

Another new favorite activity is playing Monopoly. Kristie could add more, since she taught him to play, but Jack actually is pretty good at following the rules (he likes to buy as much stuff as possible) and seems to be learning some basic addition skills (like how to make $80 out of a $50, $20 and $10). He played one marathon game with Pops and Kristie a few Saturdays ago, and on Christmas Eve day Aunt Kim was kind enough to come over and play with Jack so Kristie could tackle her various baking projects (I took Max to Jewel).

Since kindergarten is a daylong proposition, Jack usually misses the bulk of Max's nap. But when Jack is off from school, he knows Max sleeping leads to unobstructed playtime with Mom. And although Mom usually has stuff to do, it's hard to resist quality playtime with junior. So out comes the Monopoly board... (Jack plays other games with me when we get solo time, games like Zingo or Trouble. Equally fun, though he hates losing at Trouble.)

From Hollands at Home

Here's one more quick one — Jack's crossword puzzle. He explains it pretty well in the video.

More stuff coming

Thanks for your patience, dear readers. After I sort through some 120 pictures and videos from Christmas celebrations in Libertyville, Gurnee and Fulton, I will begin the posting bonanza. I also will take a quick moment to note that although this was by far our best year with boys opening presents, enjoying them and thanking the givers, we did not escape the week without a health incident, as Jack's bowels betrayed him for the better part of last week. Still better than other bouts with medical issues of yuletides past, but enough to affect travel plans and keep three of us home from church Sunday.

Anyhow, the photos, videos and memories will be online soon.

10 years gone, many, many changes

Column originally published Dec. 29, 2009

As I sat down to write my last column of the decade, I found myself unable to resist the temptation to examine my own life over the past 10 years. All the other columnists seem to be looking in the rear-view mirror this week — those who aren't taking a break from writing for the holidays —and much as I didn't want to go with that flow, sometimes the flow is too hard to resist.

After all, on Dec. 29, 2000, I was a senior in college. I'd brought my then-girlfriend to a family Christmas in Charlotte, N.C. It was, though I didn't know it at the time, the last time I'd gather with my mom's family for a Christmas celebration. I hope it wasn't the last time for good, but we've still been unable to make travel plans work.

Three family members present at that Christmas are no longer with us. Three have been born since then, too — one cousin and my own two children with that girlfriend who in June 2002 became my wife.

In the last decade, we both graduated from college — as did three of our siblings in one 20-day span in 2007. In this decade I have drawn paychecks from seven different full- and part-time employers. Kristie, I think, can count nine. Including dorm rooms, and going home in the summer, we have lived under a total of 13 different roofs.

We opened the decade driving barely functioning cars, and took on two new car loans in 2002 — and have kept both vehicles on the road for the duration. Now the battle is to see if my white 1998 Buick Century, which is going gray as it ages and paint chips fall off, can stay street legal until we bite the bullet and get a mini-van. The old girl has more than 160,000 miles, but the new tires her folks gave me for Christmas a few years ago are supposed to last until she hits 200,000.

Continue reading "10 years gone, many, many changes."

Aunt Kelly at work

I was unable to embed this video, but click here for a YouTube clip of Aunt Kelly conducting the Muscatine High School Jazz Band at the Coe College Jazz Summit earlier this year.

Kristie and I spent many long hours involved in Jazz Summit, though always as students. To see Kelly return there as a professional teacher (and by "see," I mean "follow up on it 10 months later thanks to a Google News Alert") is pretty neat.

Merry Christmas from us

Kristie's grandmother, "Great How" as Jack calls her, is getting a computer for Christmas. We won't be there to see her open the gift, but hopefully she'll be able to log on and see this video... which would have been cuter if Jack was a willing participant.

That explains everything!

No wonder the driveway wasn't all the way done when I got home... Kristie had a camera instead of a shovel and Max is using a rake!

Blog changes

Making some minor layout changes to the Blog today (and I haven't really done anything to this effect, except for changing the links at the right) since the site launched just before Jack launched in the spring of 2004.

The most noticeable change is that all previous comments, made via Haloscan, are now gone. I was able to export them, to my own machine, but I don't think I can get them back up to the posts they originally went with. And we're talking about nearly 1,000 comments here...

(Side note: They are in an XML file. If anyone reading this has a guess as to how I could get them back, save the laborious process of putting them back on individually, I'd love to hear it.)

Future comments should be just as easy to make as in the past — no log ins, passwords, etc., although if you have a Google ID, I think you'll be able to use that and have your profile photo appear. So that's super.

Also, I seem to have gotten rid of the pesky still image that gets posted with each video. That makes me happy.

Except a good deal of pictures and videos throughout the holiday season, and then I'll pledge to do better about regular updates.

I think that's all for now, unless anyone has any suggestions.

The ghost of Christmas past

Column originally published Dec. 22, 2009.

Often when I need a column idea, I page back through my personal archive and look at what I wrote about around the same time in any of the last five or six years.

Looking back to December, 2008, I found I wrote no columns. None. For a guy who's supposed to hand in one of these every week, that's a pretty poor performance.

I did, however, come across a Dec. 26 blog post that sheds some light on what kind of holiday season I enjoyed/endured last year.

I started by contrasting Christmas 2008 to Christmas Eve 2005, the night we learned Jack —then 20 months old — has a severe cashew allergy. The hard way. The throwing up in the car way. The watching Christmas Eve become Christmas Day in the ER way. The dealing with the only doctors and nurses they could find to work such a lousy shift and wondering how much you'll pay for such ham-fisted bedside manner way.

That memory got me wondering about other Decembers since I started blogging. While I posted nothing about the holiday in 2006, I was inspired again in 2007, our first year in Ottawa. Kristie was pregnant and teaching band at Milton Pope. Jack was in day care and also preschool at Lincoln in Ottawa. On Dec. 23, I wrote:

"We're still in a lovely pattern of being sick more than well, collectively. On Tuesday of this week Jack was diagnosed with pinkeye, an ear infection and 'some goo on his tonsils.' Ever try to give eye drops to a 3-year-old four times a day? I think I'd rather give the cats suppositories. Anyhow, the drugs helped him shake it off pretty well, but not before some of it passed to Kristie. Her concert was Thursday, a day on which she was as sick as she's been for quite a while. Smiles all around on that one, as it lingers a bit today."

Christmas 2008 was even more fodder for complaints.

Continue reading "The ghost of Christmas past."

Thanks, Blogger...

This video was supposed to go with the last post.

Surrounded by love...

What's that they say about three being a a crowd?

From Hollands at Home

From Hollands at Home

Catching up on pictures

Four recent pictures I should have posted earlier...

The first was much cuter before Jack saw me with the camera. Max loves to read, and Jack is becoming quite proficient. This was truly adorable in person.

From Hollands at Home

This is what happens sometimes when you ask Max if he has a kiss for Mom.

From Hollands at Home

Max got brand new boots Saturday. Unlike Jack, who hated any change in footwear until he was well past 4, Max loves his new boots.

From Hollands at Home

Part of the reason he adores them so is he can put them on himself. And he does not need your help, thank you very much.

From Hollands at Home

Taking time to laugh at ourselves

Column originally published Dec. 15, 2009.

I'm not sure where I picked up the hobby, but I think it can be traced to the Drops of Ink newsroom at Libertyville High School, fall semester, 1995.

It was my first experience in journalism, and one of the first lessons was the importance of quoting sources accurately. Another lasting lesson was the humor potential of accurately quoting your newspaper colleagues.

Whenever anyone said something amusing — whether laugh-out-loud funny at the time or simply offbeat and worth a later review — I'd find a margin and jot it down. At the end of the year, when we produced a staff yearbook, the quotes pages were always my favorite. Sometimes remembering the context brought back a pleasant memory. Sometimes the sheer absence of context made a comment even funnier.

I moved my quote log from newsroom to classroom — specifically Miss Holtsford's government class during my senior year at LHS and then my freshman psychology class with professor Wendy Dunn at Coe College. While I was doing a semi-decent job of taking notes on the 18th Amendment or cerebral hemispheres, I was excelling at recording things both women said. Upon further review, perhaps not the most productive use of my time.

That said, I can't recall the name of the woman who taught my consumer education class that same year of high school. Not that she did a bad job (She taught me how to write checks and why to avoid the stock market, both skills having served me well in the years since.), but I've found when you can spend time with someone genuinely laughing with and at each other, you form a true lasting bond.

Continue reading "Taking time to laugh at ourselves."

Finally?

Tried to upload this video several times yesterday to no avail, but I have hopes it will work today.

Trimming the tree

The payoff from this video is at the end, when Jack puts in to words just how much he likes decorating the Christmas tree (which is a big deal, since we didn't even put one up in 2008).

Who's doing most to attack marriage?

Column originally published Dec. 8, 2009

Once again, the institution of marriage in this country is under attack.

I first broached this subject in print more than three years ago when the main culprits were three beautiful people — Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes and Britney Spears. At the time I neglected to include Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson. He's not beautiful and I'm not so sure she's still medically a person.

It was right after Thanksgiving, and the American public was in hot pursuit of the sordid details of Spears' extramarital indiscretions and Tom and Katie's insanely lavish wedding. That column came quickly to mind this Thanksgiving as the tabloid furor surrounding Tiger Woods reached such a frenzied pace it made this summer's coverage of the Jon and Kate Gosselin dissolution look like a mere blip on the celebrity radar.

For the record, yes, there are far more serious things to worry about than with whom Tiger Woods keeps company. But when you use your marriage and child to build a professionally massaged public image, it is only natural for the public to be interested when that facade crumbles away.

What's really sad about Tiger's story is how quickly I agreed with this logic, heard many times on sports talk radio: Why did Tiger decide to get married? If he wanted to fool around with lots of beautiful women, why not stay single? Look at Derek Jeter, the 2009 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. He's been a known romancer of a gaggle of gorgeous gals for 15 years, and his public perception is better than ever.

I'm ashamed to admit, my first reaction was to nod along. It made perfect sense ... until I realized the truth, which is how hypocritical it is for us to condone a lifestyle like Jeter's — an epic string of high-profile, sexual relationships that may or may not have been monogamous — simply because he never married anyone.

Continue reading "Who's doing most to attack marriage?"

JackSpeak

Before I forget any more, some recent nuggets from Jack's brain:

* "How, your hair looks like a lion's!" (On Thanksgiving, before her morning beauty routine)

* "Every people is bigger than me buh-cepts babies."

* While watching "Imagination Movers" today with breakfast, he put the TV on mute so he could "practice reading" with the closed captioning.

* Looked at me wearing a Lambda Chi sweatshirt and asked why Max's name was on my shirt.

* While hanging ornaments Monday night, said decorating a Christmas tree is his favorite thing, "the same favorite as loving mom."

* While driving back from Fulton Sunday, we passed a restaurant called Happy Jack's. That led to a conversation about what type of restaurant Jack would operate. The menu would include mac & cheese ($10), noodles and ham broth ($1), chicken nuggets and fries ($90), chips, water, Diet Pepsi and free ice cream with every meal, served in either a bowl, cone or fancy cone. The restaurant would be called Fancy Food.

I'm sure there's more, but these were some of the best.

Saturday in Elizabeth

One highlight of Thanksgiving weekend in Fulton did not happen in Fulton. On Saturday, How came north with us to Elizabeth, Ill., for a lunch at Shark's Roadhouse with the Libertyville Hollands, who came out to visit Pops' mother. Pops turned 57 Nov. 30, and Great-Grandma Holland turns 81 Dec. 7, so in addition to celebration Thanksgiving with copious amounts of fried food, we also enjoyed a small birthday celebration.

Adding to the fun was the coincidence of being at Shark's the same time as Pops' Aunt Shirley, and her daughter Suzette and her family, who later that day were heading back to Minneapolis after a week in northwest Illinois. A few other cousins stopped by while we were there — it was a regular Holland hootenanny.

A few photos from the afternoon, which was a really great time:

From Elizabeth, Ill.

From Elizabeth, Ill.

From Elizabeth, Ill.

From Elizabeth, Ill.

Ignore music, follow the money

Column originally published Dec. 1, 2009

I don't know who first popularized the notion, but over time I've found "follow the money" to be a pretty good adage.

In American culture, following the money is a pretty good way to answer the question of "why?" in nearly every scenario.

Case in point is the root of the question in Derek Barichello's Monday story: "Is it too early for Christmas music?"

Perhaps by now, Dec. 1, a few days unto the advent season, it is not too early. But when Derek first posed the question —pre-Thanksgiving and after three local radio stations had already switched to the yuletide format —it clearly was too early.

Facebook became a good barometer for public sentiment on the topic. Anyone who bragged about hanging Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving was quickly berated (in good spirits) for jumping the holiday gun. Numerous status updates from friends nationwide shared ill will for stations already dusting off their Chipmunks' tunes.

Heck, the warm weather Saturday seemed to be a sign from above that those who waited to festoon until after feasting were being rewarded with one more wonderful afternoon in which to inflate their snowmen and position their animatronic reindeer.

But if there's such public outcry for dreaming of a white Christmas so soon after Veterans Day, why do radio stations switch formats? Why do retail stores replace Halloween treats with candy canes? Because it's profitable.

Continue reading "Ignore music, follow the money."

Jack Art

Jack drew me a map (mostly black crayon) and this picture the day we went "real bowling" so I'd know what I was looking for once we got to Vernon Hills.



Pretty good, huh?

Meeting Jacob (again)

Friday was a great opportunity for us to again meet Jacob, the seven-month-old son of Kristie's cousin Bethany and her husband, Scott. (Follow their blog here.)

Jacob and our boys are second cousins, and he was born exactly 14 months after Max — yet weighs only about 3 pounds less than the Doodle does at present, hence the look of surprise on Kristie's face right before I took this photo.

From How's House

We first saw Jake when he was about five weeks old, and again this summer at 4 months. The age and martial status of our siblings leads us to believe it will be a while before our boys have first cousins, so it's really nice we're able to be back in Fulton the same time as Jacob so often.

Now that he's crawling, he and Max have a lot more in common. Kristie loves any and all babies, especially relatives. I work the camera like a paparazzi. Plus, Kristie's cousins will play Wii with Jack, so it's fun for the whole family. A few more photos:

In this shot, Max is more interested in the Wii than Jake. At least he wasn't jealous. Of course, if I was holding Jake, maybe that would change.

From How's House

How's House is a great place to dump young boys and a bucket of toys on the living room floor.

From How's House

Turkey night card game

Look on the right edge of the photo, right above Uncle Kyle. There's Max, playing cards with the big kids Thanksgiving night. This picture was taken just before 10:30 p.m., a good two hours before Max went to bed for the night.

From How's House

Max thinks Cousin David is hilarious.

From How's House

Holiday time with the family is great. Making it look like the toddler is an alcoholic? Classic.

From How's House

Class is in session

From How's House

One of Jack's favorite things to do is teach a pretend class. This started approximately 30 seconds after his first day of preschool in October 2007, and continues now that he's in kindergarten.

He used to just retreat to his room and (loudly) sing songs he learned in school, although his teachers swore he never sang in class. Now he gives lessons, uses the behavior tricks his teachers use and basically carries on as if he is running his own kindergarten. It happens pretty much every day after he gets off the bus, and he also carries out class at Pops & K's on occasion.

Jack likes his pretend class so much his Christmas gifts in recent years (and coming up in a few weeks) are related to his teaching career. A nice big calendar he can use to teach his students what day it is, a CD player to help lead songs, a chalkboard on which to write. He even has an activity book (which to me looks like second-grade phonics work) that he'll pull out and work through just for kicks. And he gets things right with very little help.

(Quick side story: Kristie went to the parent-teacher conference Wednesday, and Jack is doing much better with his behavior issues (not 100 percent, but the improvement is dramatic in our eyes) and continues to be academically at or above grade level. Example one: He figured out whale begins with wh, which I guess is good for a 5-year-old because it's a complex concept. Example two: Each of his teachers gave him an advanced vocabulary test. He scored 16 of 20 each time, although he missed two words on the second test that he'd gotten on the first. But he also got two right he'd missed on the first, which means he only missed two words total. I'm calling Yale Monday.)

I basically told you all that to set up this video, which I took yesterday morning as Kristie and How were preparing food. It's Jack, in How's living room, "reading" to Kevin from Dr. Seuss' "The Sneetches and Other Stories." Positively adorable.

At least 2 sides to every story

Column originally published Nov. 24, 2009.

On the eve of the Ottawa Township High School teachers' strike, I used this space to examine the differences between public and private employees through the lens of a struggling local economy and a pending labor stoppage.

The argument I tried to make was not about the teachers specifically, but as I wrote at the time, "about whether public employees of any stripe deserve benefits generally not afforded to the people who, by and large, pay the salaries of said employees."

Tim Wielgopolan, president of Local 2819 of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents Ottawa city employees, wrote the next day to take me to task for my stance. I responded via e-mail, and we traded a few messages over the last several weeks. I can't speak for Tim, but that dialogue helped me gain a respect for his angle on the issue, one I hope will help frame my future arguments about organized labor, especially in the public sector.

Where I have the most egg on my face is the most common criticism the private sector levels at public employees: "We pay your salary." While true, that ignores two major points. In Tim's words:

Continue reading "At least 2 sides to every story."

More from How's house

The last post was from our trip in October. This photo and video are from a visit in early November when Max destroyed How's Tupperware cabinet. Obliterated. It was awesome.

From How's House

Weekend at How's

We're at How's House for the Thanksgiving weekend. It's below 40 degrees in Fulton this weekend, so this video clearly is from an earlier trip west. But it's still worth sharing, so I thought I'd get it posted before I get stuff from this weekend online.

Bowling with Jack

From Hollands at Home

On Saturday, Kristie, Jack and I went "real bowling," which is how a 5-year-old who is quite good at Wii bowling describes the experience of going to an actual bowling center and chucking an actual ball toward actual pins.

Kristie took both boys out bowling on Veterans Day with other Club Mom members from church, but she forgot the camera (and probably was too busy chasing Max to have gotten a good picture anyway). But we had two coupons for free games (thanks, LHS homecoming parade) and, since Jack understands both real bowling and the wonder of coupons, we decided to take him back.

When we arrived at the Brunswick Zone (formerly Hawthorn Lanes), the place was in full-on cosmic bowling, birthday party madness. Jack was practically hypnotized. But he paid enough attention to find our lane (17) and a ball and type his name into the scoring computer.

Here's a video of Jack rolling during this portion of our outing.



We had to work on getting Jack to not heave the ball two-handed down the lane (which always starts with a big thud) and move him toward more of a rolling motion, and he figured that out pretty quick. After he bowls, he races back to where he can see the monitor display whatever graphics there are to see.

Halfway through, the cosmic stuff ended, which was good for everyone involved. Here's a video where you can actually see the little guy.



Jack had a great time, even in defeat (see scores below). He was a prince about leaving without a fight and I think he even thanked Pops & K for watching Max so we could bowl uninterrupted. His behavior has improved so much since he started kindergarten... let's just say I never would have considered taking him bowling even as late as August, and I'm especially thrilled with how well he handled all the lights and sound that go with cosmic bowling.

It may not seem like much to those who don't live with him every day, but Jack is making tremendous strides away from the toddler behavior he clung to for so long and advancing toward "little boy" benchmarks that let me know he'll do great in school, at church, etc. I'm thrilled Kristie decided to plan this activity (in between hosting small gatherings Friday and Sunday night and waging a solo toy-shopping war Sunday afternoon), and I'm even more thrilled to think about when we get to go again.

From Hollands at Home

Yes, those are our scores. And yes, we had the bumpers up. You'll note Jack picked up the first spare of the day. Kristie and I can do better, but you wouldn't know from Saturday.

Whoops!

This video of Jack and Kelly playing hide-and-seek should have gone up with Wednesday's baptism post. Sorry...

Max's baptism weekend

We had a whole bunch of fun for Max's baptism weekend. The house was full, the food was terrific and Max (and Jack) behaved pretty well almost the entire time.

The out look wasn't brilliant Friday morning when Max was sporting a three-digit temperature. Kristie had been (and is still to a degree) battling a persistent cough and other mild flu symptoms, and neither of them slept great most of last week.

Kristie, rather than start her cooking for the weekend, took Max to the doctor Friday afternoon. They told her he had a viral infection and couldn't prescribe drugs. Kristie called our impending houseguests with the news, and everyone agreed to proceed with the planned activities.

I took Max from Libertyville to Gurnee Friday after the doctor appointment so Kristie and K could go hit Sam's Club. He dozed off a little in the car, but woke when we got inside (he'd already taken a morning nap, which only happens when he's quite ill). Finding no child-strength Motrin in the house, I just put him down in his bed. That was around 3:30 p.m. He woke up sometime after 7, a little groggy and still feverish. We gave him Motrin (purchased at Sam's) and hoped for the best.

Well, the best turned out to be the fever going away — never to return — and Max deciding to stay up until around 2 a.m. This was mostly OK since Kristie was up roasting turkey breasts for Saturday's meal. She was in the kitchen after midnight picking turkey off bones while Max was happily wide awake in the living room with me (not so wide awake, not so happy).

Kristie went to bed around 1 a.m. I tried to stay awake with Max, but I'm sure I dozed on and off while he littered the living room floor with toys. Sometime before 2 a.m. he climbed up the chair with me and dozed off, so I carried him upstairs and plopped him in bed. He slept until about 10:45 a.m. Saturday.

Jack, of course, did not. He was up shortly after 6 a.m., and by 8:15 was in our room basically demanding someone get up and make him breakfast. Fair enough, and the day started. I spent most of the day cleaning the house and doing laundry. Kristie ran Jack to Libertyville to go to the bank and pick up the cake (delicious!) and also drop him off at Pops & K's for a few hours. Then she came back to Gurnee and took a now-healthy Max to Jewel so I could clean without "help." Then she returned Max and went back to retrieve Jack. Then back to our house to begin the process of assembling dinner.

Kristie's family arrived before 5 p.m. Her parents and her dad's parents came in the truck, and Kelly, Kevin and Kyle trailed in Kevin's car. The GPS was in Kevin's car, which came in handy when an accident near McHenry forced a major detour (although it strangely didn't add too much time to the overall journey).

Anyhow, the family arrived, the meal was served and the fun began. For example...

Aunt Kelly held Max while she played hide-and-seek with Jack.

From Hollands at Home

After dinner, Max spied the giant bowl of strawberries in the fridge and demanded a bowlful. He then proceeded to eat strawberries, one or two at a time, for nearly an hour.

From Hollands at Home

Kristie and her mother and grandmother spent several hours prepping food for Sunday's post-baptism gathering. The fridge filled quickly and, more amazing, the dishes got clean almost as soon as they were used.

Aunt Kim swung by around 10 p.m. to pick up Kelly and Kevin for a night with Uncle Matt and some of their friends. Those four slept at Pops & K's house. We put Jack and Kyle on air mattresses in the playroom and the rest of Kristie's family in the rooms upstairs while we used the sofa bed in the living room.

Sunday morning started plenty early since Kristie needed to be at church by 8:30 a.m. to rehearse with her bell choir (she also played an Orff instrument to back the motet choir). Max and I were supposed to arrive at 9:30 for a baptism walkthrough, and since everyone was following my car to church, we all had to leave together. The goal was to be out the door no later than 9:15.

Max, who didn't go to bed until about 11 p.m. Saturday, would not have woken up on time by himself, so about 8:35 I went up and roused him. I gave him a few minutes for the cranky baby routine, but then I tried my best to get him ready. I shoved some food in while How helped Jack get dressed. How noticed the tags still on nearly every piece of both boys' outfits (Jack's pants are from the regular rotation), but when your baby is this cute ...

From Hollands at Home

...who cares if the clothes have been laundered yet?

Everyone but Jack and Max was ready to go on time, even with Jack forcing them all to line up in the living room for a picture taken with his camera (I hope to post these shots Thursday). We rolled out the driveway around 9:24 and got to church around 9:40.

Max was one of five babies being baptized Sunday, the oldest by far. Of the other four, one we met during our meeting with the minister on Halloween morning. One was the younger daughter of one of my good friends from high school, and I'd just had the chance to meet both of her daughters a few weeks ago. Another baby belonged to a guy I played baseball with and against throughout Little League (Matt and Kim know his wife or her sister) and the fifth was new to me. None of the five families actually live in Libertyville, which I found amusing.

K was the elder assisting with the proceedings, and she got unexpectedly emotional when introducing Max and our family. I wasn't quite prepared for that element, but it added to the events of the day. Since each family got to be on the chancel area alone for the actual baptism, there was a fair amount of down time on the floor level. Max (and Jack, who decided to come stand with us) did fairly well for this.

Part of the proceedings involve a minister or other leader carrying the children through the aisles so the congregation can see. Five aisles, five babies. Max was not about to let someone else hold him, so I walked with him. This gave me a chance to slip my camera to Pops, who quickly gave it to Aunt Kim, who later shot this video of the actual baptism.



Another friend of the family, a fine photographer who had his camera there to do a publicity shot for the bell choir, also took baptism pictures. Here's one of us, I believe waiting to go up. Max's face is priceless. He's holding a hymnal he grabbed form the pew rack as we left our seats.

From Hollands at Home

After church (good music, great sermon by a guest preacher, excellent postlude from Kristie's bell choir) we got the children back from the nursery and Sunday school and posed for photos. Amazingly, we got some really good shots. This is one Kim took with our camera, and I know How got some good looks also. I will have to steal those pictures at Thanksgiving.

From Hollands at Home

In order to get back to Gurnee, I took Max in my car (I needed gas and a car wash), where I snapped this excellent shot.

From Hollands at Home

Everyone else went back to Pops & K's to check out the renovation project. Then it was back to our house for the big meal. We had to put a card table in the threshold between the living room and dining area, and some people ate in the living room (not surprisingly, the same people who also wanted to watch football), but everyone got fed and there was food left over. Uncle Matt had to bolt quickly for work, and Kelly and Kevin left around 3 p.m. since they had to return to Fulton and then continue on to Muscatine and Coravlille, respectively.

Jack was in fantastic spirits. He played Wii in the basement with anyone who would have him, and he also took more pictures with his camera (and it looks like he's getting pretty good at using the darn thing). Here is is spending quality time with a grandfather and a great-grandfather (who was thrilled Jack finally wasn't too busy for him).

From Hollands at Home

No-nap Max was in a great mood. He threw a minor tantrum when we tried to change him from his church clothes to something he could smear food on (we opted for a red Cubs shirt to hide the strawberry goo), and at one point we put him upstairs for a nap (which had the nice result of him cooling down from his fit and coming downstairs happy again). He had lots of quality time with Kim and How, which is always cute.

From Hollands at Home

I also took this picture of Kim drinking whole milk straight from Max's cup. I was amused, so I thought I'd share...

From Hollands at Home

Eventually everyone headed back to Fulton. We had a very full house and gave the laundry machine, dishwasher and water heater quite a workout. Heck, we had to borrow extra plates and silverware from Pops & K just to keep up. But it was great being with everyone, and we really, really enjoyed sharing the experience with so many family members. It's just great to see everyone all at once, getting a long and sharing fun times. Probably sounds hokey, but it really was a fantastic weekend — exceeding our high expectations.

After everyone took off, we realized we needed a few items to start the next week (popsicles, baby wipes, etc.). So off to Wal-Mart we went as a foursome. Both boys slept a tad on the way to the store, and both crashed hard on the way home. Max stayed asleep, and basically slept from 6 p.m. to almost 9 a.m. Monday. Jack woke up when we got back and had way too much energy left for our tastes. Plus, he wanted to sleep in the playroom again, so we let him enjoy the experience for another night.

Now we're pretty much back to normal and gearing up for the holiday season. Thanks again to everyone who made the trip, and hopefully we can host everyone again some time. Maybe not soon, but eventually.