Max is Two!

Max turned two yesterday. His birthday party was today and we were looking forward to having sixteen guests at our house to celebrate. There was much to do to get ready.

Yesterday, Cate helped me bake the cake (a la Pillsbury). We made a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I had some sprinkles and frosting left over from some other project to use for decorating. My penmanship with frosting is horrible. I figure all cakes are test runs until I reach perfection for their high school graduation cakes.

We are pretty sure Cate woke Max up before he was really ready to wake up, because he was a terror this morning. Kyle ended up pinning him in his high chair for a while so we could get a few things done before guests came.

Once the guests came though, Max was a gem. With twenty people total in our little house, it was quite a lively time. For dinner, we served baked pork chops with homemade mustard, "Celebration" potatoes and a lot of fruit, courtesy of both Grandmas. My mom was to bring broccoli salad, but we got our wires crossed when she called days earlier and asked if she could bring fruit instead. It worked out fine because the Birthday Boy LOVES fruit and there was then a greater variety of fruit to choose from.

Max enjoyed everyone singing Happy Birthday to him and he clapped afterwards. He doesn't have enough "fuff" in him to blow the candles out by himself, so his older cousin, Henry came in to save the day.

Gift time was truly overwhelming for him. He received so many lovely gifts he didn't know what to do. His young cousins didn't think he was opening the presents fast enough, so they were "helping" out. I think his favorite gift is from (no surprise) Great Uncle Cliff, who gave him a Spider Man sweatshirt that blinks when moving around. He was mesmerized.

(poor guy looking overwhelmed)

Two hours after the first guests arrived, the card tables and chairs are down and the dishes are collected into the kitchen. Max is taking a long-overdue nap, Cate is coloring quietly in the dining room, Kyle is snoring on the sofa (over there-->) and I am done!

My First 5K!

31st Annual GET IN GEAR 10K Run/Walk
Minneapolis, MN Saturday April 26, 2008
5K OFFICIAL RESULTS - FEMALES

Place Bib Name Div Age Time Pace
1 5442 DEBRA GORMLEY 1 41 20:33 6:37
517 5573 JENNIFER JENSEN 101 34 36:11 11:39
537 5660 JESSICA K. 106 34 36:36 11:47
602 5880 JENNIFER N. 118 34 38:10 12:17




Okay, so I didn't run like a Kenyan, but I felt I ran a good race nonetheless, as did my partners who motivated me to sign up with them. I can not imagine running a 6:37 mile. That is pure insanity!

The weather at race time was gross. I'm still cold--12 hours after finishing. As mentioned in an earlier post, I started my training in single digit weather with below zero wind-chills to contend with. But this is the end of April, for goodness' sake. This morning we woke up to 32 degrees, snow on the ground and the wind gusting up to 25 MPH in our fair city. It was indeed crappy weather. But that didn't stop the people from coming out to run /walk.

My impression of this type of run / walk format was that we would line up according to pace and once the race started, the walkers would stay to one side of the road, the runners on the other side. It was not to be. We girls were toward the rear of the pack waiting for 9:50 to approach and then the mass of participants just started to move. There was no audible horn or starting gun to mark the beginning of the race. Once moving out of the chute, it took a while to get some room to get the stride going. And then when it started opening up a bit, it was a challenge to bob and weave through the walkers who meandered through the route and keep the momentum going. Because of these reasons, it didn't take long for us to get separated. Whether we intended to or not, we each ended up running our own race.

Despite the crappy weather, my Dad got out to the course and cheered us on. It was really neat to hear him call out: "Jennypoo!" to catch my attention on my way out, approximately at the one mile marker. On my way back, he was there again and I gave him a high five and kept on trucking with his encouraging cheers, "You're looking real strong out there. Keep it up!"

For the final quarter mile, there was a mild incline and straight-on wind gusts greeted us. While I tried to keep a little left in the tank for the finish, the wind was countering my efforts and I just couldn't make the final burst I had planned for. In the end, it didn't matter. The most important thing is that we all ran the entire course and we are living to tell about it.

We rock! Thanks again, girls, for inviting me to run with you. I'm looking forward to our next race together.

"Sucker, please!"

We consider ourselves very fortunate to have kids that go to bed really well. However, the other night was a bit rough for Max.

We are trying to ween Max off his pacifier and I put him into bed without his "sucker" despite him asking so sweetly, "sucker, please! sucker, please!" After I left the room, he bawled. And bawled. Eventually, he got out of bed and laid down at the foot of the door and bawled even louder repeating, "sucker, please!" These three photos to the right show just how sad he was...

Poor guy. Don't worry, dear reader, I have my moments of compassion. Generally, I let my kids cry themselves to sleep. I feel it's good for them to be able to console themselves. They're alright, they're not hurt or in any danger. But this particular evening, Max sounded so sad and the sight of his little hand under the door was so cute, it made my hard heart melt just a little bit. I eventually went in and got him back into bed. And he very quickly fell asleep--without his "sucker".





I'm so proud of Max. He's such a good boy!

My rainy day run

Today was the last scheduled training run before my first 5K on Saturday. As luck would have it, rain came in over night and rained all day. But back in March, I started my training in single digit weather. So I decided that I couldn't let a little rain hold me back.

It rained during my entire run. Unfortunally, many an earthworm found a sudden splat under my shoe. Ew! But, I practically had the lake to myself. It was amazingly quiet. I listened to pounding of my feet on the path and concentrated on my breathing. Thought about my game plan for the run on Saturday.

Hardly anyone else was out so I saved extra steps by not having to weave and dodge around the walkers who walk three people wide (I hate that!). I made good time.

Sure enough, after being soaked for thirty minutes, I got into the car and the rain stopped. The sun came out. Damn. If only I had waited a little longer.

But all in all, I had a great run. I felt really good. I'll run in the rain any day.

When your child is sick

We are blessed to have our kids taken care of by grandparents while at work. It presents so many perks versus the mainstream childcare experience:

• The kids can be dropped off early, picked up late.
• We don't have to pay for days we don't need childcare.
• They will take our children even when the children are sick.
• And they even take our children if they themselves are sick.

We're downright spoiled.

So, as a working mom who has family members watching the children, there comes an interesting dilemma: What is the right thing to do when one or both of our children are sick? Does one stay home or do we go to work?

I struggle with this every time my children are ill, especially if they have a fever. The grandparents insist they are fine to have the sick one over. But then I think about all the things that need to be done at work, the meetings I must attend, or in this present situation, I just came back from vacation and I can't be out of the office again so soon. The guilt starts to brew: I should be the one cuddling and whispering reassurances to my child.

Max has a fever right now. He's barfed at least once a day since Monday night. All he wants to do is cuddle. And here I am. In between meetings. Wondering. Worrying about my little guy.

Washington DC Day 6: April 16, 2008

We booked a late afternoon flight so we could still take advantage of the last day. It was a good day and we found the elevator access to the metro and got ourselves down toward the Smithsonian to hit the Museum of American History. As luck would have it, that museum is closed for renovation...hence the temporary and very abridged exhibit in the National Air and Space Museum from Day 3. So, what to do, what to do?


We then headed over to the National Aquarium, housed in the lower level of the Commerce Building. It is a cute little aquarium with probably 30 to 50 small displays. The kids enjoyed it. We checked out every display and Max squeaked each time a fish swam toward the glass. Cate especially enjoyed identifying all of the characters from Finding Nemo and the alligator sunning himself (or herself? I don't know).

After lunch, we still had time to kill and no souvenirs purchased. So we hopped the metro over to Union Station. There we quickly got a few items. It was brought to my attention last night that the shirt I purchased for myself was not just a large, but a child-size large. It still fits. Not flatterlingly well, though. Kyle picked up some cookies for a snack while we wait for our shuttle and back to the hotel we went for the final time.


Our shuttle came and it didn't take long for both children to pass out on the way to the airport. It had been a long, full week, plus it was really warm and cozy in the sun-filled van, so who can blame them for snoozing. We almost stiffed the driver as Kyle thought I had pre-paid, but we caught him before he left the curb. Phew! I would've felt really bad like I did when I left a written check for our Applebee's tab years ago.


The flight home went well. Kyle and the kids watched a movie while I sat across the aisle listening to my ipod. We left the Cities on a rainy slushy day. We returned to the Cities on a beautifully warm and sunny day as if it never snowed six days earlier. Whee! A great first family vacation. I think we're willing to do it again in July...

Washington DC Day 5: April 15, 2008

Tuesday. We started our day being turned around and unable to find the elevator to the metro, so we walked up to the Washington Monument from our hotel and started our parade around Reflecting Pool and The Mall. We pulled out a penny to show Cate the image of the Lincoln Memorial and Lincoln's profile. She was very impressed. As we approached the Lincoln Memorial, Cate wondered why there weren't any ducks in the pool. Lo, and behold, on our way back around, not only were there ducks, but a lovely family of ducklings.

For me personally, of all the war memorials, I am most moved by the Korean War Veterans Memorial. The tall figures walking across the country, remaining aware of the enemy at all times. One can see so much in the eyes of the figures. Each of those soldiers took on a responsibility to themselves, their fellow soldiers and for a country whose people we did not know. I don't know the political reasoning why we were in Korea, and perhaps I will now be motivated to research one of the more quiet wars, but there's just something about that memorial which makes me most thankful for the sacrifice men and women in the armed forces have made for the pursuit of freedom.

Kyle really enjoys Monet paintings. Last time we were here, the National Gallery of Art was under renovation, so we missed the exhibit. This time we weren't going to miss it. While there are generally only eight to ten pieces in each gallery room, there is a lot of territory to cover in this museum. If you have never been, the museum actually is comprised of two buildings. The West Building houses the earlier paintings and sculptures, 16th, 17th century, through the Impressionist period and beyond. The East building, focuses on 20th Century art from artists such as Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollack, Henri Matisse. We didn't make it through the exhibits in the East building. Each gallery we walked through, Max would whine. More and more dramatically which each room we passed through as if to say, "no...not more!" And of course, when we got over to the East Building to view the exhibits, there are free standing sculptures that look like jungle gyms, or a box, that looked like, well...a box. Cate started climbing on a mound of stone and one of the security guards started hollering: "Don't touch! Don't touch! DON'T TOUCH!!" So we decided to get the heck out of there before we had to figure out how we were going to own up to ruining a piece of jungle gym equipment someone deemed as being art.

Since the kids were pushed the entire trip without naps, it became clear that this day wasn't going to go nap-free. So back to the hotel, by way of a Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop, we went for naps. I believe that we all slept for some period of time because we had been pretty busy up to this point.

After naps, we headed out for dinner. We had passed by a Chinese Restaurant on Saturday evening and decided we would try it at some point on our vacation. Very much a family run business, it sees its success mostly in take-out / delivery with mainly an empty restaurant. But the hosts were kind and accommodating. Cate sat down as immediately asked for colors and paper as you can imagine the types of restaurants we typically frequent always have a kids menu with crayons. Once we were settled in, the hostess asked Cate what her favorite color was. Cate replied purple. Then a little head popped up to the side and offered Cate a purple crayon and a picture torn out of his personal coloring book. Cate also asked for yellow and the little boy quickly came back with a yellow crayon for her. He was our little companion for the rest of the evening. We learned his name was Jeffrey and that we was six years old.

Max and Cate really like cream cheese wontons, so seeing wontons on the menu, we ordered some as a starter. There was no cream cheese in the middle. I actually felt like Jeanine for a moment and wondered what kind of mystery meat was in the wonton. I did eat a couple of them and Max seemed to do alright as well. But the kids mostly enjoyed the rice. They ate almost the entire bowl. Max fed himself hand over fist, he couldn't get it in fast enough.

After Cate was finished eating, she hopped out of the booth and went behind the counter for a visit with Jeffrey and Jeffrey's mom. Always the social girl. She will find a friend anywhere she goes.

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel and let the kids just bum. They colored the evening away and Max hammed it up.

Commercial Interruption--Max story...

We’re slowly starting potty training for Max. We have success right after nap time, and now we’re sitting him down before bedtime. Last night, he had produced nothing sitting on the potty chair for about 10 minutes. He stood up, walked by the door and “whee!” he whizzed all over the floor. Boy did that shock him. Hopefully he knows what it feels like now. Cate was really grossed out. “Ew! He pee’d all over the floor, mommy! Gross!” But no worries, people. There’s one really nice clean and sanitized spot on the bathroom floor now…

Washington DC Day 4: April 14, 2008

Alright...time to hasten this thing up. I've been reading the vacation summary and it's really quite a yawn. I have been having fun experimenting with a couple of formatting things, but geez, already. It's just as bad as sorting through the 91 pictures from the trip...

As you are aware, I've been "training" for a 5K run and I have been trying to follow the plan as closely as possible. I fully intended to remain on track even while on vacation. I managed to run the treadmill in the hotel on Saturday evening and Monday, I got the opportunity to hit the road out in Sterling, VA. Kyle and "Tall" Cate took the kids to the Udvar-Hazy Center--an extension of the National Air and Space Museum out near Dulles Airport and I jogged around the Coleman neighborhood with Pat toodling on his bike. He mis-calculated the distance to the pedestrian path (he thought it was 3/4 mi one way, where in reality it was close to a 1-1/2 miles), so I just jogged until he told me to turn around. I uttered expletives under my breath the entire time.

After Elizabeth came home from school, we met up with the others at the Great Falls State Park. I liken it to Gooseberry Falls in Minnesota. Water rushing through, rocks to climb, a great picnic area to play in. Here are pictures from our time there...

We stayed for dinner: hamburgers, pasta salad, and asparagus made especially for "Short" Cate which, to my embarrassment, she didn't eat. Afterwards, we said our good-byes and drove back to return our car rental and metro back to the hotel. The good-bye that evening was the final one for a long time, which made all of us a bit sad... In the end, another full day.

Washington DC Day 3: April 13, 2008

Sunday was game day and Sunday happened to be our coolest day. Not a good day to be going out to a ballpark, but tickets for the Washington Nationals are hard to come by, so when tickets happened to still be available for their first season in the new ballpark, one can't pass up the opportunity. Besides, who knew it would only be pushing 50 degrees mid-April in DC?

Since the game wasn't until 1:35, we decided to hit the Museum of Natural History. When we were sharing with Cate some of the things we were going to see and do while on vacation, she asked if any of the museums had dinosaur bones. She has seen Curious George movie more than a few times and figures that if you went to a museum, then you would get to see dinosaur bones. And since she was disappointed in learning that the giraffes weren't at the zoo, we wanted to be sure that she got to see something important on her short list to things to see. Well, sweet! Not only did the Museum of Natural History have cool dinosaur bones, but they had other animal bones and a taxonomic specimens of mammals--of which were a giraffe skeleton and a giraffe speciman. Sweet! She then forgave the error on the National Zoo's part for temporarily moving the giraffes without her consent.

Also in the Museum of Natural History had something just for me--the Hope Diamond and other extraordinary gem collections. Oddly enough, the Hope Diamond was a bit underwhelming for me. Perhaps it's because I don't have a gemology background, but the other colored gems were much more impressive to me.

We met up with Pat and the kids at the brand-spanking-new (and kid-friendly I might add!) stadium and climbed way, way up to the upper deck in the right field (or is it left field?) and settled in the best we could. It didn't take long before the kids were antsy to get to the play area. Unfortunately, Max was too young to play in the climbing area, so he and I made an early exit. Got some eats, watched a little bit of ballgame while shivering and barely made it to the 7th inning. Then we all got up and took the metro back to The Mall and hit the National Air and Space Museum. I think the kids were able to enjoy it somewhat. I happened to eye a small exhibit highlighting some popular items from the Museum of American History and snuck in there while all others went the other way. Little did I know then that the American History museum was closed for renovation, so at least I got to see Dorothy's Ruby Slippers and Prince's Yellow Guitar from Purple Rain, among other things. We closed the museum down for the day and parted ways.

For us, we hunted for dinner. We decided to hit Union Station and opted to walk there since finding the exact location of the elevators (because of having our stroller) for the Metros were a total pain in the ass. On our way, we passed by the Capitol. Cate really wanted to throw some pennies into the big pool. We wouldn't let her. You can see by the family photo, Max got in a bit of a snooze despite the gravel-covered terrain. Also, I caught some lovely yellow tulips in front of the Capitol--an almost artsy shot (yay me!). When we finally got to Union Station, I was feeling rather nostalgic from when we "discovered" it back in 2002. It's architecture is awesome, the shops were really cool and the eats were more original. Guess where we ended up eating? You guessed it--McDonald's. Oh well, we don't go on a vacation and explore new cuisine. We just eat. Besides, the kids ate all their food. Afterwards, we found some gelato at the last minute. The guy was closing up shop when I approached the counter with my order. He looked over and asked if it was for the kid (Cate) and I gave him my best flirty head turn and said, no...it was really for me. He gave me a cup of gelato and told me it was on the house. I guess that was one hell of a head turn... :)

Hopped back on the metro and headed back to the hotel. The end of the third day.

Washington DC Day 2: April 12, 2008

Saturday started out overcast and our first event of the day was to attend the Cherry Blossom Festival Parade. We met up with the entire Coleman clan on the steps of the Archives. One would think that would be a cool destination to view the parade--up on the stairs, above the street crowd--but one problem: Strollers. Good idea, but not easily executed. So we sat on the lower six stairs and our view was obstructed by the crowds up along the street.


From left to right: Colleen and Cate Coleman, Kyle and Cate Jensen.












It's just like being at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade--big balloons! To the right is Bob the Builder, popular cartoon character on PBS.



After a couple of scattered showers enough to put a damper on our group of spectators, we decided to move along to our next destination--the National Zoo. This zoo is expansive. I wonder if we covered half of it. The Giant Pandas, a very popular exhibit, were out sunning themselves, despite the absence of sun. "Short" Cate is a huge fan of giraffes. This zoo has giraffes. However, they were on a "vacation" as their habitat was being reconstructed. She was disappointed, but was consoled as the zoo had her second favorite animal, zebras. We got up close to zebras as a couple of zookeepers fed them and educated us about their particular "breed". Here is a prairie dog "posing" for the camera.


The highlight had to have been the pizza playground. It's a nifty stop near the farm animals which demonstrates all the pizza ingredients that are mostly, or in part, produced from the farm. The kids tunneled through black olives, mounted a wedge of cheese, balanced on the crust, piled the pepperoni and mushrooms and stirred the pot of sauce. We parents caught our breath while the kids vented some of their energy.



After the zoo, we parted ways. Robert, Cate and Max sat together on the Metro for one leg of the trip home. Robert was sad we were splitting up, but was okay after we told him we would see him again the next day.

Once back on our "home" turf, we enjoyed dinner at the The Post Pub, got back to the hotel, where the kids unwound for a little bit. Once into bed, it didn't take long before they were truly out and in some extremely odd positions as evidenced here...

Washington DC Day 1: April 11, 2008

Our trip to Washington DC has come and gone already. We brought the computer in the hopes that I would blog at the end of each day, but I had limited access web connectivity. So now I am trying to play catch-up before I forget all that we did.

The kids really enjoyed the flight there and others on the plane commented on how well behaved they were. We brought one car seat--Cate's. Max got settled into her car seat in the airplane. Then, when we landed, my friend Pat Coleman drove over and loaned us a booster seat so we could get the kids in the shuttle to the hotel. It worked out really well.

We made it into the city around 3 o'clock and headed out more or less right away. We stayed at the Homewood Suites by Hilton on Massachusetts Avenue. It suited our needs perfectly. It was a two room suite with the double beds and bathroom separate from the rest of the living space and kitchenette. The complimentary breakfasts were awesome--eggs, breakfast meat, bisuits and gravy (my personal favorite!), yogurt, dry cereal, oatmeal, breads, bagels, croissants, danish, a make-your-own waffle station, fruit, a variety of juices and other beverages. All this affordability only six blocks from the White House! I recommend the hotel to any family planning a stay in DC.

To pass the time before hitting the Metro out to the 'burbs for an evening with the Colemans, we walked down to the White house. It was sunny and mid-70s. We didn't bring shorts, so we adapted and rolled up pants. It was so cool being back in the Nation's Capital! Kyle and I had been in DC back in 2002 BC (before children). I looked forward trying to share some of the significance of this city to Cate. I'm pretty sure it was a fruitless effort.

The kids really, really liked riding the metro. Especially Max. He would shake his arms about and shriek when the train was coming through the tunnel. He loved the pressure of the wind blowing us around as the train approached. We rode out about 40 minutes to the last stop and Pat picked us up at the "kiss and ride". It was another 15 minutes' ride to their house.

The kids interacted well together playing in the backyard, while Pat manned the grill on the patio and "tall" Cate and Elizabeth bustled in the kitchen. Kyle and I....well, uh, I guess we just sat around. It was a feast--steak for the grown-ups and hot dogs for the little ones. Along with roasted potatoes, fabulous bread with olive oil and lime dessert.

We then enjoyed some family time together where I took advantage of Pat's web knowledge and he helped me modify the blog set-up. Unfortunately, I think everything he taught me went in one ear and out the other, because this is still a drag to efficiently format. Practice makes perfect, though...

At the end of the evening, Pat brought us all the way back into the city (45 minutes) and gave us a driving tour of the monuments at night. God bless Pat!

The kids passed out immediately upon getting them into bed. Phew! This family vacation thing wasn't going to be so bad after all...

A photo of me and my goddaughter, Colleen--she is such a cutie!

The first great Spring day of the year

It finally, FINALLY surpassed 60 degrees today. In fact, the high was 67. Sweet! So it was time to let the kids roam free in the backyard. I got the kickball for Cate and the two kids ran around playing quite nicely together. Kyle and I just sat on the stoop and occasionally bounced the ball back to them. A great way to ensure they sleep well at night.

Dippin' Toes in the Snow

Here we are, March goes out like a lion (I've never really gotten the "in like a lion, out like a lamb" saying anyway) and dumps some measurable snow in our back yards. Damn! When is the mild weather coming. I ask for average temperatures of high 40s, is that too much to ask for? And a little boy who doesn't take his boots off in the back seat of the car...

Max has a tendency to kick his boots off when riding in the back seat. And his socks. This doesn't happen with any other of his footwear (thank goodness for double-knots!). It doesn't matter if we are going ten blocks or ten miles, they're off. Last night was no exception. And yesterday's snow was a heavy, wet dumping that just complicated the entire getting-in and getting out process. So there we were, finally home and Max was very satisfactorily swinging his bare feet and wriggling his little toes waiting for me to get him out of his car seat. I already had in my arms my handbag and his diaper bag--and now his boots and socks. It wasn't going to be easy for me to carry him around as well. So I thought, a lesson is to be taught her. I pulled him out of the seat and set him down, barefoot, onto the snow-covered driveway. Boy, did he holler! He was up so quick onto his tiptoes and clinging to my jacket hoping I would pick him up. But I did not. I grabbed his hand and he walked about six paces, all on his tiptoes. I then picked him up and carried him on. Every few feet to the house, I would lower him down and dip his toes into the snow. He yanked his legs up so fast so as not to touch the cold, wet snow again.

I think lesson learned. At least I hope.