News

It has been a celebratory week for the Harris crew.  Nick has a new job within 3M that he is very excited about.  He is now the Military Market Business Development Manager for 3M's Aerospace department.  It is a perfect blend of his military and business strategy background and I know he is looking forward to hitting the ground running when he starts next week.  I am so very proud of him!

On another note, I have a bit of news as well.  I am now officially a candidate for a Masters Degree as I will be pursuing a Masters in Organizational Leadership at Bethel University!  I am very excited to begin my studies this fall.

There are a lot of great things happening here in Minnesota. We continue to feel abundantly blessed.   

Taaa Daaaahhh

Kate continues to love playing dress up, dancing around, and generally being a precious adorable princess. Here are some pics.

Road Trip

This past weekend Nick and I decided to pile in the car and brave the summer highway - and gas prices - and head to Chicago for a long weekend. We have not done a road trip in a long time, and wondered how the kiddos would hold up. No time like the present! We had been planning the trip for a while and at the last minute, my Mom found herself in the Twin Cities (more on that later) and, being the brave and highly tolerant woman that she is, decided to join us for the trek.

Saint Paul, MN to Palatine, IL (home of my Aunt) = 378 miles. According to Mapquest, that would take 6 hours and 14 minutes.

Yeah. Right.

I propose that someone add features to these driving direction search engines. One should be able to select options such as "number of children traveling in vehicle", "ages of children", "time of day you will be traveling" and "would you like the station identification numbers for Radio Disney at all points of travel along your desired route?". With all this information, the computer should be able to calculate things such as number of potty stops per age of children and food/beverage consumption according to time of day traveling. It should provide a list of radio stations by town along the route. It should provide restaurant locations along the route with kid-friendly menus that are NOT Wendy's or Burger King and certainly not Taco Bell (who eats Taco Bell on a road trip? And if you do, could the computer factor in additional diaper changes for the toddler?).

Alas - such options do not exist. Another option that should exist on these search engines......construction. And, accordingly, alternate routes. Our 6 hour and 14 minute road trip TO Illinois turned into about 9 because of construction. Sigh.

Thankfully, I would like to announce that I have the most wonderful children on the planet. Granted, we DID have a couple of "are we there yet" moments. And there WAS a point where I actually said "I will turn this car around, Kate" - and then I promptly burst into laughter at the fact that those words came out of my mouth. BUT - the kids were fantastic. Liam was particularly surprising in his tolerance of the trip. He was an angel - just super pleasant. And no bad diapers, if you understand me.

The actual visit to Chicagoland was fantastic!!!! We crammed a ton of visiting in - we saw my godparents, my cousins Biddy and Dean and Kris and Dave and all of THEIR kiddos - Sophie, Cassie, Matt, Kate, Clare and Jack (Kate and Liam were in HEAVEN playing with all their cousins). We saw my Grandmother and had a lovely lunch with her - it was really great to have 4 generations of McKenny family together: Grandma, my mom, me and Kate. Nick and I visited with one of my dearest friends, Erin and her wonderful Joe. My Mom got to visit one of her best friends. AND I attended a mini-high school reunion! We took the kids to a picnic where we visited with my high school buddies and their significant others and kids and later we had an adults-only Peoria Notre Dame night on the town. It was wonderful to see my friends and so great to catch up. I had a WONDERFUL TIME. I think Nick did, too! :)

We drove back late on Sunday and the road trip gods were kind. The kids, once again, were angels. Even with a stop for gas and a stop for food we made it home in 6 1/2 hours. Woo hoo!

I am so thankful for the chance to make that trip and see all those wonderful friends and family. Thanks to Auntie Robin and Uncle Jack for the hospitality - and Erin and Joe, too. I am so amazingly, unbelievably blessed with the people I have in my life. What a lucky girl am I!

Here are some pics from the weekend....

Kate and her Great Grandma

The Harris crew with my Grandma

The Peoria Notre Dame next generation

Me with my good friend Steve Gorman from PND

Nick and I out to dinner in Chicago with the PND'ers

Illuminating

Last night Nick and I went to a very cool art exhibit. It was a gorgeous night - a perfect 72 degrees and a beautiful full moon. My mom took the kids last night, so Nick and I headed to downtown Mpls around 10pm! We joked that we had not left to go out that late since the early days. We met my brother, Patrick, and his wonderful girlfriend, Jillian, downtown for drinks by the river. After a nice cocktail, we went for a stroll along the riverbank down to the Stone Arch Bridge. Patrick, the photographer extraordinaire that he is, knew about a very cool art exhibit that was going on there. It was so great. Red Bull is sponsoring a FREE art exhibit called "Illume" which showcases the best of action and adventure photography in different categories like "Spirit", "Energy", "Sequence" etc. Each photo is encased in a huge black box, only visible at night when the box is illuminated from within. If you were to stroll by during the day, you would just see a shiny black box. The boxes of light stretched across the mighty Mississippi, with the beautiful crisp Minneapolis skyline as a backdrop. The juxtaposition (yes, I am whipping out an "arty" word) of the modern photography and city against the fact that we were strolling on a historical stone arch bridge while an entrepreneurial accordian player attempted to infuse a bit of a Paris feel to the evening was quite enjoyable. The experience was great and the photos were fantastic - I cannot believe how crazy/brave some of these athletes are....and how crazy/brave/creative the photographers must be to think of the shots and be in the position to take them! If "Illume" comes to a city near you I recommend it....but I have to say what made the exhibit for me was the locale. Were it in an exhibition hall it would have lost at least 50% of it's wow-factor. Below are some pics that, for legal reasons I probably should tell you, I screen-grabbed from the Illume site. Full credit to whoever snapped them! :)

11,111

Wow! When I signed into the blog this morning the "hit tracker" showed that the blog had been viewed 11, 111 times! All the ones were on display! :) That is pretty amazing. With the length of time that the blog has been in existence, that adds up to over 300 hits a month. I am pretty humbled that we have so many loving friends and family that they want to check in regularly on our little crew. Granted, it IS possible that a large portion of those hits are from my mother...but I also know that she is far too busy to account for all 300 monthly hits. :) Thanks to everyone who checks in and sends us their love. I am really grateful for this technology as a forum to keep in touch and keep us connected. Much love from blogger-ville!

-Mags

Falling for Minnesota...

...in Taylors Falls, MN! Over the holiday weekend we took the kids, my Mom and Dad to a little town about an hour away from the Twin Cities. Along the St. Croix river, it boasts great hiking, gorgeous views and a quaint "downtown". Glaciers once ran through the St. Croix valley, carving it out and forming amazing rock formations and incredible "potholes" - a very cool geological phenomenon. The kids loved hiking along and scrambling up and down rocks and shouting "echo!" into cavernous potholes (thankfully safely fenced by the parks service). It was such a lovely day and we finished up by heading down the road to ride the alpine slides and do some go-karting. Too darn fun!

We all scream...

For ice cream, of course! On our holiday jaunt to Taylors Falls, we stopped and had lunch - followed by icey and creamy dessert - at a "frozen-in-time" malt shoppe. We all loved it.

Mighty Miss

The other night we took the kids for a stroll along the Mississippi - a straight shot down some blocks from our house. It was a nice evening stroll - and for Kate an evening sprint in some parts as you can see. :)

Water baby

On the 4th of July we brought out the "Nemo" sprinkler and the kiddie pool. Both were huge hits with Liam and he spent most of the day hopping from sprinkler madness to pool splashing. Nick even joined in the fun. Pardon Liam' thumb half down his throat...the poor little guy is getting his molars and is gnawing away these days.

Jamma Jamma Jamma Jamma....PJ!

For those of you who are familiar with Sandra Boynton, the title of this blog entry will come as no surprise to you! :) Here are some PJ pics of the kids. The satin number is Kate's OBSESSION. She got it at "Tahget" for valentine's day and loves to wear it. Here she is with Gramps. And we also have Liam in his Chinatown jammies with Pak, Jillian and Nick. Too cute.

Cuties

Here are some pics of the kiddos just hanging around here and there!

Texas Hugs

Nick is beaming with pride. I believe that visions of Friday night lights and two-a-day practices filled his head last night. You see, Liam has a new favorite game. Last night, as Liam was running around in his dinosaur jammies and Nick and I were sitting on the floor playing with the kids, I asked for a hug from Liam. He turned around and looked at me, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, and ran full steam toward me, tucked his head and shoulders down and plowed into me. I absorbed the impact with an "Oooof" and slight rock backward and Liam continued to drive forward, pushing his little feet in in in in in to the carpet, one after the other, pushing with his shoulders and shifting his weight until I was flat on my back - - both of us giggling the whole time. He positively pealed with laughter and delight and bounced right up squealing "again again again"! So we did it again. Nick declared "those aren't hugs, those are TEXAS hugs". And then Liam turned his football tackling attention to Nick. It was amazing how instinctively he drove right through the whole tackle. Great form for a 2-year-old, I tell ya ;). Look out Cowboys - here comes Liam Harris. Tee hee

Blankies and Bedtime Stories and Dinosaurs, Oh my!

Lately Liam has added something to his bedtime ritual. He is so good at bedtime and has a pretty even ritual of pjs, brushing teeth, story, song, prayers, then bed. He goes right down, sweetly says good night and we rarely hear a peep from him until morning. Knock on wood. That mostly remains unchanged - but now he has added another little quirk that has been going on for days now and progressed to the following scene last night: 

The Scene:

Door gently closes after Liam's bedtime. I move into Kate's room for her bedtime ritual. Where silence used to reign, now Liam calls out with great insistence:

"THERE IS A DINOSAUR IN MY ROOM!!!!!"

I at first gently told him "There are no dinosaurs are in your room, Liam."

"BUT MOM THERE IS A DINOSAUR IN MY ROOM!!!!!"

Then I added "No dinosaurs are allowed in our house, buddy. They know not to come in here!"

"MOMMY!!! I SEE A DINOSAUR IN MY ROOM!!!!!"

Being a sucker, I went in, did a quick check for dinosaurs, and declared the room dinosaur free.

"MOM! THE DINOSAUR IS HERE! THE DINOSAUR IS HERE!!!!"

Last night Little Miss Kate, fed up apparently, marched over to Liam's closed door and put her face right up to the crack in the door and declared with great emphasis "BUDDY, there are NOT dinosaurs in your room. That is IMPOSSIBLE, buddy, because DINOSAURS are EXTINCT."

No more dinosaur talk. Just leave it to Kate.

Baby Beckham

Here is Kate bending it like Beckham....

Bonjour!

Nick sent me a pic that he had snapped by a co-worker on top of the Arc de Triomphe. Lucky guy! I am glad that between his Sunday there and his time with some of the co-workers that he is getting to see some of Paris other than office buildings. Tres cool! :)

Musings

 - It is terrific to be home from my lengthy travels to Georgia and Florida.  I love our little home and it is so nice to be back. I loved traveling, but I love coming home.

-  It stinks to be here without Nick. It stings a little bit extra because he is in the most romantic city in the world and I am not with him! :) He is in Paris for work right now. His hotel window literally looks upon the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. He just called me from a cafe where he is dining alone on a late LATE dinner, enjoying the French fare after a very long work day.  He is working is tush off, so it is not like I could hang out with him, but he did get there on Sunday so got to do a whirlwind tour of Paris on his one free day.  Wish I could share his small amount of downtime with him and chat over a glass of French wine in the Paris evening.

-  Liam is hilarious. Today while we were reading books together he started stroking my arm and said "Mommy, I love your sprinkles.  Will I have sprinkles?"  It took me a second to realize that he meant my FRECKLES.  That is by far the absolute cutest term I have ever heard for my freckles.  He then proceed to point out any freckles he has (only a few really) pointing to his arm saying "I have a sprinkle here!" Pointing to his foot and saying "And I have another sprinkle here. But Mommy has lots and lots of sprinkles!"  

Girl Power

After our family vacay, I attended my sorority convention as an Officer. The convention was in Miami and was incredible - - hundreds and hundreds of women meeting to help plan for the future of social, intellectual and moral development of women of all shapes and sizes, races and creeds. It was a fantastic event. I was honored to present on two topics - one on philanthropy and one Public Relations through Online Social Media. Both were well received and I am relieved that months of preparation by so many, on so many different topics, paid off. In addition we raised over $40,000 for the Foundation which does everything from grant scholarships and leadership opportunities to women to aiding them in times of crisis. My association with these women remains one of the finest and most rewarding experiences of my life. I am so proud to be a Theta! :)


This is a picture of me and our outgoing Grand Council President, Karen Ledbetter. She is such a lady. I adore her!

We are all Gamma graduates from Butler. Out chapter was founded in 1874! Isn't that incredible?!  

My dear friend, Kory, and I got to spend some time at the spa before convention began. Such a fun day with one of my most fun friends!

One of the chapters that I work with as their Public Relations District Director (University of Missouri) won the highest award for Public Relations out of all the chapters in existence. I am so proud of them for their achievement! Here I am with their chapter president and the lovely award.

Fun in the Sun....

...And I've got the Freckles to prove it! And so does Kate's little button nose




!

Beach babies

On the Town

Nick and I, thanks to my awesome folks, got to have a night on the town in Miami after the kids went to bed. We had so much fun - and just the right number of Mojitos. :) It was such a fun night of watching the Celtics win, chatting, enjoying live music and a cocktail or two, and even dancing! I am such a lucky girl.

Bienvenido a Miami

We just got to spend some wonderful time together as a family in Miami! Nick, the kids and I visited my parents in Florida and stayed at their terrific home in downtown Miami. The children were absolute angels and we had the best time. One of my favorite memories is the first night in Miami....Nick and I had put the kids to bed in the same room and then Nick and I went to the living room to relax with my folks. After a few minutes, we heard giggles and whispers and chit chat coming from the bedroom. Kate and Liam were just having the best little secret time in there - trying not to get caught at being awake (and not succeeding) and giggling when they thought they were getting away with. It was hilarious and Nick and I really had to compose ourselves in order to even open the door and tell them to settle down. I so remember the times lying awake with my sister as a kid at my Grandma's - long past bedtime - whispering and giggling and plotting and planning. I hope the kids have the same wonderful memories. It certainly was a fantastic trip, with trips to the beach, the pool, going for Gelato and spending wonderful time with Nia and Gramps. Kate and Liam LOVED LOVED the beach, which was so sand-barred that it seemed as if the kids were walking on water for ages. Perfect for kids and so calm and lovely.