Shameless Plug

Things have really started to pick up at FitMilwaukee.com! We've had weekly group runs at the lakefront and this past Sunday we joined up with Pain in the Park for a great circuit workout. (And when I say "great" that means I was seriously sore for a good two days afterward.) I've really enjoyed meeting local fitness nuts and hope we can find a way to keep something going through he cold, dark, Wisconsin winter. Indoor marathon anyone? I kid, I kid. (At least I think.)

Tidbit

Juliana is a vegetarian. Or least she said last week that she wanted to be a vegetarian. So I went out of my way to try and teach her about making sure she gets enough protein and to tell her that going veggie doesn't just mean eating toast and cookies for every meal and then she hits me with:

"I know but I"m only going to be a vegetarian until next Thursday."

Because apparently she was TRIPLE DOG DARED by Miss Madilyn that she couldn't possibly make it one week without eating meat. And everyone KNOWS that if someone triple dog dares you than you HAVE to take the dare unless everyone will call you chicken.

Do I sense a talk about peer pressure coming on next?

Copy/Paste

*This post originally appeared on MilwaukeeMoms.com


I have a confession to make: I'm a Bears fan. i realize this is nothing short of blasphemy in Wisconsin but I tell you, I really can't help it. It's in my bloooood. But seriously, as much as I love Milwaukee I'm a Chicago girl at heart. Well, technically I grew up in Rockford, Illinois but we'll forget about that little technicality. It's much cooler to say you are from Chi-cah-go right? And I did go to college there so…where was I?

Ah, yes. Da Bears. It takes a special kind of person to keep cheering for a team that seems perennially doomed. (See also: Chicago Cubs) For me though, I learned all about football in the year 1985. You know, the year of infamous '85 Bears, Walter Payton, Jim McMahon, the Super Bowl Shuffle. I still remember that fall when I was 7-years old-and I asked my dad to start explaining all the rules to me. I loved getting to sit on the couch with him, eating Doritos and yelling at the tv when there was a bad play (whether or not I even understood what was going on.)

It was the first sport I ever cared about and the first team I ever cheered for and they made it all the way to the Super Bowl and WON! How exciting! My parents had a Super Bowl party with all their friends and I made decorations. At school, my second grade class made posters to hang in the hallway. You couldn't go anywhere without hearing that song, "We are the Bears Shufflin' Crew…" Remember how awfully awesome that was?

These days it's a little different. Painful, you might say. 1985 is a mere memory and here I am living in Packer Land. My beloved team has not been on top of the mountain since and they had a disastrous appearance in the Super Bowl just couple of years ago. And let's not even mention last Sunday's game, shall we?

But still I soldier on. I wear my blue and orange to the grocery store on Sundays to pick up beer and snacks despite all the dirty looks. I watch every game and even when they are down and out I still believe! I could live in Wisconsin the rest of my life but I'll still cheer for my scrappy, infuriating, Chicago Bears. I keep on cheering in the name of da SNL Super Fans, for Clark W. Griswold in his Bears hat, for Ditka and for The Fridge. And I cheer because I know my dad is at home cheering as well, mostly likely tearing off his cap in frustration and hurling it at the tv shouting "STUPID D@$# BEARS!"

Hey, at least we didn't sign Favre.

The Gessner Media Bonanza Continues...

This morning I was lucky to be asked to talk about marathon running/being a fit mom on TMJ4's Morning Blend. I admit, I am not a regular watcher of daytime talk shows and I was pretty nervous about appearing on it but it ended up being a lot of fun. Molly and Matthew were easy to talk to and it sort of felt like a regular conversation except with really good lighting. Thanks so much to Sonya Jongsma Knauss from Milwaukee Moms for asking me and for thinking that I had something interesting to say:

I'm Not a Stage Mom, I Swear.

Ava has been a bit of a media sensation around here lately. A couple of weeks ago she appeared on the Fox 6 morning show in a segment about fall events at the Milwaukee Public library. Plus, she also appeared in a video about getting library cards that is being shown to 1st graders around the city. (Yes, yes, I have a connection at the MPL so that's why I got her the hook up.) Juliana was "too shy" to take part but if you look closely in the library card video you will see a photograph of her in the shot where I open up my wallet.

Enjoy:



And if you didn't see the morning show video yet you can find it here:

The Musical Circle of Life

*This post originally appeared at MilwaukeeMoms.com

This past Sunday, Jason and I drove the girls to Madison to see the band "They Might Be Giants" perform at the Barrymore Theatre. If you're not familiar with who they are you may have heard some of their songs on television. They sang the theme song for Higglytown Heroes on the Disney Channel as well as the opening song "Boss of Me" for the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle. They've also been featured on PBS and Cartoon Network and their kids cds, "NO!", "Here Come the ABCs", "Here Come the 123s" and "Here Comes Science" are wildly popular- especially in my house. Originally an alternative rock band, their shift to writing children's music has given me an common interest with my kids that I wasn't expecting.

Jason and I have been huge fans of the band for more than fifteen years now. (Yes, I said FIFTEEN years and just writing that number down kind of took me back a bit. Geez.) Jon Flansburgh and John Linnell started out in the early eighties as a quirky rock duo and gained popularity during the nineties with the alternative music crowd. Their most popular album, "Flood" just went platinum nearly twenty years after it's original release. I have great memories of going to see the Giants with my friends back in high school and I love the fact that we are now able to take our kids to see the same rock band we saw back in the day. At the same venue nonetheless! Walking into the Barrymore Theatre, it felt like I had just been there jumping up and down and singing with the crowd of people in front of the stage. Now here I was with my two kids standing in the exact same spot. If you would have told me fifteen years ago...blah, blah, you get the rest.

Probably the best part of a TMBG kids show (besides the CONFETTI MACHINE!) is listening to all the parents sing along. Most of the Giants earlier work is very kid-friendly so you can count on them to throw in an oldie like "Istanbul (Not Constantinople" in between singing about alphabet letters and balloons. Plus, there is something just great about seeing a grown man shout the words to "Particle Man" while dancing with a baby. I dare say some of the adults had more fun than the children.

I love the fact that my kids and I can enjoy this music together. It's such a battle in the car these days over what we're going to listen to but this is one thing we can agree on. I can put up with a certain amount Hannah Montana but it's far more rewarding to overhear my five-year-old singing the lyrics, "I'm a Paleontologist, That's Who I Am..."





Go ahead and learn all about TMBG here: http://www.theymightbegiants.com

School Photos 2009

Get a load of these chuckleheads!

Ava's K5 photo


She lost both her front teeth the week before this picture was taken and was sooooo excited about it.

Juliana's 4th grade photo


Her "uniform" is her blue SMILE hoodie. I at least washed it for picture day.