TroelbyLog

We’re Rollin!

Originally uploaded by troelby

We pushed the playhouse into position on its concrete pads last
weekend. Reed even helped. It rolled smoothly with the old fence posts
underneath.

One of the things we really liked initially about our house was this cute little playhouse up on stilts in the backyard. But, now that we want to put in a garden, it’s in the way, so we decided to move it off its stilts and into a new corner of the yard. More fun for Reed in the short term as well.

Our incredibly generous and enthusiastic neighbor Paul was just the guy to ask. The plan was his brainchild: we’d mount 8 hinges to the posts at the top and bottom (into concrete pads). Then we’d mount a pulley to his garage foundation (more fun with concrete), and run a cable from the play house back to his truck on the driveway. Another cable secured to a tree in our yard would provide additional tension. Then all we had to do was cut the posts, starting at the top, the the bottoms. Driving slowly forward brought it down nice and easy.

Watch the video and see it all come together. Thanks again Paul for making it happen. Now… to move it across the yard…

Le champion

Originally uploaded by troelby

Here’s Ben finishing the Kortelopet a few weeks ago. He did the race in less than four hours and Reed and I were waiting with bells on at the finish line.
Great job, Dada!

Los Cerritos

Originally uploaded by troelby

We went to Mexico last month with the Hirbys to celebrate Pat and Steve’s retirement. Our destination was Todos Santos, in Baja California Sur. It was a long journey: we drove to Chicago and flew to Los Cabos, then rented a car and drove north into the desert until we got to our hotel, the Hotelito (http://www.thehotelito.com/), near some of the best surfing beaches around. Ben, Mike and Schatzi learned to surf while Reed tested the water and played in the sand with Grammy and Babbo. By the end of the week, we were all speaking more Spanish and had slowed our pace down quite a bit. It was great to soak up the sunshine at the beach in the middle of January.

Chef de cuisine

Originally uploaded by troelby

Merry belated Christmas! Here is Reed, in his full chef regalia. He received a pizza-making kit, some baking dishes, and a mini Kitchen-Aid mixer for Christmas.
We had a nice time celebrating with all our families.
Reed thought presents appearing under the tree was awesome, and wondered why it couldn’t happen more often.

Pick ‘o the Patch

Originally uploaded by troelby

We just wrapped a great weekend with the Domenick-Johnsons. It was great to reconnect with some Chicago friends, share our new home and a few good meals. We all even managed to get a *few* hours sleep Saturday night. New pics on Flickr of the weekend and our visit to a pumpkin patch on a warm Sunday morning. Enjoy.

Hey all,

We just did an upgrade to a new server and a new version of WordPress, our blogging software. You should be able to leave comments more reliably now, as well as receive RSS feeds if you like. I’ll be playing with the look and feel as well.

Let us know if you have any problems.

Ben

Nakid

Originally uploaded by troelby.

What’s the use of the Internet if you can’t post a picture of your naked toddler on it?

Sorry for the three-month hiatus in blogging, but we’ve had a lot on our plates recently.

We have landed in Madison and eased back into our new life. After some bumpy weeks starting new jobs and getting settled in, we’re starting to relax and enjoy it more.

Ben had a heavy few first weeks as he took charge of the Active Media team at Planet, but with the addition of some new hires, things are less busy for him.

Sage is enjoying her new position at the UW, adjusting well to teaching adults and liking her new colleagues and department quite a bit.

Reed is more of a boy than a baby now, and seems to really like his new life in Wisconsin. We’ve put together a good childcare team (Gretchen and her two-year old son Kieran, Gigi on Wednesdays, and Grammy on Fridays) and he is blossoming with all the great attention.

We really love our house and neighborhood. Sage and Ben bike to work and we’re close to all the things we need. Canadian geese fly overhead and the sun rises over the bay making the sky red on these fall mornings.

We’re seeing more of our family, which we are happy about. If you’re in the area, please come visit us. Our guest room is the nicest in the house!

Beautiful!

Originally uploaded by troelby.

Reed got his first big boy haircut last week. It was time to trim the flyaways. He was an excellent client and enjoyed the experience very much, especially the spray bottles and the hairdryer.

We’re gearing up for the big move in just two days. Just about everything is in boxes and all the paperwork is going through, so Wisconsin, here we come!

We’ve had a lot of big news lately: Sage landed a position as a faculty associate at the UW-Madison Division of Continuing Studies. She’ll teach French courses and coordinate other language courses. Ben was welcomed back to Planet Propaganda with open arms and we’ve been back and forth from Chicagoland to Madison several times looking for a new home. We’re over the moon about it all, but are sad to leave behind some good friends and colleagues in the Chicago area.
Reed is almost two years old and keeping us running, except when he’s asleep. His favorite things are “jachumahs,” a name for anything with motor. There are vacuumcleanerjachumahs and lawnmowerjachumahs and screwdriverjachumahs and coffeemakerjachumahs.
(Note: we’re having a logjam in our Flikr stream, so please excuse the delay in our posting more pictures for now.)

Carrousel

Originally uploaded by troelby.

We had a recent excursion to the Brookfield Zoo.

Mister Major League

Originally uploaded by troelby.

Well Spring is here, we’ve had some nice visits lately and we’re off to California for a week to visit Mike, Schatzi and Chris. Woohoo! We’ll more of an update when we get back. In the meanwhile, check out some new pics of the Reedster on Flickr. - Troelbys

Happy Dee Dee Opa

Originally uploaded by troelby.

We spent a wonderful weekend in the wintry woods with Opa and Botty.

Paul got some help opening his birthday presents and skied a successful, albeit shortened, Birkie this year. Then we heard a blizzard was between us and Chicago so we had an extra snow day in the northwoods.

Reed enjoyed Opa’s power tools, eating snow, visiting Auntie Julie and Uncle Zack, and helping out in the kitchen and with the vacuuming.

We’re off to California in a few weeks for spring break, and will hunker down in between.

Hello all and sorry for the recent lapses in blogging. We’ve been hunkered down here doing the same ol’ same ol’ and waiting for word from Sage’s schools. We learned this week that both are a no go, so that’s a big fat bummer. We don’t know what it means yet long term but for now we’re just keepin’ on keepin’ on.

Ben made the decision to leave Avenue and took a 3 month gig back at Planet working on a project for a familiar local client in Chicago. He’s excited to be working with PP again and we’re all looking forward to increased flexibility as well.

Reed doesn’t seem to notice any of this and continues to amaze us at every turn. He’s very curious and loves learning. We hope you enjoy this video of Reed exploring the solar system. We think there might be space travel in his future. - Troelbys

Hello everyone. We’re waiting for the temperatures to soften and nursing our mid-winter colds. Sage’s had a campus visit at St. Mary’s Honors College in Maryland and will have another one soon. Ben’s learning about string theory and reading Carl Sagan. Reed is stringing his own theories together, along with some phrases. He’s discovered the word “no” as well.

Stay warm!
-TroelbyFam

IMG_1224.JPG

Originally uploaded by hirbyfam.

Grammy (Pat) has saved almost all the Hirby boys’ toys from upwards of 25 years ago. This carrousel is one of them. It proved to be in great working order and is a favorite.

Hope your 2007 is starting out well.

Drunk on Christmas

Originally uploaded by troelby.

Happy 2007!

We had a total of three Christmas celebrations (one with Gigi, one en famille, and one with the Hirbys), so Reed was in seventh heaven (and a bit worn out) by the time this shot was taken.

He’s growing tall and strong, and doesn’t stop talking from the time he wakes up until his bedtime. Books are a new favorite, when you can get him to sit down and read. We’re also doing lots of art — watercolors, markers, crayons, PlayDoh, stickers, which are fun activities for the whole family. He continues to enjoy school/daycare and talkes about his classmates in the toddler room frequently. The dogs are becoming more and more interesting, to boss around (”Toctho! hushup!”) and scold from time to time, but also to offer treats to and as playmates.

Ben’s happy and well, exploring new technology (flat-screen TVs - a new year’s present to the family!), enjoying work (just finished a big website, whew!), and spending time biking, even on cold days, with his buddy Tommaso, who lives in Berwyn.

Sage had a relaxed MLA, interviewed with five schools and had good conversations with all the committees. Meeting up with old friends from the UW was a highlight, as was staying at a posh hotel in downtown Philly. She’s on the teaching schedule for next year at UIC in case nothing works out.

We’re all longing for more snow, but staying busy and happy in the interim.

Blizzard Boy

Originally uploaded by troelby.

We had a bit snowstorm in Chicagoland on December 1. Most of it’s melted now, but it sure was fun to show Reed how to play in the snow.

We’re decorating, shopping, going to holiday parties, grading final exams and papers, and letting the season in.

Joyeux joyeux!

Planting bulbs

Originally uploaded by troelby.

We had a reminder to stay up to date on our blog today, so here goes.

November’s bringing some cold, gray days, but on this day in early November, we had sunshine, so we planted hyacinth and tulip bulbs along the front walkway. Reed learned the word “shovel” and found some worms. Then the neighbors brought over their bulp-planting drill attachment and with the cordless drill, we finished up in about 15 minutes.

We’re all under the weather right now with a daycare cold, but we’re hanging in. What a petri dish it is!

Reed’s favorite activities are feeding the dogs, cat, and fish, playing with his Thomas the Train set, and climbing on everything he can.

We’re staying in the area for Thanksgiving, having dinner with Patrick, Daniel, Miranda, and Macario, with Gerri and Sara joining us along with some other Tranmers. Then, as is our tradition, we’ll take Sara out to Korean Barbeque for her birthday. On the weekend, we’ll be farm-sitting for Kristi and Chris, who live in the exurbs (even further out than the suburbs). They have three horses, one foal, two bunnies, two kittens, and a dog. We’ll be bringing our pack out there to run around. We’ll be thankful for the country air and our animal friends.
Happy Thanksgiving!