Christmas Thrills

Our family has been very blessed this Christmas season, and seeing it all through the eyes of a child is a wonderful renaissance. The annual "Macy's WaHaTa (Walter-Hansen-Thomas) Extravaganza" was a great start to the weekend, and it gets better every year! The festivities culminated in a wonderful Christmas dinner with Andy's family and mine. Whit was fortunate enough to see Santa three times this year, giving him ample opportunity to ask for his dream kitchen (ok, so maybe that was my dream for his kitchen, but whatever, we'll get to that in a minute). All three times he joyfully hopped in the big guy's lap and examined his jolly face.

Let me preface the remaining photos with a bit of explanation. I have been dreaming of building Whit a kitchen out of an old TV stand for a year. When it was finally finished on Friday, the sense of accomplishment I felt made me prance through the house singing with glee. I owe a great deal of credit to my dad, whose construction skills helped bring my vision to life. Without further ado, here is the project that many of you have heard me talk about for some time now.

Nothing but the best for this chef - stainless steel Sub-Zero fridge and Wolf gas range

"Stone" countertop with stainless steel sink and blue-lit gas stove (appears purple here, but I assure you it is blue)

The innards - lights in the fridge and in the oven, and a pantry below

Let's eat!

While mom organized (using OR disposables of course - how did I function before them?), Whit transferred pots from the oven to the stove, first putting on his hot mitt and then saying "hot" and blowing on them as he carried them. His reaction was even better than I had hoped for, and Andy and I are anxiously waiting for this gift to pay off and result in scrumptious meals where we don't have to lift a finger.

Construction Zone

Thanks to IKEA's clever displays and insanely low prices, Becca and I decided gingerbread house construction was definitely in our kids' future, and today our little contractors went to work.

The foreman...

...and forewoman getting their hands dirty.

Following union rules, they were allowed an hour-long lunch break.

Tiny elves will be moving in shortly.

Take Me Away to Wholemilkville

Apparently the cold weather is already getting to Whit - today he pulled out every piece of his swimming accouterments and insisted on wearing all of them at once. Only five more months of winter!

Across the Sea

Our dear friend Susan came to visit this month from Australia, and we have had a wonderful time catching up with her. Whit was especially excited to be reunited with his Aussie lady.

Ghoulevening

First things first, we carved our pumpkin a couple of weeks ago, and gave it a healthy dose of hairspray to keep the squirrels and deer from consuming it like in the past - it worked, and incidentally gave its hair tremendous body and shine.

Our little koala bear

Our Toddler in that Toddling Town

Fresh-brewed Dunkin' Donuts coffee with a shot of obscenely fattening cream; lip-numbing, ulcer-inducing Buffalo Joe's hot wings; mozzarella layered with mozzarella and then topped with mozzarella in a scrumptious Chicago stuffed pizza; Whit's first jaunt to the taxidermy wonderland that is the Field Museum, with its 21 million specimens that all smell like they were doused in mothball juice; a visit with my old ortho staff and some of the best nurses with whom I have ever worked; and long chats with the dearest of friends and family. Nothing beats Chicago and the special people in our lives with whom our conversations always pick up right where they left off, as if no time has passed at all.

Great Grandma Jean and Whit get some cuddle time

The Best Hats

I started a new job about a month ago, and am enjoying being back in the OR (although it is just not the same without a Marnie, a Dewey, and a Dr. T). With my return to the formal workforce, I found myself ruminating on the past nine months of working for the shortest boss I have ever had, and I pondered if I should add the following experience to my resume:

- Teacher

- Counselor

- Housekeeper

- Chef

- Interpreter

- Chauffeur

- Stylist

- Event Planner

- Coach

- Cheerleader

- Photographer

- Biographer

- Tour Guide

- Singer

- Dancer

- Court Jester

- *Able to recite all of the ABC's according to Dr. Seuss* (this would of course be #1 if we were going in order of importance/transferability to real-world situations)

Such are the many hats of a mom, and I am beyond A(Aunt Annie's alligator) -Ok with it, more than I ever imagined.

President and CEO of Pieper Family, Inc.

Fall Has Fallen

This weekend we had beautiful weather for strolling the fields at Minnetonka Orchards, taking a train ride, and visiting the animals!

Minnetonka Gothic

Whit found a hen hiding behind the coop door

and tried to coax her out to no avail.

Big strides like daddy

Pumpkin pickin'

Goin' to tha fehr!

Minneapple pie, cheese curds, corn dog, and deep fried cookie dough on a stick with Aunt Julia and Will. Does life get any better? Apparently yes - the highlight of the trip was the magical dreamland of massive bright orange Kubota tractors. Great Grandma Erma and Great Grandpa Harold were smiling I am sure.

Highs and Lows

Last Wednesday found me at the zoo with a couple of friends and their kiddos. On several occasions during our visit, my friend Becca remarked that I looked like such a "hip momma." I laughed off the comment, feeling more comfortable than hip, but was appreciative of the complement. Maybe I had finally become that lady that looks (emphasis on looks) like she has her shizam together. Only took 19 months!

Thursday then found me darting out to return books to the library on their due date, fifteen minutes before closing. I'm wearing a giant claw clip in my hair that has inadvertently made me look like Snooki, minus the G, and with a less orangey T...and let's admit it, I had been playing outside with Whit, so the L was a little lacking as well. I had on black dress socks from the funeral I had attended, and was wearing khaki short shorts and a bright red tank top that I had thrown on earlier after madly stripping out of my wool and silk frock that had turned me into a human Hot Pocket.

All the way there I was praying for a drive-up drop box. I mean, we live in the 21st century, certainly the library has a drive-up box like the post office has had for decades, right? Nope. Ok, well, it was 8:45 at night, so of course there would be parking near the door, right? Nah ehn. Not to be discouraged, I stepped out of my car and briskly walked to the drop box far away on the horizon. Only one person off in the distance getting in her car - I was going to make it unseen. Just then I found myself in front of a giant open conference room window...with a whole group of thirty-somethings FACING THE WINDOW. It was my moment to shine, and I strutted by them (twice) with pride, owning my "People of Walmart" look.

And that, my friends, is how I went from tip top to flop in 24 hours.

Wagons Ho!

That One Place

Everyone should have one place they can go to feel completely at peace, be it a small room or a vast landscape. For me, that one place is Mullett Lake (yes, it is spelled correctly, and no, it is not named after the fish...or the hairdo; it is named after the man who surveyed the land around it umpteen years ago, John Mullett). Some of my dearest friends are there, as well as family. I have countless memories of grand adventures all summer long with friends and cousins, including swimming for hours and hours at a time, putting on plays, camping, and all around LIVING outside for three months. Pure bliss.

Visiting Mullett each year is by the far the highlight of my summer. Being able to now share it with Andy and Whit is a blessing beyond words. This trip I was fortunate enough to catch up with both of my dear friends Stevie and Teresa, as well as their families. We had a wonderful vacation!

Lots of beautiful weather led to lots of beach time...

...and lots of discoveries! (This was taken right before Whit accidently stepped on his new friend, and his new friend fled the scene like a criminal on the run.)

Round Island Passage Lighthouse during our walk around Mackinac Island with my parents.

Lily Tomlin stepped away...

Happy birthday Aunt Abbey! Always in the mood to promote his aunt's resort, Whit posed for another Madden's photo while we surprised her for her big day.

Bittersweet

I started this post about a week before we left Melbourne. I listed all the things I was going to miss about the great city and country we lived in, and then realized the post was getting way too long, and likely didn't mean much to anyone other than Andy and me. I thus tabled it, and then life got crazy when we returned home. Truth is, words cannot summarize the past five months. It is hard to believe that we lived Down Under that long. We are so thankful for the time we had together exploring and traveling as a family. God has blessed us in so many ways, and we left with memories we will keep forever.

We are adjusting to life back in Minnesota quite well, but find ourselves missing some little things. For example, as I watched a crow gnaw on a dead squirrel the other day, I remembered the tropical birds that abounded in Australia. I almost got decked by a couple of sulphur-crested cockatoos while walking to the drug store with Whit one afternoon, watched a rainbow lorikeet eat an apple in someone's garden the week before we left, and almost tripped over a white ibis on the sidewalk in Sydney.

Then, of course, there are things we were ready to move away from, like our play-size pots and pans. We cooked in installments because our cookware was so small. On the flip side, we had a toaster the size of a barn. I think our guests got tired of us offering them english muffins when they visited.

The list of things I loved about Melbourne is long, but Dorothy was right - there is no place like home. We are so happy to be back with family and friends, and look forward to hopefully seeing our friends from Australia again in future travels.

I leave you with some photos of the fine city of Melbourne, and a link to two songs I grew to love while there, both from Aussie artists.

Drapht's "Rapunzel" (a funky little rap that even my dad should enjoy)

Noiseworks' "Touch" (think Kings of Leon plus the requisite 80's video ingredients: running horses, a curious fire burning frighteningly close to the musicians, and big hair blowing in the wind...that is of course fueling the fire even more)

Melbourne's CBD on the north side of the Yarra River

Flinders Street Station

"The Angel" and a view of Southbank (our neighborhood)

The National Gallery of Victoria near our apartment, a place Whit and I enjoyed touring regularly

Whit exploring the children's area in the gallery, accompanied by his friend who was obsessed with the zippers on our shirts that day

Victoria Barracks, just north of our apartment

One example of Aussie PSAs, the finest PSAs around in my opinion. You should see the gems they have for smoking cessation - uber graphic and oh so disturbing that you can't help but laugh (well, I can't help it because they made Andy squirm, and you can bet that once I learned that, the kid in me was sure to call his attention to the TV every time they were on).

Hoosier Lane

View of south Melbourne from the Shrine of Remembrance,

one block from our apartment

Home sweet home-away-from-home

Bye bye, Melbourne

Urban Living

We closed out our holiday in Sydney. Andy proved to be an exceptional tour guide, having worked there for four weeks on one of his previous trips to Australia. We were again blessed with a kind woman who offered to take our picture, and she actually knew how to use my camera, so it was a score all around. If you look really closely you can see tiny little bodies on top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge - those are the crazies following in Oprah's footsteps and doing the bridge climb.

The night we arrived was the beginning of the Vivid Light Festival in the city, and it included a twenty minute light show on the opera house, which was spectacular. I have a million different shots and a video, but seeing as it is not likely as cool to everyone else, I will spare you and just share my favorite part.

To say I was obsessed with the opera house while we were there would be an understatement, and unfortunately I do not have an explanation as to why. To be honest, I always wondered how a seemingly unremarkable building (in photos) had become an icon for this entire country, and it was as if Jorn Utzon himself slapped me in disgust when I first laid my eyes upon it. I was mesmerized by its lines and curves, and had a heyday taking photos of it from different angles. I may be a dork, but as you can see, I was not alone. I think this seagull had a passion for architecture as well.

Did you know the 'sails' are tiled?! And in a zig-zag pattern?! No, you didn't! And if you did, play along and remember the moment you found out...go there...and be amazed again!

Surfers on the famous Manly Beach

The Royal Botanic Gardens

Darling Harbor and the coolest water feature I have ever seen

Sydney has a very different feel from Melbourne, and I really enjoyed all it had to offer. In our humble opinion, if we had to compare them to U.S. cities, Sydney is kind of like Boston and Melbourne is similar to Chicago. Both wonderful cities in their own right, but of course Chicago always wins, and it was nice to return "home" to Melbourne for the last time.