View from the Prairie Box

I think I’ll post a few Fourth of July pics before the month is out.

This shot of Dawson entertains me to no end. I love his posturing, his clear excitement at lighting fireworks.

Yesterday turned out to be a really great day.

It involved working out at the YMCA for the first time ever, shocking even (or especially) myself; mowing the yard on what had to be the most gorgeous July day in Nebraska history. And cooking a dinner that reminded me why cooking can be worthwhile: hello, Chicken Tikka Masala.

My mom made the cheery hot pads pictured above. Cooking is a lot more fun when you have handmade gifts to help keep your hands from burning. Thanks, Mom—I love them!

We finished reading The Hobbit Sunday night. It marked the ending of the first read-aloud book we did as a family and I’ll always be grateful that Jeremy picked it out for us. We worked our way through the book, reading several pages at a time while lounging on the living room couch or sprawled across Livia’s bed. More than one evening witnessed a very tired and squirrelly child—those two traits go hand-in-hand in the Tredway household—alongside one reading parent and one cuddling parent. Oftentimes the reading parent (usually me) also needed to tickle Squirrel Girl’s backside to keep her calm while detailed passages of barreling down the Forest River River or climbing up Lonely Mountain were being read. I have this to say for The Hobbit: the first half was more entertaining for a child than the second. It seems similar to The Lord of the Rings series in that way. The first halves are more lighthearted and full of humorous stories; the latter halves are darker, more serious in nature, and thus more dramatic.

Jeremy ordered the animated version of The Hobbit, which arrived in our mailbox sometime last week. It was driving force in Liv’s resolve to sit still for the final pages of the book as we refused to watch the film before the last page of the book had been read. So Monday night saw us prepare the first ever themed meal at the old homestead… Italian meat sandwiches became Roasted Dragon Meat on Hobbit Bread. Carrot sticks magically turned into Elvish carrots that sat neatly by piles of Dwarvish (Potato) Chips. The final touch, Wizard’s Brew Liv liked to call it, was a glowing blue combination of blue lemonade and Diet Squirt. We sat down for a feast in front of the John Huston-narrated version of The Hobbit, and there we stayed until Smaug was slayed and Bilbo returned safely to his hobbit hole in the Shire.

It was then Livia told us, for the first time, that she was “falling in love…”. With the movie. With that she walked upstairs by herself to go to bed. Another first.

I hope that Jeremy and I still take shots like this when he’s 77 and I’m 70.

Happy Friday everyone!

I finally printed this shot and placed it above my desk. In a nutshell, I want to celebrate lovely things as well as motivate myself as an artist. Most of my photos (99.9% I’d imagine) remain in digital format and never see life outside of my computer. This week I’ve worked to change that and now I’m enjoying the fruits of my labor, in many senses.

I’m off to oversee two little girls among a mass of Playdoh, train a small white dog not to jump on the little girls or eat the Playdoh, and perhaps, if I play my cards right, I’ll get to read the newspaper as well. Happy day to you!

Five years ago we drove home to Lincoln, Nebraska, with the most precious cargo in our backseat: Livia Raine Melissa Tredway. She was eight weeks old. We had adopted her the week before and spent several days in Kansas waiting for interstate paperwork to be filed and approved. We received a green light to leave the state and drove north to the best 4th of July weekend on record. It was an amazing time, and we continue to be amazed by our little girl.

Many, many adoptions happen by word-of-mouth, and that’s why we’re telling you that we’re very interested in adopting again! Our friends are our eyes and ears around the country. In fact, we heard about Livia through a friend and fellow church secretary in town (who heard from her pastor, who heard from another pastor, who was trying to find a good home for his church secretary’s granddaughter!). We believe in an almighty God who orchestrates wonderful things—wonderful things like the creation of new families.

If you hear of a potential adoption situation, we would love to know about it. We can send you more information about our family as well as put you in touch with our adoption attorney. You can reach me at . Thank you!

Another week, another tooth!

Liv LOVES having her teeth pulled. My girl will dramatically wail at the very possibility of falling on the sidewalk, but she’s super tough when it comes to losing teeth. We worked on tooth #2 for a few minutes. Wobbled it with our fingers, pulled on it with floss, then yanked away with a damp rag and there it was, a gigantic whole on the bottom gum for tongue and straw alike to fill.

I love the visually awkward stage that I know is coming. Sweet baby teeth are filled with giant adult ones that don’t quite fit small heads. For years kids look kinda silly, but I think they are adorably cute. Bring on the big teeth!

So we’ve discovered Lincoln’s “sprayground.” And it rocks. It’s close to downtown, it’s free, it’s free and it’s free. What’s not to love? Check out this little cutie, I’ll call her Twin #1, playing in a fountain.

Next up is Liv. Check out the water toy I’ve given her to play with—clearly, I’ve spared no expense in the summer toy department. (Me, digging in the trunk: “Yeah, I’m sure there’s something you can play with back here. Here take this old cup I found. No, that’s not dirt on the edge. I’m sure it’s clean enough. Go play.”) Livia seems to be eyeing the Bellagio-esque leaping fountains that surprised her with a water-up-the-nose hit on our last visit. I think she avoided that area entirely upon our second sprayground trip.

Here we have Twin #1 accompanied by Twin #2 and Big Sister. They’re playing on these cool space-age seats that spin around really fast. The speed and slipperyness of the seats didn’t faze the twins one bit.

Big Brother. I love the mohawk and the smile—this kid charms me.

Last weekend Jeremy’s class held its 20th high school reunion. Seven years younger than my husband, I tagged along as a spouse and member of Lincoln Southeast’s class of 1996. We attended most of the planned activities—the informal gathering at a downtown bar, the school tour on Saturday, and the more formal reception at the Nebraska Club later that evening.

Being the spouse at a high school reunion is not the most exciting role ever. After a while, faces tend to blend together and you wonder how many times you can listen to the same introduction-type conversation (what do you do, where do you live, have any kids? etc). But, I have to say Jeremy’s classmates are a cool bunch. I know I only met them briefly over three events, but I was impressed by how kind, entertaining and genuine everyone was. From what I’ve heard, twentieth reunions are far better than ten year ones. Hear that, Sarah & Charity? Plan on 2016 with me!

Kids were invited to the tour of the school and, let me tell you, it was weird to walk down those halls again. By and large, the school looks the same and smells the same. I could feel echos of rallys, assemblys and musical events past when walking in Prasch gym. I recalled running laps around the track upstairs, breathing hard and wondering how I was going to make it through the mile for my gym class. I remember watching the synchronized swimmers in the pool nearby and recalled selling hot dogs and nachos to raise funds for drama club during basketball games.

As we walked Liv up and down hallways, past row upon row of lockers, I wondered at the fact that my husband tread these halls seven years before me. I never once considered that my future mate was working on his locker combo in the same location, just a few years ahead of my time. And though Livia is slated to be a Lincoln High Link someday—a prospect that I’m really excited about—I can’t help but wonder if she’ll end up a Knight and learn in the classrooms we learned in.

If you care at all about Southeast, click on a photo in this post to check out a few other shots on Flickr. The new cafeteria is awesome, large and airy, while the very new auditorium is beautiful, too. There’s a ticket office (!) and, Adam, you’ll be pleased to know the old artwork has been preserved in a new location. I was surprised by how sentimental I felt upon entering the auditorium. I can’t count how many hours I spent on stage in that place, creating and being created at the same time. My name is on the backstage doors there, accompanied by a smiley face to preserve my high school self as long as the doors stand strong.

Last winter Liv’s dentist predicted our girl would lose her baby teeth soon, at “age five” she said. On Livia’s fifth birthday she worked and worked at that baby tooth, convinced it would fall out that day. This morning a little floss and a damp cloth did the trick! First tooth down, many to go. We’re pretty pumped around here. One of us in particular is eagerly awaiting the Tooth Fairy’s visit tonight!