Raising Tappas

Stationery card

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:42:00 +0000

Snowy Window Christmas Card

Click here to browse Shutterfly Christmas card designs.

View the entire collection of cards.

Umkirch: Day 5, part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 21:44:00 +0000

We got up really early Tuesday morning to catch a train to Frieburg. We discovered later that our tickets were good for anytime within 24 hours so we probably didn't have to get up SO early, but it was OK because we had a busy day in Frieburg, Umkirch and Colmar (France).

In Frieburg, we met Scott's friend Henning. He had arranged a hotel room for us in Umkirch. He and Scott talked business for a few hours (I napped and read!) and then we had lunch and started a grand tour.

First stop: An amazing view from up above the Rhein Valley (famous Rhein wine growing area). From our vantage point, we were in Germany but could see France and Switzerland.

After that stop, we stopped at a cathedral and saw the Rathous (city hall). The Rathous had dates on that went back to the 1100s. Just amazing to realize how young our country really is.

Then we headed into France, to explore the charming town of Colmar.

Zurich: Day 4

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 21:26:00 +0000

Scott and I had a free day in Zurich on Monday! We had plans to go to the Lindt factory shop for cheap chocolate, but we were told that they stopped the tours and the tourist information spot at the train station.

Instead, we were steered toward Morkur chocolate shop near the station. When I walked in, it smelled like heaven. They had chocolate in big stacks and sweet displays and someone even making chocolate in the back. Kids in a candy store :)

After we had chosen our chocolates, we stopped nearby in the shopping district for bratwurst and wiener schnitzel. We sat on a window sill and people watched.

Then we went up on Lindenhof, down by Lake Zurich and then to Casa Mia's for pizza. The waiter took about a year to pour my beer, but the head was about three inches thick! This seems to be important to Europeans, the home of no Miller Lite.

Afterward, we tried some hesse maroni, roasted chestnuts that seem to smell much better than they taste.

After that, it was time to head back to the hotel and pack for our trip to Frieburg, Germany.

Here are a bunch of pictures from my favorite day so far.

Zurich: Day 3

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 09:49:00 +0000

Sunday was Scott's last day of the show so we had breakfast and then I sat in a cafe for awhile and read with Linda's nook. Later I took some pictures of the guys playing chess. We love that guys with the cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He seems to draw a crowd so he must be a fierce player.

I sat with Scott at the show for awhile. He was walking around the show and I had this odd conversation with a guy who wanted to buy one of World Coin DVDs:

Guy, holding up the dvd: "How much?"

Me: "Um, 15 francs."

Guy: "I was thinking more like 22 or 24 francs."

Me: "Well, my husband told me 15 francs would be about right."

Guy, frustrated and thinking I was not all there: "Would 20 francs be OK?"

Me: "Yes! Perfect!" I just got 5 bonus francs for seeming stupid! woo-hoo! I am a hard core negotiator!

After the show was over, we headed down to Paradeplatz in search of a hearty meal. I'd had two croissants for the entire day and was ready to chew my arm off. We ended up at Zeughauskeller for bratwurst and beers as big as my head!

It was in an old armory and the atmosphere was amazing. They sat us at a table with other people. There was self-serve bread at the table...just one piece was as heavy as an apple in your hands. Scott got the classic veal bratwurst and I got pork/beef sausage with gravy (reminded me of some U.P. cuisine ... sort of a combo of Ralph's italian deli and a touch of Beef-R-Roo). Soooo good.

Later, we got ice in an ice cream shop that can only be described as "mod." While as a designer I loved the decor, for me it wasn't screaming for ice cream, it sort of screamed "hair salon of the future!"

Zurich: Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 21:22:00 +0000

So we went to sleep at about 8:30 p.m. after a lovely Italian dinner. Scott had lasagna and I had tortellini (we're pretty sure anyway). We woke up at about 7:30. Scott left about 8:30 a.m., I fell back asleep and slept right until 1:30 p.m. BLISS!

Got to video chat with Linda, Will and Charlie at about 8 a.m. Wisconsin time, 3 p.m. here. Did some pilates and checked e-mail, also researched chocolate factories (chocoholic in Switzerland YUM!) and fell asleep again until 4 p.m.

Scott was back after the show, about 5 p.m. Neither of us felt hungry (should have been, only had a Nutty Bar and Craisins since last night).

We took the tram to the Bahnhofstrasse, the downtown area. We strolled up to Lindenhof and enjoyed the view (see picture). We also saw some of the local chaps playing boules, or chess on giant chess boards. Each of the piece is about two feet high (I'll take pictures for tomorrow's post).

Then found Cafe Henrici enjoyed organic salads, beer, coffee dessert. Lovely, cozy place. Waitresses spoke English really well and the music was very relaxing (except when it got too trance).

Scott's antipasto salad had local cheese and grilled vegetables (he liked them but we could only identify two out of the five).

I had a chicken breast salad with what seemed to be a mustard viniagrette. Tasty. Then we shared apple struedel.

Took the train back, scoped out some places to have breakfast and headed back. Another beautiful day in Zurich!

Zurich: Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 18:07:00 +0000

Scott and I left the boys at 4 a.m. Thursday morning, but were back within an hour of them waking up, so they weren't hurting too bad from the separation.

Our flight changes meant a bonus four hours or so with the boys. I had a great Mario Kart-a-thon with Will. We've decided that if any shows any negative emotion (mostly tears from Will), the other is allowed to hit them in the head with a pillow until they started laughing.

Once Will caught on to the fact that he was the only one getting smacked with a pillow, he decided that if my character displayed any sadness, I deserved a nasty whop in the head.

Fair, I guess. I'm not a very emotional competitor generally.

Charlie and Will watched baseball (America's favorite past time is, in fact, Charlie's favorite past time. Papa Ken must be a happy fella these days). Then the had a nice nap until we had to get rolling.

The next 12 hours or so (seriously not sure) were a blur of flights and public transportation, but we arrived safely at our Zurich hotel around 4:30 p.m. local time, 10:30 a.m. in Wisconsin.

We figured out how to chat with video through gmail and got to see Will's chocolate batter covered face which made my day.

First impressions of Zurich:

-Their shoes are very narrow, or, ours are extremely wide

-A lot of people speak English here

-There's a lot of Italian restaurants

-No one jaywalks ... other than my husband

-It's very charming ... a lot of people sitting outside eating despite the 50-degree temperatures, plus children and dogs wandering around. I told Scott that if we were in the U.S. and I saw children alone after dark I would think their parents must be animals :)

All for now, Scott and I were going to try to stay awake until normal Zurich bedtime but only made it to 8 p.m. or so.

Badgering the boys

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 02:00:00 +0000

With a Daddy who's known to many as "Badger-Centric," it's been odd to find that Will isn't quite so aware of all things Badgers.

This weekend, I was taking him and Charlie out of the house while Daddy watched the Badgers game. (Necessary to allow for proper amounts of cursing at the TV.)

"Daddy's not watching the Badgers game, Mommy, he's watching the Wisconsin game."

Will's response, while hilarious to me, probably somewhat painful to Scott.

But, contrast that with Charlie, who, upon seeing any team wearing red yells, "Bada Tut-Dow!" ("Badger Touchdown!")

Whew! Thank goodness Charlie seems to be taking up the slack.

2010 Tappa Reunion

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 04:13:00 +0000

Click here to view these pictures larger

Grandma Clary and the Boys

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 11:48:00 +0000

My mom has an "I love Grandma" photo frame with a picture of her and Will ... when he was about three days old.

It's been bugging us so we corralled the boys on Memorial Day weekend in the U.P. and took a few shots. They didn't like it, but we did get a few good ones anyway :)

Here's a link to the pictures: http://tappa.shutterfly.com/2593?eid=112

We're with Grandma Clary now. Most of our free time is spent making and promoting Wisconsin-themed gift shirts on Oppermacher.com. Our first breakout shirt was the Worst Call Ever shirt inspired by the Packers-Seahawks fiasco that ended the replacement referees' reign of terror. Our personal favorite: Wisconsin Pass the Salt, which was designed by Will. Check it out, buy some shirt.

A fine specimen

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Sat, 29 May 2010 23:14:00 +0000

As a birthday boy, Charlie was due for a well-child visit.

According to his doctor, we have ourselves "a fine specimen."

She was impressed with his speech and physical abilities and gave him big props for drinking plain old water in his sipper.

Here are his vitals for those that are interested:

Height: 35.5" (78th percentile)

Weight: 32.6 lbs (91st percentile)

Head circumference: 49.5 cm (72nd percentile)

Prince Charles the Charming

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Fri, 28 May 2010 03:44:00 +0000

Charlie's second birthday earlier this month coincided with our first parent-teacher meeting at daycare.

The comments we received were not a shocker:

"He loves art projects. He's always the first to the table."

"Charlie doesn't really like it when we turn off Barney."

"He really like fruits and vegetables."

"He's been getting more aggressive."

"When he's mad EVERYBODY knows it."

"Sometimes if we're watching a video that's not Barney, he'll just turn the TV off even though the other kids are watching it."

One thing I noticed as Scott and I talked to the three teachers: Every time we talked about Charlie's not-so-positive quirks, we couldn't help grinning.

Talking about his experiences with time-outs, we all tried to be serious.

Finally one teacher admitted, "It's just so hard for us to stay stern at him. He just gives the cutest looks."

As his mom, I know what she means. But they're professionals! I was counting on them to be immune to his antics :)

Dear Tooth Fairy

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Thu, 13 May 2010 11:45:00 +0000

Dear Tooth Fairy,

We’re so excited to report that Will lost his FIRST tooth tonight!

Will was so brave and so patient waiting for it to fall out. He’s put it in a plastic bag under his pillow.

I think this is how we did it when I was a little girl, is that still the right procedure?

Thank you!
Jana Tappa
(Will’s mom)

Dear Jana,

How exciting! Will’s FIRST tooth!

That would be just fine to put the tooth in a plastic bag under Will’s pillow. Every family does it a little different but I can usually figure it out.

Tell Will that he will find SIX dollar coins in the bag this morning.

This is an unusually high amount for a tooth (most teeth only get between 25 cents and 1 dollar).

However, the rate for a first tooth is generally higher plus Will has done such a nice job of brushing his teeth every night that I’m giving him this one-time higher rate.

Congratulations to Will on his bravery and fine tooth-brushing (please tell him he could do a little better in the back!)

Thank you,

The Tooth Fairy

Soccer time

noreply@blogger.com (Coach Scott Tappa) — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 02:24:00 +0000

Another soccer season is upon us, and Will is back on the pitch. Playing for the Badgers, he was waaaaaay too excited for his first practice. The Badgers might be pretty good. Check out #2, Jayden. Will is a good head taller than him, but he shows good ball skills and fitness.

Long jumpers

noreply@blogger.com (Coach Scott Tappa) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 02:21:00 +0000

Sunday was a beautiful day, so we checked out a new park in Stevens Point. Charlie jumped two inches into a sand play area, which sparked what turned into an eight-kid long jump contest. Jana was wonderful in her role as the chief pit groomer.

Paying attention

noreply@blogger.com (Coach Scott Tappa) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 02:17:00 +0000

Will, Charlie and I were lounging on the bed after bath time last night, when Will spit out these gems.

-After watching a commercial for a TV series about time traveling, I asked Will if he could go anywhere in time, past or present, where would he go. "Mexico," he said.

-After seeing a commercial for one of the two leading satellite providers, Will said "There really isn't much of a difference between DirecTV and Dish Network, is there?"

Guess not.

Bucks Game

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:52:00 +0000

Will exceeded his Jump for Heart (thanks again everyone!) and won a chance to shoot a basket at the Bucks game.

Many thanks to Don Broesch for getting us all tickets to the game. We had a blast.

The Bucks management surprised us all by sending tickets for all of us to shoot a basket. Papa Ken, Nick, Andy, Scott and I each got a chance. Here's a video of Will's prediction on how we'd do:

For the record, only Scott made his shot. I liked the spirit of Will's predictions more though. Here are a few pictures from our outing:

Have brother, Will tattle

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 12:36:00 +0000

Charlie is really ending his "Terrible Twos" with a bang. He's thrown Barney DVDs at the TV, tossed chairs to the ground repeatedly and overall just been a loud, extra whine-y pill.

So, we've been reintroduced to the "time-out" -- much to Will's delight.

Yesterday, I was taking a nap and Will came in to inform me that "Charlie just threw three items. Do you want to come down and put him in time-out?"

When I was getting ready one morning, Charlie wanted my contact case and when I took it away, he expressed his discontent by slamming the drawer in my bathroom repeatedly.

"Stop or you'll have a timeout," I told him within Will's earshot.

Charlie made eye contact and slowly opened the drawer again and pushed it shut, a little more gently this time.

"That's IT!" Will piped up. "Put him in time-out already!"

Will's extremely helpful. I'm only hoping that Charlie's as much of a tattle tale when Will enters his teen years.

Easter 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 10:54:00 +0000

We spent Easter weekend in West Bend this year... lots of fun.

The kids got to go swimming at the hotel pool and we had a nice dinner there as well. On Sunday after church, the boys had a treasure hunt at the condo house and found their Easter baskets in the bathtub!

Later, they found eggs outside. Charlie didn't really want to touch them so he just pointed and inferred that other people should pick them up. Then he just gave up altogether.

Will was a natural, of course, and ended up filling both his and Charlie's baskets.

Here's a few pictures:

The baby got back

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:41:00 +0000

For nearly two years, we've been telling Will to be gentle with Charlie, to back away from Charlie, stop smothering Charlie, don't wake up Charlie.

Tired of our ineffective parenting skills, Charlie has taken matters into his own hands.

Will was bouncing on an exercise ball one morning and Charlie sent him sailing with a well placed shove. If Will gets anywhere near the vicinity of the TV while Barney is on, trust me, there's going to be some noise.

And so, we now find ourselves telling Charlie to be nice to Will, not to push Will, stop yelling at Will, and repeatedly informing him that it's OK for Will to be within two feet of him.

Last night as I was putting Charlie to bed, Will came in three times. After each time, I asked Will to please stay out of Charlie's room.

The fourth time he peeked his head in, Charlie very clearly stated, "Stay OUT!"

At least he's using his words.

Total recall

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:30:00 +0000

Scott's had to travel a lot recently for work so we've fallen into a sort of "fly by the seat of our pants" policy when it comes to meals.

Today, tired and not in the mood for cooking, shopping or going out to eat, I asked Will to pick our dinner.

"What are the options?"

Well, to be honest, not much.

I deflected the question and asked what he'd had for lunch. I'm sure at some point in this period of single parenthood, it's really just a matter of time before I fall back on hot dogs.

I'd feel a little better about it if he didn't have them for lunch and dinner though.

"Let me think. Oh, I know! We had a choice of either Gogurt or sausage."

What? That doesn't sound right. "Did you have anything else?"

"Nope, I chose sausage. It seemed like more of a meal, you know."

I checked the school lunch menu and they had Brunch for Lunch today: Brunch for Lunch

French Toast
Sausage or Yogurt
Hash Browns
Juice Cup
Muffin

How do we get our hanes on him?

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:59:00 +0000

First off, I just have to say that I'm well aware of the dangers of comparing children. Secondly, I can't help it.

Will used the potty way before this point and Charlie remains adamant that he wants nothing to do with it.

With Will, I put out the potty chair and he sat on it and went potty. Charlie nearly did the same thing a few months ago but instead peed on the floor mere inches from the potty.

Progress, but progress in the wrong direction. Since then, he's peed on the floor, in the tub, everywhere EXCEPT in that potty chair.

I've tried to be coy, I've tried bribing. Scott and Will were both forced to sit down and pee "like a big boy" as an example to Charlie.

"Do you want to try now?" I asked after their demonstration.

"NO!"

"Maybe later?"

"NO!"

He almost seems to think it's a joke he's playing on Mommy. He'll make eye contact with me before a bath, sit on the potty for about two seconds, stand up and cheer "YAY!" and then pee all around the potty's perimeter. Perhaps his potty chair has an invisible force field?

Anyway, my new tactic is to have him wear big boy underwear. Having him go with no diaper just seemed to inspire him to "mark his territory", and this seems a reasonable next stage.

As you can see from the photo, he looks adorable. Love those thighs!

Recently seen on Facebook -- Scott edition

noreply@blogger.com (Coach Scott Tappa) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:54:00 +0000

March 5
Will, tonight at Dunham's: "It's a good thing I like sports so much. It's either because I play them so much, or because Daddy likes them so much." Made up for Charlie destroying the shoe department.

March 4
Will: "Daddy, you know that Miller Lite commercial? ..." I was concerned -- what he ended up describing was that Buffalo Wild Wings commercial with the basketball game that goes into overtime. Keep your brands straight, son.

March 3
It's already been a good day: Charlie said "Touchdown!" for the first time this morning.

February 27
Today Will kicked my ass in checkers -- legitimately -- then ate more pizza than me for dinner. It's all downhill from here.

February 21
Tried to teach the boys "U-S-A! U-S-A!" this weekend. Will's version: "Amer-i-ca! Amer-i-ca!" Charlie's: "E-E-A! E-E-A!"

February 17
Someone forgot to tell Charlie that Ash Wednesday mass is a solemn affair, darn kid was smiling and giggling most of the time.

February 14
Great moments in road tripping: Will just suggested we have a quiet contest. Seriously.

February 12
Will, this morning; "Daddy, tell me just before we're going to go so I can get ready to party." Sure thing, dude!

Recent utterings from Charlie

noreply@blogger.com (Coach Scott Tappa) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:50:00 +0000

"uhh-owwww!" -- touchdown!

"uhh-iiiii!" -- tough guy!

"aassshhh!" -- splash!

"din! din!" -- again! again!

"E-E-A! E-E-A!" -- U-S-A! U-S-A!

"deee! dee!" -- drink! drink!

And, the old reliable:

"Bo!" -- Will!

Fort-ified

noreply@blogger.com (Coach Scott Tappa) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:44:00 +0000

The boys and I have been spending a lot of time at the Iola fitness center lately, fighting cabin fever. Sunday we had the whole gym to ourselves, and Will suggested we make a maze out of wrestling mats. Pretty fun!

Read Across America

noreply@blogger.com (Jana) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:13:00 +0000

In honor of Dr. Suess's birthday this week and Read Across American, Will's teacher asked parents if they'd like to come in read. And we both got to read to Will's class. Very fun.

A couple of highlights:

- Will completely ignored the fact that we were there. I thought it was a good sign that he was prepared for us to be there. Scott was a little hurt.

- A few of the kids recognized Scott as their coach from t-ball, flag football or soccer. One didn't even seem to remember playing flag football, let alone Coach Scott.

- The kids came in after outside recess, took their boots off in the hallway and walked into the classroom to put their shoes on. One girl told me, "Isn't it perfectly silly that we walk into the classroom every day in just our socks?" Perfectly silly. I've been trying to find a way to use that in a sentence ever since.

Here's a couple of pictures. Scott took a couple of me so Will's teacher told me I'd better take some of him.