Noah's Maps

Noah has been interested in maps for some time now. I'm not sure what it is about them that he likes so much, but they are something he asks for quite often when we are riding in the car. On long trips he always asks where ____ (insert person we are visiting) lives. I always find myself in the awkward, not-so-safe, half in the frontseat half in the backseat mom position trying to point it out on the map for him.

This was my solution:

Friends and family laminated map stickers!

When I finished making the stickers. He could not wait to look at them. This surprised me a little because usually when I work on something like this for him it takes him a little while to appreciate it...if at all. This time he carried them out to the car and looked at them all the way to our destination and back. Yeah!

The 'how to:'

1. I sized and cropped pictures of friends and family we visit often (and happen to have pictures of!) using Photoshop.

2. I laid out all the pics (sized to .85in circles) in Illustrator and printed them all at once on photo paper (I tried cardstock first, but they weren't clear enough to tell who some of the people were).

3. Cut out circles. I wish I could have found my large holepunch for this, but my not-so perfect hand cut circles work just fine (or so I am trying to convince the perfectionist side of me).

4. Laminate circles. I used GBC SelfSeal laminating pouches.

5. Cut circles out of laminate.

6. Put through Xyron 150 Create-a-sticker. You could use double stick tape here too. Or if you REALLY wanted to simplify the project you could print the pics on label sheets and eliminate step 4.

Now your stickers are ready to place on their proper map locations!

WARNING: After placing all 24 of my new, indestructible stickers on the map, I so proudly presented it to Jon to show him what I did at naptime that day...he quickly took the wind out of my sails by pointing out that the maps are no longer useable because the pictures cover up parts of them map...whoops! I was so caught up in the details of my project, that point didn't even occur to me. So if you decide to do this project, you might want to buy new maps :0)

You could also use this idea on a full size map of the United States (or world, or city) if you have family and friends all over and hang it in a playroom or bedroom!

Worth the Wait

Noah has never been in a rush to do anything, but when he does it is always well worth the wait.

Becoming pregnant with him took what seemed like ages, but I think that made me realize how precious that experience is and made me appreciate it all the more.

He was due on Valentine's Day 2006 (what a 'sweet' gift that would have been), but decided he wanted the suspense to last a week longer! I'm also not forgetting the 17hrs of labor!

He didn't walk until he was 15mos old, but when he did, he didn't just take a few steps here and there he started walking and didn't look back. He also had great balance and never fell very much as is common for most toddlers.

Potty training is the only exception...and I am soo grateful! I decided about 6mos ago (age 2 1/2yrs) to stop diapers 'cold turkey' and Noah has done wonderfully! He has only had a few, rare accidents during the day and no (knock on wood) accidents at night. This is very rare for a BOY his age!


Since he was 18mos old he has been a little behind the ball in the speech department. In the past he never really said too much, usually just sounds that only Jon and I could translate, but in the past couple months he has made up for lost time...and now he won't stop! I am no longer worried and I now realize he was just focusing his energies on other things and now that he is talking it is amazing to me everything he has retained over the past months - just like a little sponge. Just because he didn't say he was learning, doesn't mean he wasn't!

The main thing with Noah is if he can't do it like everyone else does (i.e. Mommy and Daddy), then I think he would rather not do it at all until he has perfected it! He seems to have an 'I'm not going to do it until I can do it right' mentality and I can't wait to see what's next!

I know this isn't the most exciting post, but I wanted to write it because Noah is at an age where his personality and all his quirky little traits are starting to really become apparent. It is such a joy to watch him change and grow and I don't want to forget it!

Millie Milestone #3

Millie has a new game she LOVES to play. "How big is Millie?" "SO BIG!" Of course she isn't saying "So big", but she raises her arms when I say it. It is absolutely adorable.

Noah, in his attempt to not be left out of the game, tells me what questions to ask Millie...for example:

Noah: Mommy, how Noah big?

Mommy: Millie, how big is Noah?

Millie: (Raising her arms) Giggle, giggle!

Mommy: So big!

Noah: Mommy, how Daddy big?

... and so on, until he has made it through everyone in the family including Bowman and the house and anything else that happens to catch his eye.

How big is my love for these two little ones? SOOO BIG!

Luck O' the Irish

St. Patrick's day is a big deal in Chicago. We did our best to celebrate all things green this year...


On the Saturday before St. Pats day we went to see the dying of the Chicago River. Every year since the 1960's (I believe) the river is dyed bright green to celebrate the holiday. I have lived here for almost 9 years and have never witnessed it! So we packed up the kiddies and watched it first hand.
*Interesting fact: An orange-colored, vegetable-based, powder dye is used to turn the river green. As soon as it hits the water it turns the bright green you see here.

On the following Tuesday (the actual St. Pats day) we started the day off right with breakfast. Boy was Noah surprised when he saw his oatmeal and milk were both green!. Kinda gross looking, but he didn't mind at all!

Later that morning we had a great day planned with our friends Lizzie, Mary and Katie. It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the low 70's so we went to the park to play and then we all had a picnic lunch by the lake. Lunch included a few green favorites- green bagels, green grapes and pesto chicken pasta salad.

After an very fun, but exhausting day, Noah and Millie cooled down and took a relaxing green bath...

(we didn't have the orange, powder they used in the river so we settled for Crayola's colored bathtub tablets)

...and finally, Mommy relaxed in her own way after everyone was tucked in for the night. Jon made me a delicious Green-na Colada and it went great with the shamrock cookies we made the day before. YUM!

Best Buds - Part 3

Noah's new 'thing' is making funny faces. It is always the same face - he puts his thumbs in his ears, sticks out his tongue and dances around. He gets such a kick out of doing it and Millie thinks it is hilarious - she belly laughs out loud!

Today, she was a little fussy while I was getting lunch ready so Noah did his Big Brother-ly duty and cheered her up.

Waiting for lunch.

Passing the time until the cookies come out of the oven.

I love seeing them interact together. So far, he is so considerate of her (99% of the time anyway) and she is in total awe of him. I hope it lasts!

Spring Training

Maybe I am getting a little ahead of myself, but we are SO ready for spring. I am not usually one who complains much about winter, but this winter has been a tough one. This year it seems like we are a little more stir crazy than usual, probably the difference between having just one kid, versus having two now? Or maybe it is the three weeks of sickness we recently endured! Anyway, today we were eager to get out of the house and enjoy the sunshine and slightly warmer temperatures!

We headed up to the lake (Lake Michigan) where we usually take Bowman to run and swim. Montrose Beach is a beach that is designated for dogs to run, swim and just be dogs. It is so funny to see so many dogs (easily 100+ in the summer) running, chasing, fetching, swimming, etc all in one place. Today we passed on the beach and instead played in the open field/park area across the street. Here we ran Bowman (he loves to fetch his tennis ball) and played baseball with Noah.

Last year, Noah was mainly interested in hitting balls off the tee or off this ESPN baseball machine that he loves, and it was amazing to see how great his hand-eye coordination was for a then two year-old! This year we bought him a new glove so he can practice catching and throwing. We had such a good time taking turns hitting, catching, throwing and running the bases.

Noah trying on his new glove.

Millie sitting on her blanket cheering us on...in between fistfulls of leaves - yuck!

I hope everyone was able to get out this weekend and enjoy the sunshine too!

Silly Bowman

I couldn't resist posting these pictures of Bowman, our 120lb, 4 year-old Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. Since the day we picked him up when he was 7 weeks old, he has LOVED sleeping on something...anything. He has been known to cuddle with anything while catching a few zzz's: blankets, socks, dish towels, bath towels, dirty laundry, the door mat, furniture, pillows, bath mats...and now we can add burp cloth to the list. Yes, he does have a nice, big fluffy dog bed, but he only uses that as a last resort. Silly Doggie.

Can't Live Without...#1

LISTS!

I have lists, and lists of my lists...

I don't know what I would do without them. I probably write at least one or two everyday. On the side of my fridge I have a small wipe-off board with the following lists that I would be lost without:

Costco list

Grocery list

Target list

Honey-do list

Planned meals for the week list

Future projects to-do

I used to have these lists on separate little post-it notes floating around my kitchen and have found over the past couple years, that this process of having one location for the bulk of my lists has been a good method for me. To others it probably looks like a complete mess, but as I am always telling Jon..."There is a method to my madness!" ...and this method seems to be working for me.

One of my very favorite lists is my Family Packing List.

All our family lives 2hrs+ away from us, so we always seem to traveling out-of-town. Trying to pack two kids, a dog, myself and sometimes my husband is no small chore and is never something I look forward to. With kids, there are sooo many little things to remember and most of the time I would forget at least one thing. How does that saying go?... 'Necessity is the mother of invention?' Well that was definitely the case here. I HATE forgetting things and since I was packing the same stuff every time, I made a list of everything we need when we travel. I laminated it and use a dry erase marker so it can be used over and over. The picture here is a new one I just made. The old one I have used for the past two years only had one column of check-off boxes and now we have Millie, so I needed two columns. I also added and deleted a few things. I love it.

The thing I love most about my lists - the feeling of accomplishment - no matter how small, when I get to cross something off!

Be My Valentine in 2009

Highlights from our Valentine events.

For the past three years (since having Noah) I can never seem to get my act together around the holidays to design and send out Christmas cards, so instead, I send Valentine cards. I justify this by convincing myself that maybe everyone likes to receive a card in February to brighten the sometimes gray days of winter. Maybe that's a stretch. Sadly, I usually find myself hard-pressed to even get the Valentine's out! You can see this year's version below.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

Noah making homemade playdough (see recipe below) for his friend Lizzie's Valentine gift.

The final product:

Valentine card, playdough 'cupcake' and homemade heart & butterfly crayons.

The playdough 'cupcake' would be great party favors for a birthday party too!

The Friday before Valentine's day, Noah's good friend Lizzie came over for our own little party. They made and decorated cupcakes. It was so fun to see the two of them make cupcakes together. They really enjoyed putting the cupcake papers in the pans. That was a nice quite job for each of them. Then a moment later...they were arguing over who was going to use the hand mixer first.

"My turn!"

"No, MY turn!"

"No, My turrrrrn!"

Eventually, Noah was convinced Lizzie should go first because she was our guest. :o )
Lizzie with her decorated cupcake - and her taste test.


Noah with his finished product. His taste test was a litte messier than Lizzie's.

What a great day. Thank you Katie, Lizzie and Mary for coming over!

Recipe for Homemade Playdough

(courtesy of my aunt Jeannie Diesel - thanks Jeannie!)

1 c. flour

2 tsp. cream of tartar

(a powder found in the spice aisle of the grocery)

1/2 tsp salt

1 c. water

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

food coloring

Cook all ingredients over medium heat until mixture forms a ball - about 4 mins.

Remove dough from pan and let cool.

Squeeze dough until completely mixed and smooth.

Make impression in dough and drop food coloring in.

Use gloves or put dough in baggies to knead color so you don't stain your hands.

Knead until color is uniform and to your liking.

Store dough in air-tight container. Refridgerator is best, but it gets a little wet.

Have fun!

Millie Milestone #2

Millie is now eating solid foods! Technically a baby food jar of peas
(or in the case of this picture, prunes) is not solid, but in the baby
world it is. We introduced it to her about 5 weeks ago in preparation
for our Utah trip, just incase she was still refusing the bottle...at
least she would be eating something. That didn't end up being an issue
after all and now she enjoys her new options!

Goodbye Babies, Hello Park City

Last weekend Jon and I traveled to Park City, Utah for a little vacation. We were invited to a destination wedding held there for friends of our who live here in Chicago. We thought it would be a good opportunity to go to a fun ski town to ski as we would proabably never plan a ski trip on our own. Neither one of us has skiied since high school and even then it was only a few times. This trip (sadly enough) was our first trip away, just the two of us, since before Noah was born...three years ago! It was tough to pull away that morning when we left for the airport, but I knew the kids were in good hands (thanks Mom and Dad!) and Millie was FINALLY taking a bottle after a week and a half of begging and pleading. She finally broke down a day and a half before we left! So, we were then free to have some fun.

Picture of the mountains taken from the plane as we landed. They were beautiful!

We did have lots of fun and it was nice to just hang out together without interruptions...although it did take some adjusting at first. For the first day I felt anxious, like I needed to be on a schedule! But I quickly adjusted, especially when Jon and I strolled down Main Street and sat in a cafe and read some books we bought, drank coffee and just watched the people walk by.

Jon and Tonya on Main Street

(this is where the Sundance Film Festival was just a few weeks before)

Saturday evening we attended the wedding. The ceremony was held in a beautiful, old Catholic church just off main street and the ceremony was held at the Silver Lake Lodge at the Deer Valley Ski Resort. It was such a nice wedding and we had a wonderful time! One thing I loved were their place cards and table name cards, etc...ha ha, I had to say that. I designed them for the bride. This was one of the projects that has been keeping me busy lately. It was pretty neat to see my work...at work! I do a lot of orders, but I am usually not invited to the event, so this was fun (and rewarding!) to see everything displayed.

We reserved all day Sunday for skiing. It was a lot of fun...eventually. We arrived at the resort, had breakfast at one of the cafes and then rented all the equiptment we needed. We chose a green (easy) hill to start on and away on the ski lift we went. When we arrived at the top we asked one of the men who worked there which run was the best for our skill level and he said he was headed that way and would take us...I think if he knew what he was in for he would have run in the other direction! We were so lucky to have him with us though. Howard (yes, we were soon on a first name basis) was terribly patient when he realized how clueless we really were and helped us all the way down. After a lunch break, we hit the slopes again and the second run was MUCH more enjoyable!

All in all, the skiing part was fun, but we probably won't be planning another trip anytime soon. Not to say we will never ski again, but just not anytime in the near future.

View from the middle of a run (Success) at Deer Valley Ski Resort.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Ok, so I am a little behind on this post. I have been busy with two invite orders (not including my own Valentine 'order' and haven't had as much time to write as usual.

Anyway...

Monday, January 29th was the first day of the Chinese New Year. It is the Year of the Ox. I decided to try to incorporate some elements of the Chinese culture into our day. Even if Noah doesn't fully understand, or even if he doesn't remember specifics, at least we did something fun to break up the monotony of winter.

Here are the things we did that day to celebrate (in our own way, of course)

For lunch we had chicken potstickers and Mandarin oranges (ok, so the oranges are probably a stretch, but Noah loves them and I was grasping at straws to find something else to add to the plate!) I laced two chopsticks together with a rubberband so Noah could try his hand at using them. He actually didn't do to bad, he did actually make it to his mouth with the food a couple times!

After naptime I planned a craft. The dragon dance is used each year at the Chinese New Year celebration because it symbolizes the coming of good luck and success in the new year...Noah likes anything that resembles a dinosaur, so I thought he would enjoy making one.

I had great visions of the potential of this craft...that is usually when Noah has the least interest. This was also the case this day. We had a decent start, but Noah quickly puttered out and I had to finish the dragon myself. He did play with it quite a bit once I finished it, so it wasn't a total waste.

The following Sunday was the actual Chinese New Year parade in Chinatown. We decided it might be fun to go check it out. We have been to Chinatown many times before (mainly to one particular shop where we buy inexpensive, live seafood (lobsters, crab, etc), wide rice noodles and spices, etc) but have never been to celebrate their new year.

Well, I underestimated the popularity of this event. Parking spots were not easy to come by, but we managed to find one not too far away. We found a decent spot along Wentworth Ave right where the parade would pass. It was a fairly quick, but good trip. A little cold, but fun.

Entrance to Chinatown - Wentworth and Cermak

Dragon Dance

Hiatus

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. Jon and I had a
'getaway' over a long weeekend and I plan to blog about it, but I need
to sit down and load the pictures, etc.
In the meantime, here is a quick pic of Millie watching in awe as her
big brother 'performs' for her. You can see him in the background
through the reflection in the mirror.
Hope you have a great day!

A Day in the Life

Today was a typical day of running errands with the little ones along. I thought you would like to hear how it goes. As stressful as it always seems at the time, I know there will be a time when I will wish to have these days back again!

Today's To Do's:

1. Drop off clothes at the dry cleaner

2. Get new sticker for license plate/registration

3. Go to Costco

4. Pick up a few items at Ulta (beauty supply store/salon)

So we started by getting out of the hosue about 30mins after I wanted to (typical). I managed to get both Noah and Millie and all the dry cleaning out to the car in one trip. Unfortunately, the car was across the street and down two houses. It is so much easier when it is parked right out front! Oh well, that is part of living in the city!

We got to the dry cleaner and I ran the clothes in...only later did I realize I had forgotten the one item Jon told me to be sure to take - his suit coat - even though it was hanging in the dining room right by the front door!

Next I ran into the Currency Exchange to take care of updating the car's registration. This, surprisingly was uneventful and went as planned. A nice treat!

Next stop: Costco.

On our way there I drove by the iron scrap yard. I know this seems weird, but I think it is a pretty cool thing to watch...and I KNOW Noah thinks it is great. There are always multiple cranes picking up scraps of metal, etc and ...when we are lucky...smashed cars! The picture here is actually from the middle of August, but it is pretty much the same sight everytime. I usually park off to the side of the road a little until a semi, scrap truck, or train (see I told you this place is cool) comes by and makes me move. I'm not sure they really appreciate me treating their work site as a toddler attraction, but I know Noah appreciates it and that is what is important to me!

Ok, now off to Costco.

Costco's purpose is twofold. Not only do they have bulk groceries and extra large carts (a bonus when you have two kids), but they have a little area that serves food. It is an easy, quick lunch at a great price that is usually MUCH needed for Noah and me by the time we finish shopping there. We made it through the store without much incident thanks to 20 minutes of Noah's 'knock, knock' jokes. They go like this:

Noah: "Mommy, knock knock"

Mommy: " Who's there?"

Noah: "Bapple" (apple)

Mommy: "Apple, who"

Noah: "Hahahah"

Mommy: "Knock knock"

Noah: "Who dere?"

Mommy: "Tickle"

Noah: "Gickle, who? Hahah!"

Mommy: "Tickle, you!"

To Noah, the 'Gickle, who?' part is the punchline. He gets such a kick out of it he can barely say it through his giggles!"

Just before we finished shopping he announced he had to go potty:

"Uh-oh Mommy! Cotty! Cotty!"

So I threw the last item in the cart and zipped through the checkout and straight to the bathroom (which I know is in the back corner from our previous trips). Phew! We made it in time! After the pitstop, we stopped at the food area for a quick bite to eat and then we were off to our last stop.

At this point, two hours had passed since leaving the house. Millie was now awake and we were quickly approaching Noah's naptime. It was all downhill from there.

We get in the store - which does NOT have carts. As a rule, I should never again even attempt to go in a store without carts. That means Noah is left running loose (literally) and Millie feels like she weighs two tons as I cart her around by the crook of my arm in her carseat...but I only need four items (famous last words!)!

As I looked for items 1 and 2, Noah ran up and down the aisle and his puffy coat kept knocking bottles of shampoo off the shelves. I told him the store was not a place for him to run. He did listen, but aparently I didn't mention anything about not touching anything because next I caught him building a 'tall tower' with jars of moisturizer. So then I fed him the line about keeping his hands to himself. He did a pretty good job of not touching anything but instead asked "Mommy, what dat?" to every item we passed! Ugh. I finally gave up on trying to find the first two items and began hunting for the last two. All of a sudden... "Uh-oh! Mommy! Cotty! Cotty!" Was he joking? We just went in Costco! I found the bathroom and, no, he wasn't joking. He went again and not only did he procede to count 'his work' but he decided to announce my 'work' and acted excited for me - just like I do for him. Thanks Noah. The only person excited by this info was Millie, who is always excited by anything her big brother has to say.

Once we completed Pitstop #2, I realized this was a complete waste of time as this store did not have ANY of the four items I needed! Ugh.

The trip from Ulta to home was a quiet one. I had to work to keep Noah awake at this point. If he falls asleep in the car for even two minutes any chance of a nap is out the window...but he made it home...barely.

Once inside, he found his second wind.

While I was bringing in the groceries from the car - which took me FIVE trips (not counting the trip to get the kids in the house), Noah created a lineup of the most random items.

It was actually pretty funny. Somehow, after an exhausting morning I was still able to find humor in it...until he started to build another 'tall tower' with the tub of cottage cheese, hummus, artichoke dip and sour cream. I had to draw the line somewhere...eventhough he had already created his own line right in the middle of the kitchen.

Good thing naptime was next on the To Do list!! Mommy needs a break!

By yeouch (by myself)

This is the result of Noah dressing himself this morning. I know this
is something he should be doing everyday, but it is usually faster to
dress him myself, so today I decided the time has come for him to do
it on his own. He was so proud and he didn't do too bad...except
being silly with the socks!

Millie Milestone #1

At 6months old, Millie has hit quite a few milestones already, but this is the first one I have documented in my blog, so it is Milestone #1.

I put her down for her nap this morning and usually she either goes right to sleep, or coos a little before she drifts off to dream land, but today was a little different. I could hear her grunting and moving around in her crib through the monitor. So, I checked the camera (we have security cameras aimed at both Noah and Millie's beds so we can check on them if need be). She had rolled over!! She has already been rolling when laying on her belly and she pushes up with her arms, but until this morning she has never rolled from her back to her belly. Yeah Millie!

We are now one step closer to her running around all over the place like her big brother. As excited as I am to see her develop new skills and progress, I want her to slow down at the same time. They are both growing WAY too fast!!!

Inaugural Activities

Whether your political beliefs are Republican, Democratic or somewhere in between, yesterday was a day for the history books. I know Noah probably will not remember the significance of the day, but I still thought I would do somethings to make the day fun and special anyway!

We first started the day with pancakes for breakfast...not the boring buckwheat pancakes we usually have, but instead...

Presidential Pancakes!!

Needless to say, Noah gobbled these up! His fave fruit are strawberries and blueberries and who doesn't like a little powdered sugar? I was pretty impressed with how the stars turned out...Noah couldn't have cared less.

Later in the morning we painted. I gave him red, white, and blue paint to use. After painting and it was time for his nap, I read him Duck for President a cute book about a duck who doesn't like the chores he has to do on the farm, so he decides it would be better to run for President. Cute book.

I watched a lot of the Inauguration on TV while I finished up some details for a wedding invite order. It was clear that Noah had no idea what was going on when he said "Look Mommy, hockey!" after seeing all the people waiting in Washington DC for Obama to speak! There were a lot of people there (close to 2million?) and it was cold, but sorry Buddy, it was not a hockey game. He maybe started to understand a little more after he saw Barack and Michelle walking down the street with the parade because it was then he finally asked..."Mommy, who dat?" I told him it was the new President of the United States. "Oh."

Hopefully by time the next inauguration comes around he will have a little more understanding of how important that day is to our history...and our future.

Habla Espanol

Just a funny little Noah story.
Today I took Noah to Lulu's house to play while I ran a few errands (Lulu is our babysitter who lives just a few houses down...it is so nice to have a great sitter so close!) Lulu grew up in Mexico and very often speaks spanish to the children she watches. I have heard her speak to Noah in spanish before and he always seems to know what she is saying. Well, today I brought him home just before his naptime and offered him a small graham cracker before we went to read his story. He took one and then said "Mama, I want mas" 'Mas' is the spanish word for 'more.' I'm not sure how I knew that myself, and I probably wouldn't have picked up on it if I had not watched Lulu help him put his coat on while telling him to put his arms in the sleeves, in spanish. I thought it was so funny and I told Jon about it when he got home from work. Well, he was able to witness it for himself when, again, at dinner we were eating and Noah asked for "Mas Daddy." Who knew one day Noah would be teaching US a word or two!!

Monkey Bread

Lately, Noah has expressed a strong interest in cooking...what kid wouldn't? It's just another opportunity to make a mess! Anyway, he has always liked helping me in the kitchen, but in the past few weeks you can't even make him a bowl of oatmeal without him wanting to get out is 'ladder' (the stepstool he stands on) so he can get his little fingers in there to help. He helps Jon cook too. Monday they made pancakes and last night it was hamburgers.

So this morning I thought he would enjoy making Monkey Bread...a favorite of mine that my mom made for us growing up (thanks Mom!). He loved rolling the biscuit pieces in the cinnamon sugar mixture and did a great, mess free job!!

When it came out of the oven, he was so excited and wanted me to 'tut (cut) it Mama!' I explained that the best part about Monkey Bread is you don't have to 'tut' it! You use your fingers and pull it apart! He LOVED that he could serve himself.

Needless to say, the breakfast treat was a hit and we won't even talk about his sugar intake for the morning! Whoa! Between the two of us, we did a good job of polishing off about half of it. The important thing is we both had fun and had a delicious meal. Maybe we will go out in the snow and work some of it off now!

Tree Update - Winter

I haven't posted a tree update in awhile and couldn't stop looking at
how pretty it was this morning! I love seeing the changes it makes!
The view around the tree isn't so great, so I choose to focus on the
tree itself. I wish someone would buy that place across the street and
build some new houses!