Laughing, Loving, Living.... and Dreaming Bigger

Some recent pics.

2009-09-01T20:14:00.003-05:00

These are in the opposite order than I wanted. But I don't have the patience to rearrange them. So here we go, from most recent to the beginning of summer, basically, but not totally in order.

Sun kissed kids, loving their dog.

Learning to play games on the computer.

Laying on the beach in Duluth.

Loving new Legos.

Pretty pink hair!

My handsome guys.

Fishing with Grandad at Lily Lake on a windy cold day.

Lake Superior with Grandma Nan.

It's July... Whoa.

2009-07-02T23:48:00.004-05:00

In March the kids and I made a trip to the pet store in hopes of getting some cute fishies for our fish tank. We came home with Ziggy, an adorably sweet brownish black and white rat! We didn't even call Daddy to get the ok. With all the sadness going on at the time, nearly losing my friend who had a great loss, I needed to splurge and do something a little crazy and a cute cuddly thing seemed just right. It's something we'd talked about before, since I had rats growing up and loved them. I was the one who wanted to hold out till the kids were older. I remember cleaning cages and it was NOT fun! I'm happy to say that it's much easier at 30 than it was at 10. LOL. Ziggy is a year old and was already named. Someone returned him and he had to be treated for a terrible case of mites. He had scabs all over. But, true to form, we can't resist a reject pet. All of our creatures were wonky in one way or another when we adopted them. And we love them.

In April when Gramma P was here we went to see Monsters VS Aliens in the theatre. It was our first big screen movie all together as a family. Last night we saw Ice Age 3 in 3D with Grandma Nan. It was freakin' cool! I want to see it again.

In May, I read the Twilight series and really enjoyed them. I've never read 4 books in a month before! I know other people do it all the time, but I just don't read fast enough, and don't seem to find enough books that I'm THAT interested in to read that much. But these were fantastic and fun. I'm even reading the first book again because I just wasn't ready to move on and I've never read a book twice before either!

Aubs is 3. Holy moly. She's turning into such a big - little girl. I can't explain or pinpoint it, but a lot has changed in the last few months. She's just, older. She and Ty have been playing together so nicely as she's getting older. It makes me so happy! Her imagination is great and she uses a high pitched voice to play with her princesses and kitties. She sings and hums in the car or while playing alone. I adore it. I'm definitely feeling a kindred sister spirit with her. Having a girl is very different when you're a girl. Aubree got her ears pierced about 2 weeks ago. It's so frickin' cute! She was such a trooper, she didn't shed a single tear. She has gorgeous pink jeweled flower earrings. SO much cooler than when I got it done! She lets me clean them several times a day and never complains, except when I drip the cleaning solution on her.

Ty and Aubree are taking Summer Spanish at Valley Preschool and are both super excited to do it and to get to go together. Aubree's had no issues with being at the school and I think this is a great introduction for Preschool in the fall w/out Ty. The teacher says Ty is the most wonderful helper ever. She just can't get enough of him! I'm so proud of him and the boy he is becoming. During the school year I had several of the preschool girls moms tell me that Ty is one of the, or THE nicest boy at school. Ah, my heart could just bust right open! And here I am sitting at home worried about how bossy he is. I guess as long as he's wonderful out in the world he can let all the crazies out at home and I can be happy. LOL I'm so excited for him to start Kindergarten because I know how much he's going to love it and, of course, I'm sad too. This is a huge change in our world and I don't know how it will effect the time I get to spend with him. That's a worry for another day..

Ty has lost TWO teeth! In less than 2 weeks time! Holy moly, again. I've got some big kids here. Yesterday we drove by Washington park, the park we go to most often, and I realized that someday I will not have little park aged kids. I think my heart skipped a beat. I can not imagine life past parks. Must move on now or I'll give myself an anxiety attack! ... Ty had loose teeth for a month or more and at first he was totally NOT into wiggling them. For some reason I was seriously excited about the wiggly teeth. Maybe because it's the first thing that he and I could 'share'. As in, I remember wiggling and losing teeth and so will he. Finally after much prompting, he was wiggling teeth while riding in the car and watching tv. The first one came out at the grocery store with Dad. I was so excited for him! I think Ty bonked his mouth on the shopping cart and that helped the little sucker out. Then a week and a half or so later when the other tooth was seriously loose I took a look at it and saw that there was a big gaping hole under it - it was SO ready to be out! So I told Ty if he could get it out that day I'd give him a Sunkist soda... : ) He informed me that he'd rather have a Diet Coke w/ Lime like I drink... the kind we don't let him have because of caffeine! I told him if he yanked it out before Aubree woke up from her nap (so she didn't harass me for a soda too) then he could have one. 5 to 10 minutes later that puppy was out! Again, Mom was overjoyed and overexcited, screeching and squealing they way I do. LOL And he thoroughly enjoyed gulping down that soda. Since I am 'the tooth fairy' I know exactly what 'she' gave Ty. 5 quarters for the first tooth and 4 for the second. He grabbed his goods and put them in his piggy bank with out ever mentioning it to anyone. When I asked him what he got he informed me that the tooth fairy gave him 4 silver dollars - both times! The second time I even showed him a quarter and asked if it was 'like this?' - nope, it was a silver dollar, which I'm pretty sure he's never seen. LMAO, I love it.

Spring fever.

2009-06-21T18:23:00.002-05:00

Let's just say, the lack of blogging has to do with spring fever and lots of time spent playing outside. And, sometimes blogging gets hard. Some how regurgitating a bunch of emotional things, good and bad, is hard to do at times. At other time I really like it.

In March, one of my closest girlfriends here in MN lost her baby girl. She was nearly half way through the pregnancy. There were complications during the ordeal and they ended up having to take her uterus due to the amount of blood she was losing. And that's putting it nicely. She went through 3 entire people's worth of blood. She nearly didn't make it. Needless to say, this was hard on everyone. It's 3 months later and I still get teary eyed about it. Ty and Aubree both knew our friend was supposed to have a baby and we talked about how her belly was growing. So now they know that the baby came too soon and didn't make it. It comes up a lot. Part of me likes that they know that life isn't peaches and cream all the time, even if they don't get the depth of the pain. That's life. I'm sure my little summary doesn't let on how awful this all was, but I'm really not up for writing a novel about it, which I could, it was very bad. Very sad.

I have lots to catch up on, but I just can't start writing about it after what I just wrote. So I'm going to have a moment of silence in memory and honor of the sweet baby girl who we're all sad we didn't get to know.

This morning and just now.

2009-06-04T10:16:00.001-05:00

Aubree: Where we going to?

Me: Nowhere

Aubree: Yeees-where!

----------------------------------------------------

Ty: Mom, I love you. I love you more than any other kid has ever loved their mom. I love you even more than you love me. I love you more than.....

on and on and on he went. He does this a lot. : )

Mish Mash

2009-05-02T16:17:00.006-05:00

Aubree puts her own shoes on, and she sings in the car. Ty has loose teeth! For about a month now, but he's not too into wiggling them. Ty will be starting T-ball this month. He went to baseball practice with Dad today and can't wait for his turn to play. He's been pretty emotional lately and nearly cried when he found out it wasn't time for him to play yet. Both kids have been taking gymnastics and are having a good time. This is Aubree's 2nd session and the class is much smaller - like, her and one other girl. She is way more open to trying new things in this environment. On that note, she is finally singing/doing the Hello song at ECFE!!! She's starting to come out of her shell. : ) Both of the kids will be doing summer Spanish at Valley Preschool and can not wait for it to start. Aubree's been talking about her birthday in May since Ty's bday in Jan. and that she's going to have a purple cake. I think it's about time to figure out how to make a purple cake!! While the boys were at baseball practice today Aubs and I went CRAFTSTRAVAGANZA. It was so much nicer than last year. Last year was so cold and dreary and, well, frozen! Ick.

The kids had their first 'sleep over' in Aubree's room while Gramma P was in town on her Spring Break a few weeks ago. I figured it was a good time to try it while I had back up in case the next day was miserable because of over-tired kids! It's not like they've asked a lot before, but the subject had come up of sleeping over at Leah and Owens house a while back. We said yes, someday. But it hasn't happened yet. I was really impressed, they did very well. They fell asleep much faster than I had expected. I think being tuckered out from Gramma's visit was key. Last night they gave it another shot, this time in Ty's room. They were a bit louder and took longer to go to bed, more like I expected. Still over all, they did pretty good again. But today, we have some tired kids!

Hats for Ty

2009-03-29T22:52:00.003-05:00

Ok, I admit, that's not a hat, but it's Ty's and it's cute, so there it is!

Look at him in all his Mommy-made-it goodness. I am trying to soak this up while it lasts. I'm sure before I know it he'll be telling me how lame I am and not wanting anything that his mom made.
I super love this hat. And I super love that he loves it cuz it's so stinkin' cute I would have been super sad if he didn't like it. But he requested it after I made a similar one for a friends toddler. He calls it his alien hat. Awesome

Just a pic of something I can do, that I never thought I'd be able to do. Knit! And on multiple double pointed needles no less! Yes, I will pat myself on the back, thank you.

OMG, it's Shrek! This one was super fun and super fast.

Yo

2009-03-28T22:42:00.000-05:00

Hair: still good and you can sort of see the cute bobby pins I got on Etsy (of course). I've been very artsy handmade etsy fabulous lately with my handmade bobby pins and my handmade earrings and my handmade purse and my self handmade hat and scarf. It pretty much rocks.

That there is just pure good. Joy, elation, how can that sweet girl not melt your heart?

Paartay in K-town!

One of the best little boys ever! Sailor is so much fun to have over, and he picks up knitting.... oh boy.

Hey, I actually like this picture, and I'm in it! I really like my mini-me, even if she's nothing like me.

Behind closed doors

2009-03-11T16:05:00.000-05:00

Every night from behind Aubree's closed bedroom door after all of the good night rituals have been done, we hear "Hey, hey kids, I have to go pee (or I'm hungry or whatever)......... Hey kiiiiiiiids." LOL 'Hey kids', where do they get this stuff? It makes me smile every time. She used to call for 'parents', I liked that one too.

I picked up Daddy at the airport

2009-03-02T09:55:00.000-06:00

With my fun new hair do! And he loved it. : )

Brain Fart

2009-02-23T15:21:00.003-06:00

There are so many things I want to report, and as soon as I sit down I can't think of a thing. I need a better system. I've got to get a list going or something.

Daddy's on a business trip in Denver and gets to visit with Auntie Dev. We're about half way through and things are going pretty well. We took a trip to Michael's craft store and got some coloring books and other goodies. We played Candyland. Went to an indoor playground, and ordered pizza for dinner and watched an Elmo movie - Elmo in grouchland or something. Daddy comes home Wed. night around bedtime. We all can't wait to see him.

Ty is seriously amazing. We're driving in the car the other day and he says 'Hey mom! Three, four times is twelve!' Holy crap, what? A few days later in the car he says 'Mom, 5 four times is 21.' And in shock and amazement I let him know that he was so close, it's 20. But Dang! He's only been 5 for a few weeks and already teaching himself multiplication. Whoa. He's too smart for me now, what am I going to do when he's in middle school?

Aubree's been cuter and whinier than ever. I'm trying to work on some whining boot camp with her. But I'm not sure I can outlast her. Sigh On a lighter note, we're going to gymnastics on Wed mornings after we drop Ty off at school. She has such a good time doing the obstical course and jumping on the trampoline with me and jumping in the foam pit with Owen! She's so happy to have something to do while Ty's at school.

She's Crafty

2009-02-12T13:41:00.000-06:00

"She's crafty, she's just my type" The Beastie Boys

And Daddy. I'm so happy that Daddy like my craftiness, even if it's not exactly the kind of crafty the Beasties were talking about. Although, that's got some truth to it too. I'm proud to say that I finished my 2nd knitting project! Surprisingly, it's the first thing I've made just for Daddy. And he loves it.

And, my kids rock because they love handmade toys. I'm not sure that it'll last forever, but for now, it melts my heart. They like having a crafty Mama and ask me to make them things all the time.

Ready, Set.. BLOG!

2009-01-31T11:13:00.004-06:00

I finally started knitting! Auntie Dev taught me several years ago and I got about half way through a scarf and hit a dead end. I am so much better at crocheting that it was hard to want to keep going. I still have that half knit scarf somewhere in the craft room. Krisha decided she had done all the crocheting she could stand and taught herself to knit a few months ago. I have always loved the diversity in design that's available in knitting and I could no longer resist. So I grabbed some yarn and some needles and headed over for a play date/knitting lesson. To my surprise, I picked it up pretty easily. I started again with a scarf, but this time with easier yarn and yarn that I was excited about.... I still fizzled out. I just got board going back and forth row after row. And again, I can crochet without hardly thinking about it. But training my hands and brain to knit doesn't work so well if I'm board. Anyway, I decided to do a hat, on circular needles and I loved it! It was fun. I lost count, I made mistakes, my gauge was all over the map, I nearly lost stitches, I think I added a stitch somewhere along the way and in the end I still had a slouchy swirl hat like intended. Wooooo Hoo!

The kids had a BLAST eating the ginger bread house. I'm not sure how good it was, but I guess as long as it's cram-packed with sugar they don't care! We are still loving the new van. It's a little bit weird to be so in love with something you thought you'd never want. But it feels totally natural and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Ty is getting to be such a big boy. He's kinda tall and skinny and his feet are huge! He is getting to be a really good helper. I love how much he is starting to love cleaning up at the end of the day. Not always, of course, but he like the routine and enjoys feeling useful and accomplished. I wish I facilitated more of that for him. Good thing we have Daddy! Thursday night we went to Kindergarten Sneak Peek at Lily Lake Elementary where our kids will attend. It was exciting and nerve wracking. There will be an orientation later in the spring. This was more of an introduction to the school. We got a brief peek at the Kindy teachers and then had a chance to hang out in each of the 4 Kindy rooms. We checked out the library, which was huge! And poked our heads in the music room. Several of the rooms had dinosaur figures to play with and that is mostly what Ty spent his time doing - anyone surprised? Not a chance. But one of the rooms had a whole shelf of dino books. He sat very happily reading for quite some time and was not pleased when it was time to move on. Which makes me smile. My favorite part was sending him to check out the boys bathroom all by himself! Most of his big boy toilet experience has been with mom in the women's restroom. So as we passed the bathrooms I excitedly told him that this one was for boys only and mom couldn't come and he should check it out! The door was propped open so I could peek in - with no other kids of course. It was nice and small with one stall and two urinals, and the hand washing station was out in front in a very cool set up. I circular basin with a pedal to turn on the water that spouted out of the center like a sprinkler! Anyway, I'm sure that's enough about that. Ty had a good time and was really bummed the next day when he wasn't going to Kindergarten. Poor guy has a long way to go yet.

Aubree seems to have mastered her potty training and is very proud of herself. She will easily use a big potty when we're out and about, but still like the little one at home. I think it's more comfortable and it's her very own. She and Owen are getting to be good buddies as they get older and have some time together without the older siblings. It's so much fun to watch them play. That reminds me that Ty and Aubree have been playing together really well lately too. It rocks! I love it when they enjoy each other, it's the stuff dreams are made of. Aubree and I went to Valley Preschools open house last Saturday. I wanted to take her so she could explore the rooms all on her own. I'm sure we could pop in any day Ty's at school and have a look around, but it's not the same thing. She's excited to get to start preschool this fall. She asks every day if it's her day to go to class (ECFE). I know she's dying to do more, so we're going to look into finding a dance or gymnastics class for her soon. I think most things start at 3 years like swimming and I think karate does.... Anyway, Aubree and Owen will be going to preschool together and she already knows or at least has met many of the other children that will be in her class too.

It is SUPER warm today, 39 degrees so I think after naps we are going to spend the rest of the afternoon outside. Daddy and the kids went swimming before lunch today. Have I mentioned how much our kids love to swim? They seriously love it and it makes me proud.

Holy Intense Weather Batman!

2009-01-15T08:08:00.002-06:00

8am
-23F degrees

Yikes!

I can not believe I'm actually going to leave the house. Ty has preschool, Aubree has ECFE, which she loves and will be totally upset if we miss. Then after we go home for an hour, we have to go pick up Ty. This afternoon is Tys 5 year pre-K check up and Kindergarten sneak peek tonight.......

Breaking news - the phone just rang and it's Krisha letting me know that all Stillwater schools are closed! No ECFE since that is school related. Well, we're going to bundle up and run over there for a morning of fleece clothes and coffee.

Later!

January's Off To A Good Start

2009-01-12T17:01:00.010-06:00

I mentioned before that I was starting the South Beach diet a few months back. We've done really well, Daddy and I. I am proud to be back to eating healthier and setting a better example for our kids. It's been an off year with getting settled into a new life again. But we're back! Eating well and managing money are big on my list this year. Anyway, I am so glad to have Dad's support in this, there is no way I could have done it without him. He did ALL the cooking for phase 1, and if he hadn't I would have quit. No question about it! We did 2.5 weeks on phase one and I finally didn't feel like I was going to split the seams of my pants. Phase 2 is much easier and feels like something I could do long term. I haven't eaten real ice cream in about 3 months now and I don't plan on going back - well, until Nelsons opens! I even made it through the holidays without too much back tracking. I lost 12 pounds total and maybe put one back on. I am happy with that. Now I have to get back on track now that Ty's Birthday party is over. Not sure I'm up for the whole phase one deal again though...

Daddy took a bunch of time off of work at the end of 08. It was so nice to have him home. He's been working hard to organize the unfinished side of the basement, so that someday we can build rooms and things down there. Also while Daddy was home, he decided it was time that Aubree got potty trained! I was not convinced that she would be a willing participant and had decided that it was not worth my trouble to fight with her. But, a different parent, different relationship, I figured it could work. And if he wanted to try I sure wasn't going to stop him. Much to my surprise, it took!! Even after the first week of 'training' I thought it was too stressful and she'd give up. But after a few more days she really got the hang of it. She is so very proud of herself. It's been 2.5 weeks since we first started and she's wearing undies every day and is doing GREAT! After Daddy's time off, potty training and the Gramma's visits, it's nice to get back to our normal routine. I really love our pajama Mondays.

Last week I got to have a girls night out with my 3 best friends here in MN. Melissa's birthday was on New Years Eve and we all went out to a fabulous restaurant in downtown Stillwater called Stones, I think. We all put on real people clothes, and make up and did our hair and put smell good on. The girl all wore black boots - a must have for going out in the winter in Mn, which of course I don't have. I'm sure I've had a pair in the past, but I'm not sure what became of them. Melissa's boots even had stiletto heels. We were a good lookin' bunch. We all either split dishes or got just appetizers to keep the bill down, in true Mom fashion. We had the most wonderfully yummy dessert I've had in a very long time. (I obviously didn't stick to my diet on this outing.) It was like a brownie with chocolate ganache (sp?) wrapped up like a pastry with chocolate drizzle and real vanilla ice cream on top. And whatever you're thinking, it was better.

We were done before 7pm and couldn't think of a thing to do that wouldn't cost a fortune. Movies are long and expensive and no one really drinks so a bar is out. We are so awesome, we went to Target!! Yippeeeeee. I needed a few things, and Target is a whole different experience when your kids are at home with Dad. We still had a good time even at Target. I'm so grateful for my girlfriends. It's been a long time since I've had good friends and my life is much happier with them in it.

Ty's Birthday party was yesterday. It went really well, we had Tucker, Jake and Katie, Dylan and Lauren, Leah and Owen, Sailor and Allie from Preschool. Daddy made amazing snacks for everyone. And Ty and I spent the previous night cooking up some BLUE cake that we frosted just before the party. Two years ago he really wanted a blue cake and when I asked the store if they could do it, to my surprise, they said no! I finally feel like life has calmed down enough that I was ready to try and make him a cake. I thought I would always make my kids' cake, but my first try before Ty's first birthday wasn't very impressive. I'm sure my standards have lowered since then, but I think that's a good thing. I stress too much. So, I was super excited to finally give Ty his blue cake. It was 2 layers. The bottom one was dark bright blue then a layer of white frosting and a layer of light blue cake. Then blue frosting, for water, and chocolate for land. Then we put a shark in the water with a creepy skeleton pirate dude riding him, and a treasure chest on the shore guarded by a saber tooth cat and a pirate and some other cool stuff. At the party the kids ran around and squealed batting pirate balloons around the basement. Ty raced through presents faster and more excitedly than anyone had ever seen before. He shrieked with excitement and screamed thank you at people around him. And let me tell you he got some amazing gifts. We will be practicing his writing for thank you notes to all his great friends.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T20:36:00.009-06:00

New year. Such a big topic. So many things to think about. Where to start?

I, -- Daddy and I look forward to spending another year in the same location. We are very happy to look forward to doing a bunch of the same old thing this coming year. The same, but better because we won't be new to our surroundings. I look forward to hanging out with friends doing crafty things, going to the Children's Museum, and Ikea during the rest of the winter months.

We're getting ready for Ty's birthday, his FIFTH birthday. Holy crap. I think about the fact that he'll be going to kindergarten soon, every week. I think he grew like, 20 inches last month. Now if only he'd wipe his own butt well. Ha! It feels to me like kindergarten and 5th grade may as well be the same thing. Somehow it's the undeniable signal that he's going to grow up. It feels like once I send him to school, he'll never be mine again. I'm not sure I'm ready to be a real grown up parent....

Then looking forward to spring - gorgeous green popping up everywhere, the opening of Nelson's Ice Cream, camping in the new tent Daddy got for christmas.

Aubree will be turning three. She is working pretty good on potty training right now. I don't know if it will happen just yet, but she's making really good progress in awareness. She's been walking around with a bare butt for 5 or 6 days and we've only had a few accidents. We used a timer at first, until she got used to sitting on the potty. Now that she's comfortable with it we're not doing the timer. And she sits on it herself and goes! It does seem that some days she's holding it until she gets her diaper on at nap time. And if we have to go out and we put a diaper on her then she uses it. I am very pleased with her progress. I can't believe she's growing up too. She's not really a toddler anymore, she's more of a preschooler now. We've officially moved out of the baby phase into little kid land.

This fall as Ty goes off to full day kindergarten 5 days a week, Aubree will start preschool 2 days. I can't even imagine what that'll be like. I feel like I'm getting too far ahead of myself! I'm just thrilled to do more of the same things that we did last year again this year. I hope to not make too many major changes.

My Etsy store Blue Star Butterflies has started to do well. I've made regular sales this holiday season and I'm having so much fun! I love what I'm making and I absolutely love that other people are enjoying what I'm making! I hope that this enjoyment makes me a happier person and a better mom and wife. In true mom form, my brain is getting jumbled with the large topic I'm trying to wrangle so I feel that I should call it good. I'm just doing a lot of smiling and daydreaming about our life and how it will unfold...

Fun

2008-12-13T11:09:00.002-06:00

We went to Disney on Ice last night with Grandma Nan. Oh-My-Gosh, we had fun! The kids were mesmerized. We got there early and everyone got to pick which kind of junk food they wanted for dinner. Aubree and I had pizza, Ty got a giant hot dog, Daddy got a Chicago dog and Grandma got a gyro. We waited for the show to start while we snarfed down our food. The show was magical. There was the Lion King, the Little Mermaid, Lilo and Stitch, and Peter Pan. Oh, and we had fantastic seats! 5th row. I tried my best to explain to Ty how lucky he was and what an awesome Grandma he has. Some kids never get to go see a show like this. And some of them do, but have to sit in the nose-bleed seats and they sure don't get to eat yummy crap. We had fresh donuts and a giant box of popcorn, the smell of which was so strong it made me a little queasy! ( I was pretty sick a couple nights ago - not quite ready for all this junk food.) AND Grandma bought Ty and Aubree a fun light up show souvenir. Jack Pot! These are some lucky kids. We saw Santa this week, ate caramel corn, went to the children's museum and came home with a year pass, watched fun christmas movies. It's been a blast.

Time seems to get away from me

2008-12-06T18:22:00.002-06:00

How can it have been so long since I wrote here? Let's see. For christmas this year, Justin got me a plane ticket. One of my oldest friends just had her first baby and it was killing me that I wouldn't see her get to be a new mommy or see her precious sweet boy till this March when he'd be 4.5 months old. He could be sitting up by then! She wouldn't feel like a new mom anymore, I would miss one of the most exciting moments in my friends life. And of course, the fact that I am not having any more babies has a lot to do with wanting to visit so bad. So Justin worked from home and got my girlfriends to take a few shifts with our kids so I could go see Chelsea. It was great. I got to spend 4 days holding that sweet little lump. I got to catch up with my good friend. I got to read stupid magazines and a great book. I am so grateful that she let me come so soon after Jack was born - 2 weeks! Just two weeks after he was born, she let me hang out and hold her new baby, it was great. Then of course I saw my family. Kids, I did not tell you about this because you would have been devastated that I went to visit a Gramma without you! But it was fun to hang with the Gorden family, just the 4 of us. It's been a long time since that happened. We went to see the Pee Wee's and it was really nice to visit without my sweet wonderful little maniacs running the show. : ) In the evening at PB house I got to crochet without distraction. Good stuff. As usual, as much as I loved my trip, it's good to be home. I love my peeps.

Stolen from the pages of Great Big Love

2008-11-22T09:54:00.001-06:00

The crap I’ve done is in bold and italics
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band at school (clarinet in jr high)
4. Visited Hawaii - sadly, no
5. Watched a meteor shower (with Daddy right after we met)
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world (land, many times)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis (I think, my memory fails me these days)
10. Sang a solo (at church)
11. Bungee jumped - no way dude!
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (uh, yeah)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train (although I was to young to really remember)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked (just once)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (all too often)
24. Built a snow fort - this year for sure!
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (I think)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (not with any success, LMAO)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (snorkeling)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (an extra on a tv movie)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (check it out! http://www.bluestarbutterflies.etsy.com/)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen (not quite, but I built out houses for people who lived in plywood boxes)
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma - tried, they wouldn't take it, I'm not qualified!!
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check ( I do believe)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt (um, yeah)
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (fractured a pinky and probably broke 2 toes - one for each pregnancy)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby (two of 'em)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (when I was a kid?)
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

We bought a spaceship!

2008-11-14T16:27:00.004-06:00

I realize not everyone will appreciate this, but I made Aubree a sweater! I bought the pattern on etsy.com from Anji.Beane ~ http://www.anjibeane.etsy.com. I am very proud of it. It took a long time and a lot of weaving in of yarn ends which I do not love to do. I swear this looks just like something you would buy and Gymboree. Can we just have a moment of silence to be impressed? Thanks.

And now, I introduce to you, our spaceship!! I can not believe how excited we all are to have a mini-van. I was reluctant even though I could no longer deny that it would make my life easier. And these days my goal in life is to simplify. SO. We went, we drove, we talked down the price, we bought. And I loved it from the first moment. I am surprisingly not embarrassed to drive a mini-van. Maybe it's because I'm older now, or maybe I've been a mom long enough. Or maybe it's just because it seems like everyone drives one these days. I love this car. And so do the kids! It's a 2007 Toyota Sienna 38,000 miles has an mp3 hook up and seats 8. Woo Hoooo.

Hollowweeny, pretty witches and spider men

2008-11-12T16:35:00.000-06:00

Hope

2008-11-05T20:27:00.005-06:00

Obama's acceptance speech highlights @ Yahoo! Video

I spy

2008-11-04T08:18:00.000-06:00

Here it is! Finally, the I-Spy quilt. I am proud to say, my kids adore it. My new sewing machine worked wonders for me. It's the most fun I've had making a blanket in quite a while. Yay!! Picking the fabric was an adventure, the cow border is bovine, wait, I mean divine. (LOL) Ty and Aubree have their favorite pieces and fight over who gets to sit where. We watch movies on it, have picnics on it, play games on it. I am so happy we finally have this fun toy/game/blanket I've been dreaming about for so long. In addition to the fun fabric I used every stitch I could find on my new machine. Did I say FUN???

Been a while

2008-10-30T19:41:00.001-05:00

I think of so many great things to write about while I'm laying in bed trying to fall asleep at night. And by the time I can get to a computer and stare at the blank screen I've got nuthin'. I'm happy to report that the PB's got some new kitties. These will be the kitties that my kids will know growing up. I can't wait to find out what their names will be!

Daddy got a new job. He started last week. We looked over health care options last night and were pretty disappointed by all of them. Who wouldda guessed that??? But seriously, a much too big chunk of the raise he got is going to be eaten up by health costs. Grrr. Luckily not so much that we couldn't get a new van! The tercel was on it's last leg. So after 7yrs we traded her in and got a 2007 Toyota Sienna, with 38,000 miles. We got a really good deal on it. I love it way more than I could have ever dreamed I would love a mini-van. I thought if I ever got one of those things, it would be kicking and screaming. I was a little reluctant, but it was so obvious that we needed one. And I was giddy the first day. : ) We call her the spaceship and she's light blue. I'm so happy we have her, and the kids love it too.

Ty loves school as expected and wishes he could go everyday. I am talking to them about letting him attend all 5 days. Especially since kindergarten is 5 days all day long. I think it would help him warm up for next year to get used to leaving the house everyday this year. He'd like to start now, but it might not be till January.

I am going to attempt to do the South Beach Diet. The plan is to start on Monday. I'm getting a menu and grocery list together this week. Then we'll cook as much as we can this weekend. Wish me luck. I've got a good 30 pounds to lose, and I'd like to be a healthy mom and set a good example for my kids. I suppose that means I should get off my butt from time to time as well. I have a friend who want to hit the gym with me, and as much as I don't want to do it, I swore I'd never say no (unless I'd already been 3 or 4 times, ha ha).

The biggest news in our world is that Aubree has beaten her big brother to the ER for stitches. I want to write up the whole event, but can't muster the strength. She got 3 stitches over her right eye, above the eyebrow. She had them for just a week and got them out Monday. She was a trooper both times. Getting the stitches and getting them out, she didn't even flinch.

Tonight we frosted Halloween cookies for dinner. : )

G N' R?

2008-10-12T21:15:00.003-05:00

Guns N' Roses, my favorite band in Jr High. A band I haven't listened too all that much since Jr High. A band who's songs I never could have imagined would be sung to my kids as bedtime lullabies! Yes, bedtime songs, screeching from the back of the house. In Daddy's ear piercing tone, nearly at the top of his lungs, 'Welcome to the jungle, we've got fun and games. We've got every thing you want...' and then 'jananananananana eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!' OMG. And the kids freakin' LOVE IT! LMAO.

Humpfh

2008-09-20T12:25:00.002-05:00

I'm not much for blogging lately am I? There are probably a hundred things I should record so my memory can't let them disappear in the coming years. But I'm a little outta whack. : ( The thing that I want to record is that, in my every day struggles with life, the thing that is of number one importance to me, is how my kids are doing. The point of this blog, is for them to be able to come back and walk through their childhood and learn a little more about our family and what Mom and Dad were like. Where we came from and how we tried to grow our family with love and hope. Part of this story is that I am battling anxiety and depression. It makes me not want to participate in life. The bummer is, that is exactly the opposite of what I want to show/ teach our kids. I want them to love life and embrace each day and take advantage of every opportunity to soak up more. So, I guess I just want to go on record saying, that I am trying. I am hoping that the good times will out weigh the rough times. That Ty and Aubree will know I love them so much it hurts. And hopefully growing up with a nutty mom isn't all bad.

Well, that's the gist of what I've been avoiding writing down. Let's see if I can cheer us up a bit. Ty started preschool two weeks ago. I love how much he loves to go to school, seeing him so happy puts a huge smile on my face and makes me feel all warm and wonderful inside. He's still mad about Dino's and all things gross and scary. He's boy to the max. And bossy like nobodies business! Oh, and he still hasn't decided which hand he's going to use. Every time I think I have it figured out he switches it up again.

Aubree is getting so big. She talks non-stop while Ty's at school. She's in love with kitties, mermaids (moony's) and Unicorns (lunacorn's). She likes sparkly shoes, all things she deems beautiful, and she's got gorgeous curly hair that's to die for. She's a serious whiner and still wears most meals from head to toe.

Best of all those crazy little monsters hug me and tell me they love me every day. And they truly appreciate all the crafty things I do for them. Like the giant I-Spy quilt I've not yet blogged about. And our crocheted little moosers, since we're Minnesotans now. They will seriously fight over the things that mama made them. That's a fight I can like. LOL

Computer Woes

2008-09-10T20:01:00.001-05:00

I hope to catch up soon.

Grammaaa PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!

2008-08-25T08:33:00.000-05:00

Better late than never. Gramma P came to visit for a fabulously long vacation. And once again, the timing couldn't have been better. I don't think I've mentioned much about my anxiety and depression issues and I'm not sure how to go about it. The important thing is that things were going fairly rough for me and I was able to take full advantage of having Gramma around.

The fist day she was here I was able to see my Dr to try and figure out what meds might help me. Trying to do something like that with kids in tow, is well, nearly imposable. It worked out well. The kids were over the moon, and got a good dose of Gramma that day since I was trying not too loose my mind entirely.

The first week we kept busy. We went downtown for Summer Tuesday's. Had dinner at the Freighthouse on the River. We went to the beach with all of my friends, and Gramma was able to get some good vacation novel reading in while the kids played the day away in the water. The day after that we walked down to the courthouse for the Lumberjack Days Festival kickoff. They had a little petting zoo, lots of games and prizes, $.25 Rootbeer floats and popsicles. A little later there was a talent show and the kids practiced rolling down hills. The walk home was wonderful. Then Friday we went on a paddle boat lunch cruise up and down the St. Croix river.

The rest of the trip was a little more mellow. Lots of soaking up the sun, pushing kids on swings, walking to Nelson's for ice cream, and P read two books during the trip. I am so grateful that we are able to hang out for extended periods of time. Some of my friends and one of their mom's didn't think they could do it. So, while we may not always agree, we are really lucky, especially since we live so far away that we can take advantage of the cost and hassle of a long flight to see each other and stay for a long time. I know Ty and Aubree appreciate it.

I know there's a ton more that I could say but the kids are getting restless, and I need more coffee. Ty and Aubree enjoyed every moment of their Gramma P. And daddy and I like it too.

Baby Ghosties

2008-08-11T17:22:00.000-05:00

Several weeks ago my kids besties came over to play for a short while so they're mom could go to some appt. that I can't remember. While the foursome were playing they some how ended up on a ghost hunt. I was very curious where this was going to go. And I was pleasantly surprised. Not that I should have been, I love the way Ty and Leah interact. And their little buddy Owen is really coming into his boyhood nicely. He was the main ghost getter on the adventure, and he was very good and very proud. Ty and Leah ended up finding cute baby ghosties, and then it turned out there were two of them! And they carried the ghostie babies around and took very good care of them. It was freakin' adorable.

Oops.. I did it again

2008-08-07T19:28:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday around noon. I was originally tagging along with my friend and her mom, but these things are kind of contagious. I've always wanted to be shiny and happy, so I got some more gorgeous stars to guide me in that direction. I got them on my right wrist to support and enhance my creativity. They're fantastic.

Friends

2008-07-25T17:19:00.003-05:00

I have made some excellent friends here in my new hometown. The last few months have been a fantastic journey of outings with children, runs to the craft stores and coffee/ vent sessions. I am so happy and so grateful for my little group of gals.

TV update and Handmade frustrations

2008-07-20T16:31:00.004-05:00

We're doing pretty good! I mean, it's not like we cut all TV out of our diet, just the part that was super expensive. Our friends lent us some rabbit ears for a while, but we haven't really used them. The kids still watch movies and have found a new love for Baby Einstein. I am doing a lot more sewing and reading, but still indulge in 'Charmed' via Netflix. We did up our subscription from 3 dvd's at a time to 5. So we're always sure to have one movie and one tv show in the house at all times. That helps me wind down in the evenings after the kids go to bed. So, that's that!

I am almost finished with Chelsea's baby boy blanket. It's been a bit of an ordeal. First I started cutting the fabric out wrong, luckily, I had enough fabric to continue. Then I tried some 'psychic sewing'. I was going to write a whole post just about that because I really wanted a post with that title. Anyway, I kept forgetting to take it out of reverse before I started sewing again. It didn't go forward. It was really frustrating! I guess my Singer isn't psychic after all. She and I had a number of arguments, a war even. She gave me an anxiety attack and I was ready to throw her in the trash or at someone with enough patience to make her work for them. Then I was going to melt into a little puddle on the floor and sob because these kind of cheapy machines aren't really made to sew as much as I am sewing these days. The Husky dream machine costs a pretty penny, and I don't seem to have one of those. I tried to convince my husband that I deserve one of those suckers for my 30th Birthday that's coming up in a few weeks. He didn't appreciate it. LOL He is deathly afraid of my wanting things, because I seem to have a tendency to eventually, someway or another, get what I want. So he got to have an anxiety attack of his own. Great. Anyone want to come join us? Ha!

The point of my rant was to say that the tension on my machine was whacked out and left fun little yarn 'nests' on the back of this handsome 'construction' themed blanket for one of my best friends first baby. Grrr. I tried everything I could think of, and then called in reinforcements and tried everything they could think of. Some how we got things chilled out. After that, I broke my walking foot, and two needles.

I send my prayers out the Viking gods to send a Husky Girl to save me..

Blogalog

2008-07-19T18:44:00.002-05:00

My Etsy shop, Blue Star Butterflies, has gotten a mention in a crafty blog! Take a peak.

KaedanKrafts

AUBS

2008-07-10T12:42:00.004-05:00

I know she's my kid, and that makes me biased, but isn't she the cutest thing you've ever seen?!

As always, photos were taken by Andy Cosgrove, the awsomest photo dude ever.

I'm a little scared

2008-07-09T21:08:00.002-05:00

I definitely feel unprepared, and I'm a little scared of tomorrow. Starting tonight we have no TV. Oh crap. We've talked about doing this for maybe 2 years now. But one of us always chickened out. Tonight we were having issues with the service, so we axed it. Gasp. I hate that it makes my stomach turn the way it does. But, it does. I used to pride myself on being one of those people who didn't like TV. I had never even seen Friends until half way or more through the series..... And what will my children do tomorrow when The Wonder Pets don't save the day? Yes, yes there will still be movies. Ugh. It's not the same. Anyway, I'm happy for my kids that I won't have so much TV to use as a crutch, but I hope my anxiety doesn't ruin it. Anyway, that's all for now.

If you have my number you may want to call me and see if we're all still alive. lol, sigh..

Ok peeps

2008-07-07T20:06:00.002-05:00

We've been having some technical difficulty. We're adding an external hard drive to our set up and it's taking fo-evah! I haven't been able to download pictures in about a week. I've got new stuff to list on Etsy but I can't do that until I've got some photo's to show people. I made Aubs an adorable little dress, some hot pads and dishtowel for the kitchen and a taggie for a friends baby. All things I'd like to share pictures of!

Andy took Aubree's 2 year pics yesterday. She hasn't been feeling real co-operative, this was the second try. This time he and Krisha took her out by herself so she wouldn't cry 'mamaaa' the whole time. She did better than the first time, which was shortly after a fever that mysteriously appeared and disappeared. And they actually got some really neat shots! I'm so excited.

Ty's still rocking the mohawk. I think I need to trim it because it's not standing up so good anymore. I got him a super cute punk rocker t-shirt an Etsy shop. I'll be working to get some cool shots of him in it soon!

Last weekend we got a baby sitter for the ENTIRE day! We spent that whole time organizing all the bedrooms, the bathroom and hall closet. I had hoped to do more, maybe another time. It was awesome though. They had so much fun with Kelly (Ty's preschool teacher), who they both really like. Kelly's niece was having her 1st birthday party so the kids got to go eat cake and play in the giant jumpy thingy and hang out with their buddies (Kelly's niece and nephew, who we hang out with lots). Then she stayed after the kids went to bed so we could go out! Does she rock or what? We went to a local sports bar and grill to watch a UFC fight. And it was a good one. Woo Hoo!

The 4th of July was fantastic. We hung out with friends in the evening and then all walked downtown and sat on the grass on home-made blankets chatted and waited for the fireworks to start. The kids were mesmerized. It was wonderful. They both sat in my lap and Daddy sprawled out in front of us. They would take turns being excited and cuddly, hugging me and Daddy, pointing up in the sky, yelling with excitement. It was perfection.

Cuz I'm awesome.

2008-07-05T12:35:00.001-05:00

For my pregnant hormonal friend who I love dearly - I have turned on the comment feature!
Smooches.

Look at this

2008-06-25T09:24:00.003-05:00

Ty's fun summer 'do. Uncle Kai was giving him a hair cut while he was in town and somehow we all decided to leave the 'hawk. Then Leah's been wanting to do fun hair colors ever since the last day of school when a boy came with painted hair. So we got a can of hair color spray. SUPER fun! It makes me want to get a can of Manic Panic and keep the blue true till we ditch the Mohawk. Andy Cosgrove is the one to thank for the awesome fancy pics.

And I swear this one is like having a premonition. Seriously, just stare at it. Soak it in, analyze it..... What are they! 15? The way he's got his arm around her, all protective like, and his 'look how mean I am' face. And her sweet smile, is very, 'check out my tough boyfriend!'. I truly believe this picture is worth at least 1000 words.

Aubree's new blanket!

2008-06-24T11:13:00.002-05:00

I am so excited to have finally finished Aubree's bed spread. I knew I wanted to make this for her before I was even pregnant. I got a Jo-Ann (fabric and craft store) flier in the mail, way back when we lived in Idaho and Ty was younger than Aubree is now. There was this gorgeous blanket on the cover of the flier and I absolutely fell in love with it. Eventually I went and hunted down all the fabrics I wanted for the quilt top. This labor of love has been in the works for around 3 years! I had all the strips cut out and a good portion of them sewn together by the time we got pregnant and moved to Washington. That's where all work on the blanket took a turn and stopped all together. There just wasn't time or energy to sew after a huge move, chasing a barely 2 year old Ty, and trying to hang on to that single thread of sanity that was keeping me from totally losing it during a surprisingly difficult pregnancy.

Anyway, another baby and another new state later! I finally have had the time and ability to sew again. I put all the blocks together and headed back to Jo-Ann to pick out the boarder and backing fabric for my then almost 2 year old girl who's been in a big girl bed for 6 months with no bed spread! I am so happy to have finished and even better, she really likes it. It goes perfectly with her room - that I did not design specifically with the blanket in mind.

Isn't it awesome? : )

If you're ever

2008-06-22T10:42:00.002-05:00

If you're ever looking for a way to ruin a perfectly good day, I've got a suggestion. Go stand in one of Target's wonderfully lighted dressing rooms baring all to the mirror god, and try on bathing suit after bathing suit. I guarantee it's a recipe for disaster. Humph.

Cheap, Not Easy, Awesome

2008-06-17T18:50:00.002-05:00

While the kids and I were in San Diego visiting the PB's and helping with Chelsea's Wedding, Daddy was at home working super hard on spiffying up our itty bitty kitchen. I am very pleased to say that it turned out amazing!

Here is the evolution:

When we moved in, open space to the dining room and a 'portable' dishwasher - not as cool as it sounds. ; P

Framing the wall in to create Ty's room. And a great picture of the dish washing situation.

Whala! A wall so Ty can have his own room and get some rest.

Time for paint! Although it took a loooooong time to get ready. We had to take down the boarder around the top of the kitchen and eating area. I swear some one super glued that damn thing on. Holy crap, my arms got a work out! We're lucky we all survived that ordeal, whew.

Ahhh, so pretty! (See the boarder on the floor??? GRRRR)

Check out the new INSTALLED dishwasher!! No more wheeling that huge thing through the kitchen to hook it up to the sink, and unhook the microwave, and make sure nobody needs to get anything in there while you do it. I love craigslist.

AND, a new flat top stove (so that I will actually clean it!). Again, craigslist, I love you. And Gramma Nan gave us these awesome finds for Christmas. We are so lucky!

And now, for the pics you've all been waiting for...... I know how hard it's been for you to sleep and I'm sorry I've kept you awake for so long. So, here you go!

Isn't it gorgeous? Now it's a cute little kitchen instead of a crappy little kitchen. Gramma P got us the cute cafe' curtains for Christmas. They go perfectly!

Justin painted the cupboards white, replaced all the hinges and knobs. We got a prefab counter top for about $60 bucks or something awesome like that. The granite sink was on sale for around 50% off, and we got the cheapest faucet that matched the new knobs, I think it was about $45! How crazy is that? Then we splurged $20 on the tumbled marble back splash. LOL

Aren't you glad I didn't empty the sink before snapping the shot??

Close up of the counter and back splash.

Another great change was moving the microwave up over the stove. No we didn't go get a fancy new one that belongs over the stove. We kept with the penny pinching theme and just stuck the one we had up there. It's too high and it sticks out! But it works and I can just reach it, and now we actually have some counter space.

Thanks for touring our kitchen. Bye!

<3

2008-06-13T12:12:00.000-05:00

** This was supposed to be posted on 4/27 but I clicked save instead of publish!**

I *heart* my family. Daddy and the kids are upstairs, making books together. Writing and illustrating their own books. Wow. I love it, and at the same time, kinda get sad that he's better at doing those kind of activities with them than I am. Isn't that my job? Oh well, it's getting done. And that makes me happy!

Bliss

2008-06-11T16:51:00.004-05:00

I wish blogger came with a scratch and sniff feature. I want to share the sweet smell of the air out side my house with everyone in the world. The way the flowers all blend in the humid air, is blissful. It's a thick rich sweet smell. It's like candy for your smeller.

Aubree said kitty cat! Just like that. Outta no-where. She's said tiddelee for so long, I may have heard a kittelee in there a few times. But now she can say kitty! Her speech has grown by leaps and bounds in the last month or so. It's amazing to witness. A recent favorite of mine has been her new awareness of flip flops, and the way she struggles a bit to slowly get out 'shloop shlop'.

Our Stillwater native neighbors took us on a sweet turtle hunt last week. We went to Lake McKusik with all the kids. It's only about a 5 min drive from our house. It's gorgeous and green with trees and misc. growth. There are tall long legged birds wading through the shallow shores. And bright colored birds chasing little birds catching bugs. And turtles! Big ones and little ones, fast ones and slow ones, slimy ones and snapping ones. We had so much fun. Leah and Owens Dad brought a butterfly net attached to a broom handle and caught us 6 of the suckers! The kids were in heaven. We brought them all home and borrowed a little plastic pool, dumped in the pond scum, some rocks for sunning, twigs and reeds for shelter and wha-lah! Turtle sanctuary. When Auntie Dev and Uncle Kai got in town, we took them to release the turtles back in the lake. What an awesome adventure.

Some Pics

2008-06-06T21:37:00.003-05:00

Here is Aubree in her Great Gramma's Great Grandma's rocking chair!

Aubree with her fav Birthday Gifts from the PB's.

Grandad and Ty havin' some guy time.

I was so busy this trip with Chelsea's wedding (which was great if I haven't mentioned) that I didn't have the energy to take the kids to the beach. It's just wrong to visit San Diego and not hit the beach. I was feeling pretty lousy about it. Uncle Jon came to the rescue and took them to the beach! Ty was going to fall apart if that hadn't happened. They had such a good time. What lucky kids these are to have such a great family!

Hello out there.

2008-06-03T17:12:00.002-05:00

In case you were wondering, we didn't fall off the face of the planet - just the Internet. The kids and I left for San Diego on the 17th. We flew out of the little terminal and it was awesome. I don't ever want to fly a major airline again! Justin got a pass to walk us to the plane, and everyone was helpful through security. It makes me think I might be willing to fly with the kids by myself again someday. We are heading home today. The 10 day trip has been fun, but proven to be a bit too long for the kids. That's not really a surprise. Ty has been ready to go home and play with Daddy for a few days now. Aubree misses her pets a lot. I miss Daddy too. We've been here so long I'm starting to forget him!

We finally got to see my Gramma and Grampa on Sunday. The kids were fighting to sit in their Great Gramma's Great Granny's rocking chair. It was great! There have been times in the past when they would not sit in the chair for anything. So we all ran to get the camera's. I'll post pics after we get home and settled. So, in about 3 weeks.

Daddy's been remodeling the kitchen while we're away. I'm excited and nervous to see it. We're doing the cheapest remodel we could manage. Just a little something to spruce it up so it's more fun to be in. It's so small, I think it will be much more enjoyable to cram yourself in there if it at least looks good.

I hope I have the energy to write about Chelsea and Jason's Wedding sometime this week. I cried so much! I'm such a crier. I was so happy for them and so honored to be included. It rocked.

Alright, Ta Ta For Now.

I hate TV

2008-05-12T18:16:00.002-05:00

It's so addicting, and usually worthless. Not always, but lately, I don't watch anything of any value. Weaning the kids off of the winter show watching schedule is proving to be difficult. Especially when I'm having a rough day and can't figure out what to do. Blech. Hate it. But don't take it away from me..

more randomness

2008-05-08T20:36:00.002-05:00

Aubree has no voice today. She is adorably screechy and gruff when she talks. Why? She was that whiny yesterday!

Ty can count by 10's to 100, with a cute rhyme/song he learned at school.

Ty loves to throw in Spanish words whenever he remembers and then makes up his own Spanish at other times. It's so cute.

Meikee (Blankie) has morphed into mlenkelet, yeah, try and say it, I dare ya!

Spring is in full effect, the bunnies and squirrels are out, the birds chirp and the geese honk. Flowers are popping up and when I look out the window I see the most wonderful spring green. A color I never quite understood before. New growth. It's good lookin' I tell ya.

Have you ever

2008-05-06T08:29:00.002-05:00

heard a not quite 2 year old girl say 'wicked awesome'? I have! And it's damn cute. That is Ty and Aubree's favorite thing to say right now. They LOVE it.

Good

2008-04-25T19:40:00.003-05:00

Justin took the kids to the local little ice cream shop the day it opened for the season. April 11th, while I was crashed out at home after surgery they all went in a rainstorm and stood in a half hour long line with the rest of Stillwater to celebrate the coming of Spring. LOL

I took them after walking to pick Ty up from Preschool the other day. It was wonderful. This is one of the many reason why I love this town.

So Many Things, So Little Brain

2008-04-24T15:45:00.002-05:00

One thing - Wed. on our way to Aubree's class, somehow it came up, and I mentioned that we, our family, are done having babies. No more babies are coming to be with our family. No biggie, that's not news to Ty, it's been mentioned before. That night, he asked for a baby brother! This is a first. He wanted a baby brother like his bestest friend Leah has a little brother and Ty has a little sister. I told him how lucky he was to have a friend who had a 'baby' brother so he could 'borrow' him! LOL

I think there's a hundred more things I want to say, maybe it'll come to me later.

Tagged

2008-04-10T19:37:00.002-05:00

Four jobs I've held:
Sandwich Artist
Cashier
Data Entry
Insurance Agent

Four movies I could watch over and over:
Madagascar
Monsters Inc
Finding Nemo
The Incredibles

Four places I've lived:
San Diego, CA
Idaho Falls, ID
Greater Seattle area, WA
Stillwater, MN (Greater Twin Cities)

Four TV shows I like:
CSI: all of them
House
Ghost Whisperer (shhhh don't tell)
So You Think You Can Dance

Four people who email me regularly:
Justin
Gramma
Lion Brand Yarn
Gymboree

Four favorite foods:
Ice Cream
Pizza
Coffee Drinks
Fabulous Salads

Four places I'd rather be:
In bed
Getting a massage
Anywhere warm and tropical, Bali was amazing
Traveling Europe seeing the culture and the history

Four people I'm tagging:
The only other people I know with blogs are
Summer
&
Chelsea
But my fabulous Gramma does lifestory writing, so maybe she can be inspired by this somehow.
And... Anyone else who reads this should take this opportunity to start a blog and share it with us!

M.I.A.

2008-04-09T20:39:00.002-05:00

Hey there folks. I may be MIA for a bit, not sure. I haven't mentioned it yet, but, I'm having surgery on Friday morning. Yes, I'm having the 'girls' made over. I figure I'll be a total stress case tomorrow, and then it's up to the powers that be how my recovery goes. I may be sleeping through the weekend till I can wean off the pain meds. I may not want to post for a week. But I may feel fine! I've got some anti-nausea meds, that should help one aspect. Anyway, I'm preparing for a long recovery - and hoping for an easy one. I've heard horrible stories and piece of cake stories, let's all pray for the latter. Thanks!

Ty

2008-04-07T09:40:00.004-05:00

Likes to tell stories.
Is Robin Hood and Spiderman and a T-rex and a Knight.
Loves me. Kisses me all the time and snuggles my arm while we sit together.
Has a special place in his heart for girls and kitties.
Knows how to tell you when he's angry and has the look and body language to boot.
Never met a bug or creepy crawler he didn't like.
Gets his sister her blankie when she needs it.
Eats all his vegetables.
Loves to help Daddy cook and clean and work outside and build things.
Scares me with how smart he is.
Wore full pirate gear to the store yesterday with a drawn on beard and bushy eyebrows. (As did Aubree.)
Has a smile and twinkle in his eye that can make your whole day.
Loves to swim and jump in puddles and play in dirt, he could do it all day.
Is freakin' adorable!

I was just going to do Ty in pics and not write anything, I felt like the pictures said it all. But then I couldn't resist writing something.

Here is Ty in pics.

Check Me Out!

2008-04-01T20:19:00.006-05:00

Blue Star Butterflies

www.bluestarbutterflies.etsy.com

Now I've gotta get my bootie in gear and make some more stuff! The scarf that's listed is one that I just made over the weekend with the most fabulous yarn from the fancy yarn store! I've never spent that much on one ball of yarn EVAH! It was fun, and it turned out beautifully. And if someone buys it, I can go buy more fancy yarn and make more fun stuff! After I have a few more things to list, then I have to figure out how to get my little shop noticed and get some traffic going through it.... One thing at a time I guess. This all makes me super happy. !!

Weather-Tootie Toot

2008-03-31T12:45:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was 55 degrees and mostly sunny. We spent a ton of time outside and Justin wore flip flops. We marveled at how warm (not cold) it was and related it to many mornings at the beach on our CA visit. We didn't wear coats or mittens, we rode trikes and raked leaves and talked about all the things we want to do with our yard this year.

Today is 35 and it's been snowing like crazy all day. We spent all morning on the couch watching a movie and I finished crocheting a scarf from the new fancy yarn I got at the fancy yarn store this weekend. And I stopped and stared out the window at the snowfall too many times to count. Yesterday and today have been equally exciting weather wise. As I drove home from dropping Ty off at preschool I wondered if there is anything more beautiful than a couple of inches of snow stacked on the tree branches and bushes and frosting the street.

I love the whacked out weather. Both days were awesome.
---------
Ty asked me this morning if I toot. Well, yes son, I do. He then let me know that it is ok if I toot on my blanket, but I am not aloud to toot on his kitty. Alrighty then. Hysterical I tell ya!

~

2008-03-27T20:10:00.002-05:00

I'd like to have a moment of silence for my childhood pet, friend, and love. Bluebell passed away, less than peacefully on Tuesday night. Justin, the kids and I left San Diego earlier that afternoon. It's been hard on my family, after all, she's been with us for 17 years. I like to think that after a week of a full house (which surely stressed her out) and some extra loving she was just ready, ready to let go of the body that wasn't serving her so well anymore. Maybe after being a caretaker for my family for all this time, she saw that we all grew up and life is good we're all going to be ok. We may have bumps and bruises, literally as far as my kids are concerned and less visibly for some of the older and wiser types. But hopefully we've learned that life is a journey and there's no one way to live it. And we can make mistakes and disagree and still live in harmony.

The last thing I'd like to ask of our little kitty's spirit is to send a new love into my parents life. I fear my Mothers bruise from this particular fall will not heal without help. Let her know that it's ok and good, to love again. Let a new kitty fill her with joy so she doesn't linger in the sadness of this loss, so we can all bond again and get to know a new somebody special, and let them be fuzzy and wonderful. Thank you for all the years a memories, thank you for being our friend; our family.

Just Kidding

2008-03-25T13:59:00.002-05:00

We're not quitting cable yet. There's a hefty fee for quitting the satellite contract. So for now, the cable stays. We'll look at it again in a few months (maybe by then we can afford to keep it!lol).

We're leaving San Diego today, we got here last Tues. I have tons to write about and don't know if it will ever all make it into the blog. But the sun has been amazing. The friends are better than ever, and the family is everything we could ever ask for. So, yeah. It's been a great trip.

La tee da

2008-03-15T10:20:00.002-05:00

The weather is 'warm', we've been going for walks, stomping in puddles, listening to the beautiful chirping birdies, watching the snow man (snow woman if you ask Ty) melt along with the rest of the snow in the yard. It's the first time since Thanksgiving that we haven't had snow covering most of the yard. Now the yard is soggy, very soggy, kinda gross. But I've got spring fever! My mind is racing thinking of all the fun to be had and hard work to be done on the outside of the house.

That reminds me, my camera jumped outta my pocket again. This time we had to take it in for repairs. 2 weeks! Is how long the want to keep it. That means no pics of the kids stomping in puddles, or Aubree in some cute spring outfits. No pics of our trip to San Diego this week. Ugh! And even though it hasn't happened yet, I swear I am going to post pics of all the painted rooms in our house, when I can take a picture of them while they're cleaned up! Which I was going to do before we leave on Tues. I don't want to come home to a messy house, so it would have been perfect.

Anyway, the sun is out, it's above 30 degrees, around 50 twice! We're going to visit the PB's, my friend in San Diego is getting married and having a baby, I'll be having tons of fun sorting baby things and going to her bridal shower. Life is good.

Aubree is finally getting her eye teeth, the top two popped through a week or two ago. And now the bottom ones are coming through. Her ear infection seems to be gone, and mostly she's back to her old self. Hugs and 'I luh loo's' abound. Ty is a happy guy getting to go to school so much and hang out with his bestie Leah. He's at such an interesting place, he seems so grown up most of the time. But I think it'll always seem that way since he's the big brother, he's the oldest. It's hard to remember that he's still a little guy. He's learning to work out his tension and anger. And when he's not trying to stare me down, he has never ending kisses and words of love for me. I think I'm a pretty lucky mom.

Now if only I could find that money tree seed, I'd be set!

Budget - Dah, dah, daaaaaaa

2008-03-08T20:28:00.002-06:00

We're trading digital recordable cable (satellite) service for a gym membership. Yep, for real.

We've talked about ditching the cable several times over the last few years, but each time one of us wasn't ready or able. We both want a gym membership so badly that we finally agree. It's kinda crazy, but with Netflix available to rent dvd's of almost any show, it's kind of a no-brainer. And this gym, The River Valley Athletic Club, is awesome. Let me count the ways, they offer childcare - at NO additional charge. The have a couple classes a week that are just for kids! Let me add here that we just quit soccer for Ty and I was devastated. So I'm all good there. The kids can come in the pool with us at any open swim time. They do swim lessons which we signed Ty up for immediately, courtesy of the lovely Grandma Nan. When you come in, each time, they give you a shower towel, sweat towel and a locker w/key! Most gyms seem to charge extra for any Pilate's type classes, they offer several along with all kinds of other interesting classes I want to try. And they have a family yoga class. Do I sound giddy? Can you feel it? I'm going to have so much fun at the gym I may not miss the tv at all! We've got enough kids movies that if I need to use the electronic babysitter I can. I may try and get a few more shows on dvd so we have options shorter than movies. But anyway, you get my point. This is a huge deal, but I feel like we're prepared and it's a good trade. A much healthier life will be had by all in my family. And that, makes me smile.

Check back with me in a while and we'll see if I'm going crazy yet, or if it works!

My girl

2008-03-08T13:04:00.004-06:00

It has been so much fun seeing how much different girls and boys are right from the beginning. Here are some of the things I love about my little girl - mine. : )

1 - She is not mine. Nor will she ever be any one's. She is so, well, hers. Sometimes it's hard because I feel less connected to her than I think I should be. I will learn how we gel together, think outside the box and be open to hearing what she needs from me. Most importantly, remembering that she is not me, nor is she mine. She is her own bright shining star, and all stars have a few poky edges. I love stars.

2 - The way she uses her little hands and fingers so delicately. And points at you with her hand crunched up next to her face as she points at you with her tiny little fingers and tells you something she things is of utmost importance.

3 - Her gorgeous curly hair, the way she smooths the hair out of her eyes across her forehead and pushes it out of the way. And the fact that not only will she wear a bow to keep her hair out of her eyes, she likes them.

4 - How she loves to say coffee and uses the ice cream cone from her kitchen set as her coffee cup. Because her Mommy likes coffee.

5 - She is the messiest eater I have ever encountered. And has no issue with being dirty. And the way she says 'poot' when she has a stinky surprise for us in her diaper. I can almost smell it now.

6 - Her need and love for her blankie that *I* made her. "Miekee" which is starting to evolve into more of a 'mankie'. Also "Tideledelee" now occasionally comes out as 'kitdelee'.

7 - Her love of shoes, and her dislike of lip gloss.

8 - The way she stands sometimes with one chubby little baby foot on top of the other.

9 - How much she likes to hug her people. And says sorry if she thinks she did something wrong. And the way she says 'keymew' for thank you.

10 - Her spitfire attitude that makes me want to plan my escape for the teen years.

Birdies!

2008-03-03T09:57:00.002-06:00

The birds are back in town! It is so wonderful to hear their chirpy little voices again. It's a great welcome to the coming springtime. Ahhhh. Not that it was any warmer today, I think it was about 16 degrees when I took Ty to school. But the sun was out and the birds were chirping, and the snow was melting all weekend and it felt like spring. Makes me feel smiley.

Ty is going through an angry phase. It rough on all of us. I think it's a backlash from Aubree being sick/ear infection/ teething. He had to deal with a lot of frustration from her and me and I think it's coming out now. And I blame myself, because, how can I expect him to handle his anger when Daddy and I have a hard time doing it. These kids are like little mirrors I tell ya. You want to know your defects? Check in with your kids, they'll tell you.

Aubree has found that her nose is a nice cozy place to rest her finger. Are you on the floor laughing? You should be. The other day we were in the car and I peeked back at her and she had one single strand of blankie tassel yarn placed up her nose along with her finger. Just sitting there so calm, gazing out the window in complete contentment. It was freakin' hilarious. Man I wish I had a picture of it!

Home at Last by Cathy Nichols

2008-03-01T18:04:00.003-06:00

A friend of my turned me on to this artist, lets see, last week? I immediately became obsessed as I tend to do. I checked her website (cathynichols.com) and her Etsy store (cathynichols.etsy.com) daily to see what was new, what had I not noticed the day before, what originals were being bought, wondering what an original painting would look like... you know, your basic obsession. I had several favorites right away and was hoping to purchase one if I could save up the $30 for a printed copy. Well, on Monday she decided to have a sale on this print, one of my favorites! So for $15 it was mine. That is art I can afford. It may not be as big and stunning, nor will it be as nicely framed as our batiks from Bali, but it's nice and it's perfect. I love the warm colors and the funky tree. The little owl who is so clearly 'home'. As are we, 'home at last'. It's kind of funny because if this little piece of art had been named anything different, I may not have fallen in love with it. And it may have never found a place in our home, at last.

In case you were wondering

2008-02-28T16:29:00.000-06:00

I still love snow! Good thing, huh?

Daddy said to me last night,

2008-02-27T18:33:00.003-06:00

"I was listening to the Feist album today (called the reminder) and I thought, if my wife's heart could sing, it would sound like this."

I don't think I need to say anything else. I love Daddy.

So disappointed - and then not!

2008-02-24T19:32:00.005-06:00

I have been meaning to complain, for some time now, about the fact that we have not built even one snowman. Not one! We built one the first time it snowed in Seattle. How is it that we moved to MINNESOTA and have had snow on the ground since Thanksgiving, but not one freakin' snowman?? I was feeling very ashamed about it. Like we haven't truly embraced our new home. And that's just not true! I've been telling Justin for a while now about how let down I've been that there are no men made of snow standing in our yard waving to folks as they go by.

We've had a few winter adventures while we waited for snowman weather. Tv, popcorn, and movies galore. Who'd have ever guessed that? But also some fun suggested by others and some we came up with on our own. Like, we brought our little plastic slide inside for the winter. That was a suggestion from heaven. It's in the basement, and since it's so cold down there we don't hang out there a lot. But when we do, it's super fun because there's a slide inside the house! And the train table Ty got for his Birthday is down there too. We blew bubbles in the sun filled living room. I really wish I had the video camera ready, but I couldn't find a new tape. Ugh! Seibu was running around in hysterics, jumping and chomping the bubbles. The kids were equally ecstatic. It was so much fun. We've had forts, and Aubree has dressed up with the 3 pairs of underware she got for Christmas, all on the outside of her clothes as a hat, a bag and such. So cute I tell you!

We also dug out of the closet all the scarfs and hats we have. And between me and my Gramma crocheting things, there is a lot. We all dressed up in those.

And Ty sleeps with all his new found hats and scarves and the blankies my Gramma made that he'd forgotten about. My Gramma. : )

Last but not least, yesterday Aubree was checking out one of Ty's favorite past-times, having Seibu lick his feet. Yep, you heard me. He's done it since he was about two, and he really does think it's the greatest thing. He snuggles up cozy with the dog and pulls his socks off and the two of them are in heaven. It's like they've gone to another place, they zone out. Aubree was trying it out, not quite getting the hang of it, so Ty came over to help her out. Of course he stole the show and she was feeling left out. So I kid you not, my husband walks out of the kitchen with a big gob of peanut butter on his finger... and wipes it on her feet. I guess that's one way to get the dog to lick your feet! I'm guessing her cute little piggies weren't as deliciously sweaty as Ty's usually are, and that's why she was having trouble getting him to give her a good cleaning. Anyway, Ty had to have some peanut butter on his feet too. Seibu was in heaven and we were laughing our brains out. I think it was a great reward for the amazing job he did watching out for the kids during the bubble fiasco. He'd want to get some of them so badly, and stop himself so he wouldn't land on them etc. I sense a framed portrait of him in our future.

Well! Today is a new day. It was a day of amazingly warm temperatures. 36 degrees! I guess not so much warm as cool, instead of freezing or subzero. It's the perfect weather for making snowmen. The snow had just enough slush to it, for it to stick together. Wooooo Hoo! I am so proud as I look out my window and see the back of my very own snowman in my front yard. It's very fulfilling. : )

Happy Winter!

Super Fabo Pics

2008-02-23T17:13:00.000-06:00

Have I ever told how cute my kids are? Or about my obsession with pictures of them? Well, my kids are cute. So there ya go. And I am obsessed with taking/ having their pictures taken. I probably snap about 50 a month that turn out to be the 'good ones'. Oh man, if we go on vacation, it could be several hundred! And I've had their pics taken too many times to count. We started monthly from birth to One year. Then 18 months, Two years, yearly after that. I wanted to do a 15 month pic, but let that one go, so we didn't totally break the bank (like that hadn't already happened!). Anyway, these are some of the latest. By Andy Cosgrove, friend, neighbor, fabo photographer! (I'll post more on Flickr.)

Joy

2008-02-20T19:47:00.004-06:00

I/Justin and I just had the best conversation with Ty about God. It was fun and fulfilling. It made me appreciate the little soul inside him more than just before that very moment. It was very bonding. And couldn't have come at a better time. He had to be a super good big boy today because his little sister was all sick and clingy and whiney. He was a trooper. I had my wonderful women's meeting tonight and got back just in time to help everyone get ready for bed. I read Ty a story and we snuggled on the couch while we waited for Daddy to come and read a story and tuck him in. We had great conversation, which is not surprising, but not common either. We are usually too distracted or are arguing over how much tv can be watched that day. But, since it was so cold today and Aubree was sick we stayed at home in our pj's all day and watched movies. I think since he got his fill of tv he was able to just hang out with me and chat. It was heaven.

A less meaningful but equally joyful story - Several times on the days that Ty takes a nap (Wed, no school, and sometimes weekends) I end up 'waking' him up so he won't stay awake till 10 o'clock at night. Anyway, I walk in and eventually he stirs and I say hi and ask him if he had a good nap/rest. He sits right up and starts talking faster than I can understand 'Whoa I didn't even know you were in here, I was just sleeping and my body was like, what the heck is going on here!' with exagerated facial expressions to match. I love that boy.

Fun Things

2008-02-08T17:29:00.000-06:00

Well, I didn't write during naptime yesterday did I? I knew I wouldn't. Silly.

Aubree can say just about anything these days. You may not understand her, but she can say it! I'm trying to soak in every moment, like I did with Ty. That was the first time, this is the last time I will experience this awesome process with my own child. Sigh.

A couple of days ago Ty was watching TV standing on his head on the couch with his feet up in the air.... sounds like someone I know, or at least someone I used to know. I don't enjoy being upside down so much anymore.

I put Aubree's hair in real pigtails for the first time a week or so ago. Not just the little hair sprouts on top. All of her hair! I don't think a cuter thing ever existed. And that's crazy because Ty was the cutest thing I'd ever seen. I guess they can share the title.

Ty is "playing" soccer once a week. He took his first class on his birthday, and he was ok with it for the first 15 min. I think he asked to be done about 3 times during that first class. The last time I told him he didn't have to "play", but he had to stay in the class and that he could go sit down somewhere if he wanted. And he did. He sat in the corner cross legged with his elbows on his knees and his head resting in his hands. It made me giggle and cry all at the same time, which is very confusing. After class I praised him for doing an awesome job and we had a treat. The next week he only asked to be done once, I think. By the 3rd class, he was excited to go. Yay! I knew that I knew he'd like it. I'm glad I was right. He's a little boy and true to the definition. So, more school and playing soccer and letting go of naps on school days is working out well for him. The whole, cooped up in the house, getting no exercise, and not enough attention, did not work for him - or me. I can only be a jungle gym to so many people for so many hours for so many days before I start to fall apart.

The spell check is not working lately, I hope my spelling won't run you off. : )

Also, don't forget to click on the pictures link on the side of the page to check for new pics!

Random Chatter

2008-02-07T23:34:00.000-06:00

I went to my fabulous women's meeting again last night. It's good stuff I tell ya. I am *SO* glad I found it!

I have not worked out since my post about working out. Ugh. BUT. I have walked Ty to school twice since then, so that counts for something! Monday we walked in the most beautiful chunky soft falling snow. We stuck out our tongues and caught snowflakes. Ty caught one in his eye, and I caught one on a tooth, neither of enjoyed those much. LOL Aubree giggled every time a snowflake landed on her face. That walk made my whole day. Maybe my whole week!

Gramma P got the kids a plethera of footwear for Christmas. I had intended to write a seperate post about it and title it 'Rainboots, Slippers and Crocs, OH MY! Each item is being put to good use and lots of fun. Especially since Aubree, like most little girls, loves to bring me shoes and make me put them on her, just to go get a different pair and put those ont etc, etc. And Ty's slippers have been very handy since he loves to rip his socks off right after his shoes and his feet are soooooo cold. Spiderman slippers though, those he'll wear!

Ty changed preschools about a week ago. Friday was his first day. He's now going to school with Leah, which so far they both like. Whew! We weren't sure if they'd get sick of each other. Anyway, we switched schools because Ty loves school. Everyday he would ask if he could go to school, so we started looking into it. The school he was going to didn't have an opening that would work out well. Valley Preschool had an opening in their 4 day afternoon program - exactly what we were looking for! Even better is that the kids play outside nearly everyday. If it's nearing 0 degrees, then they stay in. This is so great. Ty is going to be so much happier getting to go to school so often and play outside 4 days a week. It's not a lot of fun for him to play outside when his little sister is crying and hogging all the attention the whole time. So I don't take them out by myself real often. And lastly, the thing that I love about the new school is that you drive up, the co-teacher comes out to your car, and takes your child inside. Ha! I do not have to drag Aubree in and out of her carseat 4 times to drop him off! After school, when you get there, they bring you child to you. I couldn't be happier!

I have a few other things I need to catch up on later. I'm hoping I'll have the energy to write more during naptime.

LIKE vs LICK

2008-02-01T19:49:00.002-06:00

I'm crocheting a 'granny square' blanket, one of many recent projects. The kids have been infatuated with the squares. So much so that I made them their own squares. Ty loves his, Aubree doesn't seem to be too interested in hers. But she likes to pretend to crochet when she's able to get a hold of my stuff. It really is freaking adorable!

Ty sleeps with his square every night, along with his new camoflauge scarf. Is that cute or what? Here's a fun picture of Daddy in Ty's new awesome scarf. Daddy is gonna love me for this one.

Let me get back to the intended point of this post. The other day I was crocheting a square and Aubree was hanging out next to me on the couch. Kinda cuddling. I asked her if she liked the square and she leaned over and gave it a little lick. It was hysterical! I guess she liked it. And she bopped her shoulders up and down and giggled and scrinched up her face. Seriously, kids rock! Moments like this are why I started blogging. I need to get better at writing them down because there are tons more that I've already forgotten. Baby bloopers are the best! I can see how easy it could be for a 1 - 1/2 year old to mix up the two words. LOL

In all the recent crochet madness, Ty told us he would be stealing the new stripy living room blankie. He wanted to sleep with it in his room. Dad put his dukes up and was ready to battle for it. So I offered to make Ty his very own stripy blankie, and let him pick out the yarn. He was very happy with that offer! So much that he let me know that I had to make one for Aubree too. I love it when he includes her in stuff, and it happens more and more - SO much fun. Anyway. Here they are with their new blankies!

Aubree has even semi-accepted this new blankie, obviously it will never replace THE MEIKEE, but she does like it. I think both of the new blankets are awesome!

This is the kind of crap that made me look forward to having kids. Fun, creative, funky, fun. That's how you spell love.

I worked out today!

2008-01-27T14:39:00.001-06:00

Did you?

Gratitude

2008-01-23T19:10:00.000-06:00

I just got home from a fantastic AA meeting. A women's Big Book study. Small and cozy, no none sense, and I was meant to be there for the first time on this night. Tonight, they started over. Right at the beginning. And tonight was the first time I came, I have tried for two or three weeks now. I love how things come together sometimes to let you know that your in the right place. I'm not scared to go back. This is good. For so many reasons.

Please?

2008-01-21T10:16:00.000-06:00

My dear sweet wonderful children, can you please stop whining? I'm not sure what to do for you, and I know we all hate it when I yell. So please, please, could'ya just stop?

May I also mention,

2008-01-19T12:57:00.001-06:00

On the day we brought Ty home from the hospital in Jan. 4 years ago, it was 60 degrees and sunny in San Diego. Today, at 1pm it is -3, but just as sunny! I'm not sure how, but I love both places. It must be the sun, I am a sun-worshiper. It may be cold outside, but you would never know it sitting in my living room in front of the bay window with the bright warm sun shining in. It's my own little heaven. Ahhhhhh.

Happy Birthday Ty!!!

2008-01-15T16:31:00.000-06:00

It's late, I know, but it doesn't change how much I love you. It means I've been hanging out with you instead of sitting in the basement trying to write!

I can not believe you are FOUR years old. You are such a big kid! It's hard to believe the complex person you are now is an evolution of the chunky monkey you were 3 and a half years ago. In many ways you are so different. And I see some of the same things in you now that I did them. It is such a privilege to watch you grow up. It's hard to believe your only 4 too! I swear, I can not remember life before you. And you're so smart (with the attitude to match) I think you're really 14 not 4. I fear you are much smarter than I, already. I only hope I continue to learn from you and that I have something to pass on to you as well. You are a very fun little boy. I love watching you grow and learn. I think, not until you have your own children, will you know how much I love you. I hope you know how awesome you are much sooner!

...................................

We celebrated your Birthday on the 5th while Gramma P was still in town. We headed out to the Mall of America with your best buddies Leah and Owen. We checked out all the cool crap at the Legoland. While anything dinosaur related is usually your favorite, you couldn't be torn a way from the Lego shop and all the coolness inside. Gramma P followed you around endlessly! When us adults were too hungry to continue, we headed over the Rainforest Cafe for lunch. I don't think there's a more fun place to eat lunch! We sat by a giant fish tank and listened to the thunderstorms of the rainforest. You scarfed your lava mud w/ gummie worms dessert faster than anyone else at the table. That's my boy!

Knowing how much you LOVED the log ride when you went with Daddy last summer, I decided to be Super-Mom and take you on the ride for you Birthday. Let me mention here, that I do not *DO* rides! And I didn't even give it a second thought. I wanted my big, big boy to have an awesome Birthday. So off we went. At first you were excited, then you were nervous. We sat in the very, very front. I went on and on about how much fun it was and then the first big fall came. You were less than thrilled. What a bummer! I wanted you to have such a good time, but, that's not how life works. When the 2nd and bigger fall was coming, it was hard to know that you were not enjoying it. I tried to change your mind, but you were not ready to be in the #1 seat on a big ride. I'm so sorry! I held on to you as tight as I could, but it wasn't enough for you to feel safe. You cried at the end and I felt so bad! I promised I would never take you on the ride again, and that seemed to help. So, here's to good intentions, and here's to you and being true to your own feelings as little kids are so good at doing. Thanks for not being brave for me, I love you.

After that we got giant Disneyland style lollipops and all the horror was forgotten, whew!

That night we ordered pizza and had a black and white Spiderman cake that you picked out all by yourself. The Cosgrove clan came over to celebrate, watch you open presents and dye their mouths blue with your super cool cake! It was a good time.

I love you little dude.

Dude

2008-01-14T19:31:00.001-06:00

Aubree has had diarrhea for daaaaaaaays. Poor thing, her butts all red and splotchy. It's been pretty tolerable until today. She pooped 5 times, yep, F-I-V-E times! Some were running out her diaper, some were crumbly, powdery, chunky strange. Tonight it smelled like barf. Oh for the love of Pete! Barfy smells leaking out her butt. UGH!

It doesn't get better than this

2008-01-10T20:12:00.000-06:00

As Daddy and Ty were done reading stories and getting ready to go to bed, Ty gave me a kiss and said 'I love you more than my blankie. I love you more than all of my toys.'

Makes perfect sense

2008-01-09T18:45:00.000-06:00

Tidelidelee = Kitty

It's been so fun listening to Aubree learn to talk. Ty said everything so perfectly. It was really impressive and I LOVED it. Aubree is more of the classic, you know she's saying something to you but if you don't speak aubenese fluently you may not understand. It's so fun to have such a different experience with her than we had with Ty. It would be kind of boring if they did everything the same! Aubree loves tidelidelees. It's awesome.

Currently

2008-01-09T18:37:00.000-06:00

Aubree is stealing sips of soda, Diet Coke with Lime, from Daddy while Ty perfects his jumping off the couch skills. There is food all over the living room floor... on the blanket from the picnic dinner we had. Daddy made super yummy hamburgers for us all. We're listening to good tunes and we're all going to pick up the house between stolen sips of soda and giant jumps off the couch. What a great night! One that was badly needed after the day that was had yesterday, but that's a story I'm not ready write about yet. Hehehe Oh! Ty just found the dino stickers I put on his wall, yay!

I will try to write about Christmas with P and Ty's Birthday soon, I'll try......

...

2008-01-05T19:03:00.000-06:00

Gramma P's going home tonight. Waahhhhhhh. I hate saying goodbye. I wish we lived closer, like, the same state would be nice. Same metro area, even better. She swears that she's a California gal. But she's from Iowa 'stock' and after seeing her here, I know for sure, she's a mid-westerner at heart. I have no idea what the future holds, but I can dream. I dream that someday after she retires and my brother figures out that he can't afford to live in CA either, that they will all move close to the grand kids. I know they love the kids. And Aubree cried hysterically when P left, and Ty is in denial while being distracted by Peter Pan. So, for now, so that I can get by, I will dream that someday they'll realize they can't live with out us and move here. And my kids will have Grandparents close by. And we'll have family to hang out with and I won't have to cry every time we visit each other.....

Meikee/Pirates

2007-12-30T10:43:00.000-06:00

The beloved blanket. We practice 'ba' 'ba' 'blanket'. 'Ba' 'ba' 'bankie', and she says 'ba' 'ba' 'meikee!'. I love it, she SO has her own little personality. Right from the beginning, big personality. Screeching like a little pterodactyl... She is talking more and more everyday. It's so much fun. She is really proud of herself as she gets better at communication. She did not enjoy being a baby, this age is much more pleasing to her.

Ty got some really good pirate stuff for Christmas from Grandma Nan. He and Gramma P were reading one of the books about pirates and their ships. It's more informational than a story, but in a kid friendly way. It was amazing all the things he already knew. He really pays attention. He called out Grappling Hook before Gramma P even knew what he was talking about. He is so smart! He knew a bunch of correct dinosaur names when he was 2. Pretty impressive. This kid may be smarter than I can handle! I'm worried he won't be challenged enough in school, or at home.

Welcome to our home

2007-12-27T17:47:00.000-06:00

We've painted the living room and the kitchen. And even have some things hanging on the walls. The new stove and dishwasher are in place. I don't know if any of our house will ever be officially done, but these parts are good for now. They feel fun and cozy. After the Christmas decorations are down, we'll hang some more things on the walls. And hopefully sometime in the fairly near future we'll add base boards where needed. Then we're set..... for now. Anyway, here's some pics.

" It's not Christmas 'till somebody cries

2007-12-26T12:05:00.001-06:00

... And usually, that someone is me" Or so says Donkey from Shrek the Halls, a very favorite around here. I may have somehow forgotten to mention all the crying and time out having that went on yesterday. We were assured by friends with other 3 to 4 year olds that it's all part of the fun. Oh goodie! There's nothing like a cranky kid to make you feel good about all you've done for them. I had a good cry, after the crying kids went to bed. And we start over fresh and new today. It's amazing the amount of emotions that can exist in such a short amount of time. Daddy is working from home AGAIN today! He took a lunch break to snow blow the driveway, and me and the kids ran around chasing Seibu. It was good. I love it here. The snow is piled so high in the trees, when the wind blows or new snow knocks into it, it all falls down in big avalanche clumps. I could watch it for hours.

The snow on the truck is all from yesterday and today! Fun, fun!

Ahhhhhhh

2007-12-25T18:10:00.000-06:00

Picture perfect, this morning.

Christmas night. There's so much to say! It's 6pm and the kids are tuckered out, sitting on the couch, together, watching Frosty the Snowman for the last time this season. There are toys scattered all over the house that I should probably get around to picking up. And Dad's outside trying to fix the little snow blower our neighbor lent us when she saw how much trouble Daddy was having with the one we just got off craigslist. Yep, ours wasn't working right so she thought she'd let us ruin hers too. Isn't that sweet? And I'm sitting here at the kitchen table on Daddy's work laptop. Just soaking it all up. All the Christmas-y-ness.

First, Ty came home from the trip to pick up the snow blower and told me "WE GOT A SNOW GLOWER!" He still has to stop and correct himself a week later. I love it, I hope he calls it a snow-glower for a long time. By the way, anyone one know where I can get a snow-glower? Sounds fun.

The kids have had colds for over a week. Aubree's nosed stopped running for about 2 days, just in time for Ty to hit his worst and give it back to her. Yay. Do you know how much fun sick kids are? It wasn't so bad at the beginning and then Grandma Nan came to visit, that was awesome. For more reasons than just distracting the ever more whiny children. But I tell ya, there was a day I don't think I could have made it through without her! She left last Thursday morning, Thursday and Friday were long days. Luckily for me, Krisha's kids were sick too, so she was up for hanging out. I think our kids will be swapping colds for many years to come.

Daddy got to work from home yesterday, so it was almost like a 4 day weekend. I wish every weekend was a long weekend. It was so great to have him around. We had fun, we got things done. We all like having Daddy around a lot! Krisha's family has adopted us this holiday season. I couldn't be more grateful. We had such a great time with them all last night. Good food, great company, and a snowy Christmas. I don't know how we'll ever thank them for taking us in. They even got the kids some presents to open so they wouldn't feel left out! I almost cried.... Here's a pic of Aubree from last night.

We baked cookies for Santa and cleaned the house so it would look decent in pictures the next morning. LOL Mrs Santa really enjoyed the cookies after taking a fall in the basement. I laid there on the floor in the back storage area of the basement wondering if I had been really hurt, how long would it take Mr Santa to come looking for me. Luckily, I wasn't really hurt. Just hurt. I seem to be recovering well today, I was worried I might be whacked out for the week.

The kids were so cute this morning. Aubree loved all of Ty's toys. Of course. We had some sharing issues, but after nap time things got much better, for all of us! Even after coffee, Daddy and I were ready for naps before 11am. Ty had a great time playing with all of his stocking stuffers and almost forgot that there were presents under the tree to open. Then he ripped through them faster than you can blink. Clearly enjoying the process of opening more than the presents themselves. But he's had a good time with each and every one as the day has gone by. I think the big, awesome garbage truck is the big hit this year. Out of no-where Ty told me he wanted a trash truck for Christmas. ???? Where do you find that! Online of course! I love you Amazon.com. Aubree seems to like her Tinkerbell 'make-up' bag the best. She won't let me put any of the sparkly lip glosses on her, but she really likes putting them in and out of the cute little bag and giving them to me, and taking them back etc..

Aubree and I made more cookies today while Daddy and Ty went sledding. We put the red sprinkles in the cookies and the green sprinkles on top. Oh, and it snowed all afternoon long. Beautiful big chunky snow. Freaking awesome.

Several years ago I looked up Pagan holiday traditions, since all of our current holidays stem from them. It was really cool to know why we put up Christmas lights and things like that. I hope I keep looking things up as the years go on and the holidays go by. I really appreciate putting up Christmas light and having a Christmas tree so much more after learning why the heck we have these traditions!

Our visit with Grandma Nan was wonderful. I think after living together for a while we were all grateful to be back in our appropriate rolls. She did awesome Grandma stuff and it was enjoyed by all. She and the kids did Christmas crafts together. She got Ty the most awesome pirate ship. And books, tons of new books to read! Both the kids are thankful for that. And she got Aubree a new baby. She LOOOOOVVVES babies. The baby came with bottles and a moses carrier, and another stroller. Now Ty and Aubree can race the babies around the house together! It's just what Seibu has always wanted. Ha! Did I mention that the Seattle Santa brought us a new to us flat top stove and a dishwasher that belongs in the kitchen, not next to it! Justin spent that entire weekend happily installing appliances thrown out by others who were updating their own kitchens. We love you Santa!

I've been on a crochet kick since it's been all winter-y and I live in my own home again with my own things and crafts are possible. I was putting the finishing touches on a new afghan for our living room when Grandma Nan arrived. So I asked her if she'd be interested in having one. She was! We bundled up the kids and all went to the Michael's to pick out yarn. Then we came home and she planned it all out. And let me tell ya, she did a great job. I need to remember to take a picture of it before I ship it off to her. Yes, I finished it the day after she left. Bummer. But there was no way I could get anymore done than I did. It turned out beautiful and snugly warm. I love making things that feel so good.

I'm sure I could go on and on forever, but I think jabbered on long enough. It's much easier to write about my life when I'm sitting in the middle of it. Our computer is in the basement and sometimes I just can not get inspired down there. I'll post more pics in the link on the side of the page.

Oh yeah! I almost forgot, I dyed my hair brown. Yep, no highlights or anything. I am very happy with it and excited to have less hassle and less cost. I'm feeling beautifully brunette.

Merry Christmas!

POOP

2007-12-22T18:42:00.000-06:00

Aubree pooped in the bathtub, with Ty in it. ACK! This is our first real pooping in the tub experience. And it was a whole green log too. EEEWWWWWWWWW. Daddy is cleaning up the mess while I blog about it. He took a picture, I even thought about taking one. I'll will be sure to NOT post it for you all. Ok, I should probably go help get things back on track. But you can sit back and have a nice laugh on us.

ECFE

2007-12-12T15:29:00.000-06:00

Early Childhood Family Education

It's a program here in MN, run by the county?? Anyway, it's awesome. I signed up for a class with Aubree and Ty goes to the sibling care playroom. He loves it. And I love getting to see another side of her personality. A side of her that is not reacting to or following her big brother. I love that she thinks the world of him, but I think it's great for her to get to be social without him. I think I watch her with hearts in my eyes the whole class! The class does some group singing and playing then they set out activities for the little ones to choose from. They can do whatever they want. Aubree LOOOOOVES the baby dolls. We've been 3 times and all 3 times she collects up all the baby dolls and gives them to the person of her choice. She got really comfortable with the teachers very quickly which is exciting. And get this. When it's time for the Mommies to leave the room and have our 'parenting education', she doesn't cry! All 3 times. It's so fun to see her grow and change. She always cries when I leave. Even if she's staying with someone she likes. A lot of times she calms down very quickly, but this class is the only time I have ever left her without a single tear. She has such a good time. And then, at the end, when they walk the little ones over to the room we're in... Ahhhh she is so freakin' adorable! I love to watch her look around the little room for me and when she spots me her whole body lights up. She runs over and gives me a huge hug. Pure heaven.

I should video tape this so I can play it to her when she's a teenager and says she hates me. Then she can see for herself that she did indeed love me at one point in time! Eeek.

Oh and the other cute thing. She cries when we drop Ty off at sibling care or Preschool. I should video tape that too! Show them how much they liked each other before they were teens. ~ Well, I'll just put it out there to the powers that be, that they are close and loving and will easily get through whatever little tiffs they get into. That they really will be friends.

I'm the Mommy!

2007-12-08T10:02:00.000-06:00

First, Aubree is saying Ma-mee in the most adorable way I could just keel over and die. Laying with Ty at bed time gives me the same feeling. He holds me so tight and puts little soft kisses all over my hands and my nose. These are the moments when joy is almost painful. It's so awesome your body almost can't contain it, and sometimes it doesn't. We all know I'm a crier.

I was just locked away in our 'spare' room in the basement where we have all the Christmas presents hidden. I'm sorting things into piles of what is for who and how much wrapping paper do I have and what will I need to get so that everything will look SUPER? Our first Christmas as parents was pretty fun. But this year really seems to have swept me away. I love how Krisha described Thanksgiving as the event that kicks off the Christmas season. And that's exactly how it felt this year. The air started to cool, Halloween was a blast. Fall is in full effect and while we had no family around we were taken in by friends for Thanksgiving, and we were, so thankful. Then the snow started and the temp dropped and we put up lights and decorated the inside of the house on Thanksgiving weekend. The first weekend in December we went in way below freezing temps to get a Christmas tree. I think it was the fastest tree pickin' ever! The kids were so excited to get it up and decorated, Ty more-so of course. Now we're getting ready for guests at the end of this coming week. Wondering if we can get our crap in order in time. Crap, that is another thing I wanted to post about. We got rid of a lot of crap before we moved this time and there is STILL too much crap. Crap!

Ok, let me get back on track here. I was locked away in the hiding spot scoping out the situation, planning what paper to use and when to start bringing presents out. I need a few things yet and I want pretty ribbon so I can wrap everything beautifully, and that's when it hit me. I'm the Mommy! Clearly, I knew this before. But, this is the first Christmas that I feel like it's all about our little family. We have one Grandma coming before Christmas, and one after. But the actual holiday will be just us. This will be the first time since having kids that it will be just our family on Christmas morning! I am so excited. Don't get me wrong, I'm also EXTREMELY excited to have family coming. But it's fun to think of being the only ones who get to watch the kids freak out over all the stuff. Just us, our family. I love our family! I love the snow, I love that it's freezing cold out. It feels like Christmas. I haven't felt that way since before we got married I think. Yay Christmas!

Twirling & Other fun things

2007-12-04T19:48:00.000-06:00

Aubree has learned the endless joy of twirling. Oh my god, it has to be the cutest thing ever. She sooooooo enjoys it. And the sound effects are to die for. Whoooo, wooooo, wooooooo! This little girl thing is pretty damn fun!

Ty knows how to do every gross boy sound effect that has ever existed short of farting with his hand and armpit. I'm sure it's just a matter of time! While I don't usually enjoy this as much as the two of them spinning circles together in the living room, I find it quite impressive in it's own unique way.

I am so grateful that I get to experience both worlds. And obviously, I got the two best kids to experience it with. I did not even bribe them to do this. They did it all by themselves and I was lucky enough to snatch up the camera in time to capture the moment. Awwww.

Brrrrrrr

2007-11-27T12:59:00.000-06:00

It's 13 degrees out! I've been pretty impressed with myself and the cold weather so far. It's been in the 30's and I've been chilly, but I hadn't officially called it cold yet. We even walked to the park yesterday and I felt fine. Aubree doesn't seem to notice much yet, but Ty wasn't real happy that I only put a fleece on him. His cheeks were rosy and his cute little nose was pink and he didn't want to play once we got to the park. Oops. The funny thing is, every time before we go out he tells me he doesn't want a hat/mittens/jacket etc. and that he wants to be freezing. So a couple weeks ago when he didn't want to wear socks or shoes to run over to Leah and Owens house, I let him! He cried most of the way there. I felt bad, but he needed to understand why I want to put these things on him. Do you believe the very next day he wanted to walk over to their house with no socks and shoes again? Stubborn little guy, wonder where he gets that from? I had to remind him that it was so cold it made him cry, to which he stated very boldly that he wouldn't cry this time. Stinker. Anywho, we went to craft time at Micheal's this morning and walked over to The Children's Place to make an exchange, then headed to have lunch at BK with a play area until it was time for school. I knew it was cold because it hurt when I inhaled the frozen air, but I didn't know it was that cold! 13. That's cold. I guess I should start checking the weather before we head out!

And I'll throw in a picture of the painted living room. It's not the best picture, but it's the one I've got. I'll take some more when we get the christmas tree up. But it's quite cozy and warm feeling with the sunny yellow walls. Nevermind the constant mess and slight stink from the dishes I haven't done yet..

Catching up

2007-11-25T14:42:00.000-06:00

I found my camera!! Yes, it was hidden in the deepest, darkest depths of the diaper bag. I knew I wouldn't be so careless with it. Whew.

Aubree has really started to talk a lot. It's funny how they do that all of a sudden one day. She's not real easy to understand. But she'll repeat things now, she's never wanted anything to do with that. It's so fun and sweet and cute. And she gets all excited about it. I love it!

We painted the living room yellow. It's awesome. It's so fun to have color in the house. And on a sunny day, it lights up the whole house. It gets so warm the heat doesn't come on.

Ty's room is mostly finished. There's a spot that needs to be sanded and painted, where the thermostat was. We moved that to the hallway. And he needs some baseboards in a few spots. But he's been in there for a couple weeks now and is really liking it.

Aubree got a big girl bed! She took to it immediately. It's so fun to see her so little in her big room with her big bed. I finally got her some sheets on BLACK FRIDAY. I got both the kids some holiday flannel fun sheets. Hers are multi-colored snow flakes and his are blue with penguins, in scarfs. Before that she was borrowing some of Ty's sheets. That's no good! I think she may be getting more sheets for christmas. Shhhhh!

Ty's in preschool and is loving it. I made him start a week later than planned due to a make out session with a yogurt container! I just couldn't bring myself to send him to school for the first time with a giant purple circle around his mouth. So, his first day was on Halloween. Could a first day be more fun? I don't think so!

I had hoped to write a lot more about all of these events. But it wasn't happening, so I thought I better get caught up before I forget. Better to have the memories recorded with less detail then not at all.

We went over to our fabulous photographer neighbors house for a little christmas photo shoot the other day. I can't wait to send out holiday cards!

Love

2007-11-15T16:57:00.000-06:00

Ty and Aubree love each other. Really truly love each other. After all the eyeball poking, biting, toy stealing and screaming, they actually miss one another. Some days Aubree is ready for a nap a bit early and Ty almost always protests. ' NOOOOOOOOOOOO! I don't waaaant her to go to beeeeeed.' And when she wakes up and Ty is still asleep for more than 10 minutes. She blabbers at me and gets me to follow her over to his door and she points and pleads for Ty to come out! I guess it's a good reminder that love has it's ups and downs. The way they pester each other you'd think it was a battle to see who could drive who to insanity first. But it's not, it's love. Sigh, love. What a complicated thing! Today when Ty got up an hour after Aubree, she ran to him and threw her arms around him - and he let her. I think it was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. The other that comes to mind is when Ty would hold Aubree's hand to help her learn to walk. He had such pride and joy.

And now I hear them spitting at each other. Love.

Long day

2007-11-14T13:38:00.000-06:00

Why is it that some days feel so much longer than others? It's only 1:30pm and both the kids are up from their naps already. A lot of days they're just going down about now. But the morning seemed to go on forever and they were both super tired. So early naps were had. I am going to need some more coffee today! I decided to let them watch a movie to pass some time and give me a chance to putz around on the computer.

We are going to a Moms Club event on Friday morning. I'm excited and nervous. I'm excited at the possible friends to be made and many fun activities to do. Even if I don't make any good friends there, outings with other adults are much needed! There are some boys in Ty's preschool class that have Mom's in the Moms Club. It'll be interesting to meet them for real, I introduced myself in the hall in a hurry yesterday after class. One of Ty's teachers pointed me in their direction. Which reminds me I need to write about Ty going to school.

I got my sewing machine out of the box and plugged in! I even got a project together to start working on when I have spare moments (LOL, spare moments!). Actually I have more spare moments than I should because I'm not cleaning the house very well this week. Anyone who knows me knows that this is not out of the ordinary. But I have been doing decently well. Then it got cold and gloomy and I just want to sit on the couch and eat. Blech. I'm getting sidetracked. I even spent some time sewing this morning. Like 5 or 10 minutes. But it felt so good. I haven't sewn anything, I think, since before Aubree was born. No wonder I feel all creatively dampened! What did I work on? That's another post on the to do list! Hopefully I'll have a camera again soon so I can take pictures.

None of them have my blog address, but I just wanted to put out there that I miss my WA Mommy friends. I should probably email them. But what do I say? Hmpfh.

So sad

2007-11-14T08:22:00.000-06:00

I still can't find the camera. I guess even though we were able to save it after jumping off the kitchen table, it just didn't want to be with us anymore. I believe it jumped out of my bag one day while we were out last week. The week was too crazy with Daddy gone for me to have any idea where we were or even what day it was. What am I supposed to do without a camera??? AHHHHHHHHHHH. I'm having withdrawal pains. I wonder how much crap I'm going to have to sell on eBay to make enough money to buy a new one? A lot. It's a lot of work, and only a little money. But every little bit helps.

The children are attacking each other - I must go NOW.

Snow!

2007-11-13T12:09:00.000-06:00

It snowed on Friday morning. It was so exciting and so beautiful. I love snow! I wonder if I'll feel differently in a few months??? I don't think so. Now, I might be sick of being cold!! Actually, I'm sure I'll get sick of being cold. But not the snow.

It wasn't a lot of snow, just enough to really enjoy. I think it was the first snow of the season that didn't dissolve the moment it touched the ground. The kids and I took a short walk outside in it. They love it just as much as I do. As we were heading out for the day we got to see some really big fluffy flakes. I'm really enjoying the changing of seasons this year. I think we've got lots of winter fun ahead of us!

Good News and Bad News

2007-11-08T11:29:00.000-06:00

The bad news is: Seibu crawled through a big space under the pre-existing back fence.
The good news is: He didn't hop over the short fence!

The bad news is: All our little fishies are dying, and our tank is being taken over by algae.
The good news is: We're going to the pet store after nap time. Fun!

The bad news is: I'm eating all the Halloween candy.
The good news is: I'm eating all the Halloween candy!

The bad news is: Daddy is out of town this week. He's in Virginia for training for work.
The good news is: Krisha is babysitting us and is doing a great job!

The bad news is: My camera jumped off the table last week and I couldn't get it to turn on.
The good news is: Daddy fixed it!!

The bad news is: I can't find it now.

There is no good news about that yet. Waaaaaahhhhh!

Just thought I'd share

2007-11-03T09:00:00.000-05:00

I used to call Aubree 'Princess Poops-a-lot'. I'm sure it doesn't carry the same overwhelming, heart bursting love in writing. But, that's what I called her when I wanted to squeeze her too hard because the love was bursting outta me. I have no idea why I loved the name so much, it has a nice ring. LOL

We had a ton of names for Ty. Luckily I wrote a bunch of them down, because I don't remember a lot of them right now. Ty-de-do and Ty-de-doody-booty come to mind. That one sounds like a potty name, but I don't think it was meant to be! Oh, and Ty-de-do-de-cutie-booty.

Good stuff. Love those kids.

HAAAAALLOWEEEEEEN

2007-11-01T19:51:00.000-05:00

Are you sure you want to see this?? Daddy was THAT GUY. You know the one, you can't figure out if he's wearing a costume or if he really looks like that.

I was 'THAT GUY'S' trophy wife. He hehe. My trophy's not real big, but hey, THAT GUY can't afford much!

Ty was the most handsome and most fierce pirate ever to roam the 7 seas of Stillwater, MN.

And there's most definitely never been a cuter ladybug in all of history.

We were invited to a party! Actually, 3 parties in the 3 weeks that we've lived here. We've never had such a rockin' social life! This was the coolest Halloween party. Costumes were mandatory, and as much as all the adults complained, I know we all had a good time with them. And there were kids running in every direction. Lots of food, and scary decorations.

People, when I dreamed of leaving San Diego to raise my kids in the midwest, this is what I dreamed of. I won't say it's perfect. But it's perfectly real. And that's even better.

Check out my boys hair

2007-11-01T19:13:00.000-05:00

It's funkytown over here! Daddy already got a haircut, we couldn't have him showing up to his new job looking like that. And Ty's got an appointment with the clippers tonight. I will miss his shaggy little head. The floppy 'do either looks totally obnoxious or unbelievably cute. And most days it falls on the cute side.

There's always a fence to build

2007-11-01T17:43:00.000-05:00

At every new house the first thing we do is build a fence. We've done several different kinds of fences. Fancy, sturdy, tall ones. Fast and temporary ones. Shiny, durable, vinyl ones. Little garden picket ones. So here we are, another house, another fence. We are all about comfort these days. Who cares how it looks, or if it's straight! How easy can we make it and will it hold up? Good enough then!

I am very please with our good enough fence. I think Daddy did a great job in record time.

Easy as 1,2,3.

The back was existing, we put up the side.

And the other side.Let's not talk about the fact that Seibu already hopped his horsey self over the little fence.

Oye

2007-10-25T17:17:00.000-05:00

Is it over yet? When do I get to clock out? It's been a long day. I knew it would be since we were going to stay at home in our jammies all day. But the day seemed to drag on. It didn't start out bad, it was just, without direction. We took naps early. All of us. Ty slept in my bed and I slept on the couch. Why? Because yesterday Ty decided it would be fun to fill Aubree's bed half way full of toys with her in it. They totally can NOT share a room! So. Ty slept in my bed, I put a 'nighttime' on him (pull up diaper) just in case he had an accident during nap time. He has yet to master the potty control while sleeping. Of course today, he drank two sippys full of water before bed and peed through the diaper. Ok, no big deal. I bought cookie mix to make Halloween cookies, I thought that would be a fun after lunch activity. Ty wouldn't eat lunch, so we didn't make cookies. Aubree is whiny, nothing new there! But as the day drug on, it all started to get to me. I was getting frustrated so I decided we needed to get outside. So we somehow managed to get socks and shoes and jackets for everyone, it took an unbelievably long amount of time and a whole lot of sweat, but we did it. We're half way out the door, trying not to knock Aubree off the steps, hold the screen door open so it doesn't shut on anyone, move out of the way so Ty can get out, again without knocking Aubree off the steps. I think we're all successfully on the step, and WHAM. I shut the door. On Ty's fingers. Oh god. The screaming, THE SCREAMING, and writhing. I'm frantically trying to see his fingers and throw everyone back in the house without damaging anyone else any further. I see the fingers, they're pointing the right direction and there's no blood. Sigh, breathe, breathe, stay calm. Ty is jumping up and down, stomping his feet, shaking his head and letting out this high pitched shrill scream. Somehow I am finally able to hold him and let him cry and hold him some more. I tell him we're going to get some medicine to help with the swelling and pain. He's starting to calm down. I give him a small bowl of yummy autumn mix (candy corn, Reese's Pieces and honey roasted peanuts). He informs me that the medicine is yummy, and we're back to the WHYS. Why is the medicine yummy? Candy and the suggestion of a movie seem to be able to cure just about anything. I get him settled and plan to check on his fingers in a few minutes. I retreat to my bedroom for some quiet and a moment to catch my breath. I called Justin and told him what happened and as we're talking I realize I'm sitting in Ty's pee. Oh great.

Ty seems to be fine, but I need the rest of the day off!!

How 'bout them apples?

2007-10-23T18:05:00.000-05:00

My hometown is burning to the ground and no one told me. What the holy moly is going on!