It's been awhile!

Wow..I didn't realize how long it had been since I blogged! August was a crazy month! When we were at church on Saturday, I thought the same thing...we had only been home 2 weekends in August and for one of those, we had company.

So much has been going on, I don't even know where to start! I guess the most important is probably that our little squirrel started kindergarten last week. Where does the time go? I can't believe how adorable she looks in her little uniforms. She's so proud when she brings home her papers every day. They are learning to print their letters (the nice way!) , so last week she was busy showing me how to print I and U. So cute!

I hope she is always this excited about school!

We made the decision last spring that we were going to send her to Kindergarten where she has been going to daycare. They have a private Kindergarten that I have always heard rave reviews about. Here's the cool part: there are only 8 kids in her class! You sure couldn't get that in the public schools! I just think that K is the place where they lay the groundwork for everything, so the 1 on 1 attention is SO important. Plus, I didn't have to worry about where she would go after school. What a relief! Sure, it still costs money, but do does before/after school care. I figure she's worth it and so is the awesome start to her education!

Wow...that was my little soapbox for the day...other than that- life has been pretty much status quo. I am almost glad that it's fall because life seems to slow down a little after August. Winter, on the other hand....that can wait!

The empty house

It seems like the fam has been gone quite a bit this summer, leaving me to put back in place all that has come out of place, only to be in that state again in a few days. As much as I love my kids, it is always nice to get my wits back about me. I do feel for my wife who is stuck with them until I arrive at the lake on Thursday afternoon; they are always a handful, but from what I have heard so far, are starting to grow gills. I can't wait to see them though; life seems incomplete without them waking me up in the morning and the occasional cage match over toys.

He did it!!

I would just like to say that I had very little to do with it. I have tried so many different ways to make it happen and failed every time. I tried M&M's; I tried dollar spot treats; I tried "shoot the cheerio" and even used up a whole day of vacation to get it done. In the end, all it took was a teacher at school who had no idea that he didn't know how yet...and lo and behold....


HE WENT POTTY ON THE BIG BOY POTTY!!!!!!!

Yep, that's right. On July 1, 2009 Lukas went potty on the big boy potty for the first time! This is big news people! Like I said, we have tried so many different methods, I had almost given up! I figured he would be the first college freshman still wearing diapers (and riding a trike, but that's a whole other story!). The good news is I can rest easy now...ok, well not completely easy since we haven't figured out how to do #2 on the potty yet, but we are getting there!

Happy Birthday to my Squirrel!

I have been waiting all day to spend a little time reminiscing...my little squirrel is 5 today! I can't believe it...the time has gone so quickly. I still remember so clearly the night that she was born. It was such a scary experience and so amazing all at the same time. It didn't go exactly how I wanted it to go, but then, what in life does?


There she is...our beautiful baby! It's funny because she looks pretty round in this picture, but really she was just a peanut! I don't know if anyone else even remembers how she came to be known as squirrel. If my friend Mel ever reads this, she will probably be entertained. When I was pregnant, we were trying to decide whether or not to find out the gender of our baby and of course everyone wanted to think they knew what I was having- especially towards the end. Melanie had taken to asking if I thought the baby would be a boy or a squirrel :) It still makes me giggle! So, in my still drugged state, I decided to call and leave a voicemail for all the managers I worked with at MF to let them know that I had given birth to a baby squirrel. Thus, the squirrel name stuck!



Wasn't she a beautiful baby? Look at that blonde hair! That was the big news with her was all her hair! oh my goodness...she is still such a beautiful girl...and smart, and sweet...can you tell I miss her right now? I can't wait to see her tomorrow! She has been with "beste" for a whole week and I miss her like crazy! I really cannot believe it has been 5 years. I remember holding her the first time...nursing her the first time (not very well!)...our first night awake all night...
Mostly I remember the nights I used to rock her to sleep and the mornings when she would wake up and we would just sit in the rocking chair and snuggle. I miss that baby girl so much sometimes, but try now to enjoy the "big" girl she is becoming!

Princesses Galore!

We did it! We threw our first "real" birthday party...at home...and I survived!!! Now, I have to confess, it was a difficult decision for me. Maybe you haven't heard (ha ha ha!) but I am broke, so I can't afford to throw my child a birthday party at one of these places that costs 500 bucks! So, I decided we would do it at home.

The first challenge was coming up with the theme. This actually turned out to be easy since Annika is obsessed with princesses. Her thing lately is "mommy, tell me a story about princess Annika." So, then I just had to figure out what exactly we were going to do. This is where it got tough. You see, I am really great with concepts..it's just actually making it happen that I struggle with. Execution is not my forte (my former bosses could attest to this!).

Thank goodness I had some help! My sister and my mom are both angels in disguise I have decided. That's the other thing...I turn into a real crab apple when I am stressed out! I was so concerned that a mom was going to come into the house and judge me (remember...I am not rich!) or that the party was going to be a complete dud. Luckily neither of these tragedies occurred, the party was mostly successful, and most importantly my princess was happy!












Check out the cake!! I made it (with a little help from my mom and sister!)

Fits, fits and more fits!

Ok, so maybe my mother is right and it's payback! I remember Annika going through a bit of a fit-throwing phase, but not like the one we are dealing with right now! Lukas is a little out of hand! Now, I know that little kids like to be able to do things by themselves, but this is ridiculous! Anytime that he can't figure something out, he freaks out. Anytime that he isn't getting his way...again, freak out! We aren't just talkin' defiance here, we are talking full blown-laying on the floor-kicking and screeching fit. What to do? I can ignore him...what do the neighbors think? I can try to comfort him...doesn't work! He pushes and kicks me away! I can try to reason with him...again, there is no reasoning with a 3 year old! My only hope is that it's a short lived phase!

The Pit of Despair

Wow...I am not very good at keeping up with this!! I do my best, but it seems like time gets away from me! Good thing only a couple people seem to know it's here!

So I just had to share a funny from last night! Annika has been DYING to take a trip to IKEA. We have been so busy, however, that we haven't been able to go. We thought maybe Grandma and Grandpa H would take them over the weekend, but it sounds like they had plenty of other things to do! Anyway...

We arrived at IKEA for the sole purpose of letting Annika play in the "ball pit" (Smaaland is what it's actually called!). It is the first thing you see when you come in the door! So, we walk in and she runs towards the door of smaaland only to find out....IT'S CLOSED!!!! Seriously! How can that be? Now I have to try to find another time to take her....eek! It was actually pretty funny, though, since she freaked out and said she is sure that she will NEVER get to play in there!

Silly girl!!

On another note...my children love markers! Check out how HOT Lukey is with some nice black marker all over! No wonder the ladies love him!

Weddings and kids

I am a little late with this one, but have to know...is a wedding really a wedding if there aren't cute little kids at the dance? I would like to say, I think not! Check it out!


Every girl has to have a picture of herself dancing with the little girls at her wedding! You can see in their little faces that they think you are the most beautiful princess in the world and they are already dreaming of wearing a beautiful dress like yours on their wedding day (someday!). I love it!

Of course, the boys have to have their fun too...mostly with the chicken dance and the hokey pokey, but it's fun all the same!


Personally, I find the most fun thing about weddings to be the catching up with friends and family I haven't seen in ages! It seems like the only time I see my extended family these days, which is a bummer since I really like spending time with them.

Next wedding...Georgia in November....hmmm...somehow I don't think that one will be on our agenda! Good thing this one was such a great time!

My baby boy

How can I help but be completely in love with my little boy? Poor guy was having trouble going to bed tonight! He was crying and crying, so I went down and picked him up to "snuggle" him. As we swayed back and forth and I kissed his wet little cheek, I asked him why he was so upset. His reply? "cuz I wanted you to sing Baby Mine 3 times! 1 time is not enough!" My sweet curly haired little boy!

Family

When you think of your family, what do you think of? Home, mom, dad, grandparents? I think of stress. I will be honest. Dealing with my family is like belonging to a political party and trying to "cross the aisle" to make peace with the other side. If I do something with/for one side, the other side gets irritable. The funny part of it is that each side thinks the other one is out to get them and neither can understand that they each want exactly the same thing: equal time and representation.

Here's what I want! I want a family who loves me no matter what. I want a family who doesn't keep score of how much time/effort is spent on the "other side". I want a dad who remembers to call me every now and then. I want a mother who doesn't get ticked off at me every time I bring up my dad's name. I want grandparents who don't hate my parents. I want a family who compromises for me every now and then instead of expecting me to make all the concessions.

I want a normal family.

A shout out to Boobies

Apparently it starts at a young age...the fascination with boobies! I have long felt that there is a time at which you should stop getting dressed and undressed in front of your children of the opposite sex. I hate to say it, but my fears and feelings have now been validated!

So, the other day I was getting ready for work and Lukas was sitting on my bed...I went into the closet to put my clothes on (it's a walk-in closet...) and I hear him say "Mommy, come back out here! I wanted to see your boobies!"

Needless to say, I was appalled! I told him that it was rude to say that and he got all upset! He said "don't say those angry words to me!" Hilarious! I wanted to roll on the floor laughing, but I figured then he would just think it was ok!

I guess we know that Lukas will be a boob man!

An ode to moms

I would say that today was, quite possibly, my best Mother's Day yet. We had a great time together today, which DOES NOT always happen! We were out and about all morning. We took a little trip to Gerten's who, incidentally, has really expensive flowers! But it was fun to look...and to play around with the fountains!


Then we were off to find some lunch...I know it's no swanky brunch, but I was pretty pumped because we had our first trip to Sonic! The best part about that was how excited the kids were to have a "car picnic"! Since it was my day, my big request was a quick trip into St. Paul to Candyland to get my all-time favorite cheese popcorn! Yum-o!



The rest of the day was pretty uneventful...a little trip to the park to run off some energy...lots of calls to grandmas...and that was what really got me thinking! We called my mom and mother-in-law, then I called my dad because Annika really wanted to talk to Sharon. So, long story short, I ended up talking to my dad who told me that he wouldn't have called me today because mother's day is just to honor YOUR mother. Well, I completely disagree, but for the sake of saving time and my sanity,I didn't get into it with him! I think that mother's day is to honor all the mothers in your life. Whether it's your mom, mother in law, daughter, aunt, friend's mom...I think it's a day to say "wow! you are a great mom, and I just want you to know that I noticed!"

Ok, that's my soapbox for the day...what do you think?

No one gets this!

Ok, so to those of you who will eventually figure out how to respond to the invite and become a "follower" of our blog...what the heck? So far only one person has figured it out! Here I thought all the grandma's and grandpa's were going to jump all over the opportunity to have fun stuff to read about that happens every day with these crazy kids! Silly me!

I would also like to just say that I have the SWEETEST kids in the world! Lukey was so sweet this morning....he was all excited about the fact that he picked out some marigolds for me at the "flower store" and he carried them all the way home and planted them! So cute! For anyone who doesn't know, marigolds were pretty much my least favorite flowers on earth...well, not anymore! I love these marigolds! And then he said to me "AND I picked out a Backyardigans card for you! You're gonna LOVE it!"

It's been a long week working my "real" job and then 2 nights at Hallmark too. I am sooooo ready for the weekend at home with the fam. I just need some time to recover! Is it sad that I am totally excited to go to Trader Joe's tomorrow? That's the highlight of my week. Yep, that's sad! Oh well!

Mondays

Can I just go on record and say that Mondays are the worst? The day started with grouchy kids and husband, continued with a sick call from one of my guys at work and peaked when the other guy I work with was late....and I was locked out of the branch! Happy Monday!

On a happier note, check out the fun pics of the kids last weekend at the Children's Museum! Super fun! I love letting them explore and have fun...

Chan and I decided last week that perhaps the reason it's so stressful to take our children out in public is because they have been kept home so much because we were concerned that they would be nightmares in public! Does that make any sense to anyone? Nope, not us either. We are going out more from now on! Our kids have to learn how to behave in public and the only way they will learn is to be out and about more!

And so it goes...

I would just like to go on record saying that Billy Joel is AMAZING. A-Mazing. I just got back from the Billy Joel/Elton John Face-to-Face concert and I can honestly say that it's the best concert I have ever been to. Ok, I will give you that I haven't been to all that many concerts, but it was still the best. Here is my theory on concerts: unless I LOVE the artist and can sing at least 5 of their songs, I am not paying for a ticket! It seems frivolous to me to spend money on a ticket to a concert just to go.

Let me just tell you about the interesting things we saw tonight...

-> So the snow just melted here in Fargo...therefore it seems like a great idea to park in a grassy field right? Yeah! Hilarious for those of us who were watching these people who thought they were so much cooler than everyone else and getting a primo parking spot when they were completely stuck in the mud!
-> Could someone please explain to me why some people think it's great to get tanked at a concert and then dance around like an idiot? The funny part is it's always the super geeky, unattractive set who do this. Do they not understand that when you are a goofy looking person, it's even worse to be drunk and goofy looking?
-> and then there was the post-concert concern...after having been stuck inside the stuffy, stale Fargo-dome for 3 and a half hours, why must people walk out the door and light up a cigarette IMMEDIATELY? Here's me...."Ahh....fresh...oh, awesome, fresh second-hand smoke! Just what I was hoping for!"

But back to the concert....did I mention that Billy Joel is amazing? There were a couple songs I wish he would have done that he didn't, but really all I could do for the entire concert was sit there in awe. The man is almost 60 years old...he is such a gifted musician...to watch his fingers play the piano and hear him sing was enough to bring me to tears. I am sooooo lucky to have gotten to go to this concert. Elton John was enjoyable too...I just happen to prefer Billy Joel...

The whole experience makes me think of how lucky I really am that my parents introduced me to great music at a young age. I think about that with my kids from time to time...I wonder what timeless artists they could really listen to now. When I was young, my parents brought me up listening to Billy Joel, The Beach Boys, Peter Paul and Mary...all amazing musicians. They wrote their own music, played their own instruments, sang beautifully! What do we have today for our kids to listen to? Britney Spears? Oh, yeah, she's really talented! So sad! I guess I will have to bring my kids up with the same music I listened to when I was young...that is where the true talent lies!

The tent

Annika coudn't wait to get the tent up this morning. We brought the tent with us to Mt. Lake since it hasn't been out of the bag for a couple of years now. The kids think they're going to sleep out there tonight and I'm like "no way Jose". I'm not looking forward to the weeping and wailing thats going to take place when I put the nix on it tonight.

Growing Up

So here I am in ND by myself (well, I am visiting my mom, but without Chan and the kids) and I went over to visit my grandparents tonight. All of a sudden it struck me that they are really old. I don't mean this in a disrespectful way, but for a moment, I was frozen and could only stare and think to myself  "when did my grandparents get this old?". It was shocking to have that realization. All of these amazing memories were rushing through my head: summers at the lake with my Grandma, riding bikes to the store with my Grandpa, the treats they used to buy us...

It really made me sad! Does everyone have this happen? My mom really doesn't seem any different to me...I am still wondering how I got this old! It's a crazy thing this growing up!

Today the kids are heading down to Mountain Lake after school while I head north for the Billy Joel concert. The conversation in the car was interesting to say the least!

Lukas "Annika, we're going to Grampa's house with the star that blew off"
Annika "No, we're going to see DEE Lyle. And mommy, I forgot, whats gramma's name?"
Me "Janice"
Annika " Yeah, we're going to see DEE Lyle and Janice. Mommy, Beste's name is Shelley right? And Auntie's name is Mandy right?"
Me "yes, you are very right!"
Lukas "but what's uncle Jason's name?" (imagine the drum and cymbal here!)

So on we went about what people's names were the whole way to school. I think it's pretty hilarious how concerned they are about people's "real" names! It drives me crazy when they call me Tonya! I have never liked my name, so it's even worse to hear it out the mouths of them! It's sounds so much sweeter when they call me mommy!

My first blog!

Wow! I am truly with the times now...I have started a blog...
and I thought Facebook was exciting!

Hopefully this will help all of the friends and family stay abreast of what's happening with the kids day to day since I know the grandmas and the grandpas don't get to see them every day!

We'll try to put updates in as much as possible!

Funny for the day: my first kid encounter of the day...Lukas wandering down the hall with his hand down his pants..."Hi Mommy! I have mud-buns" also...."Saxophones go woo-woo...I am gonna play a saxophone!"