Halloween 2018

Hermoine Granger/Harry Potter and a Vikings star came to live at my house over Halloween this year. We carved up some pretty great pumpkins; Tippi and Bob even got in on the action! 

These two spitfires (the kids, not the pets) are growing by leaps and bounds and are keeping me on my toes. School is going well for both kids and they seem to be learning more and more each day! They are smart and confident and way cooler than I was at their ages. They could also not be more different from one another if they tried. Where Jack is cautious, Anna is willing to take chances. While Anna likes getting dirty, Jack keeps away from anything too gross (see pictures of pumpkin carving below as an example!). Both are intelligent, compassionate and polite (mostly)! 

 

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Ryan and I are going through some life changes. He recently moved to an apartment down the street and the kids are splitting their time with us. Though incredibly sad at this time, we are hopeful that we will be able to reach a point where communication revolves around the kids and we are able to be civil, reasonable and kind. 

So, that's the life update as of this week. Who really knows when I will post again but my kids are cute, so there you have it. 

First Day of school

It's the first day of school 2018/2019! Jack is going into second grade with Mrs. Blons and Annalee is in Kindergarten with Mrs. May and Mrs. Schulz! We are so excited for today and I am really looking forward to hearing all about it when they get home. Both kids are riding the bus and Annalee was especially looking forward to that today!

 

 

 

Teeth and a Fairy

 

We have been losing teeth left and right since winter and this week both kids will have a visit from the tooth fairy! Annalee lost her second tooth this morning, May 22 and Jack lost his fourth (and first top tooth) on Sunday night. The poor tooth fairy forgot all about the latter until a 5:45 a.m. realization made her bolt over to the boy child's bed, hopeful he was still sleeping. That tooth fairy got the coin under the pillow, but did not dare take the tooth. Don't worry, though; she went back for it after he left for school! The excitement on Monday morning, with the realization that the tooth was still there, was palpable, though!


I realized when I came here to post that I forgot to update around Jack's birthday. Needless to say, Jack has turned 7 and is a tad bit crazier and more talkative than he was at 6. He is obsessed with cars, specifically muscle cars (thanks, Ryan) and can tell you pretty much any make and model that drives by. This has strongly impacted his little sister who is joining that bandwagon and can name more cars than I can at this point and both will probably be taking my car apart for fun in the next few years (not because I say they can, mind you). Car crazy people is not something I have ever experienced before and, let me tell you, they are a different breed. I look forward to the days when they all go to a car show together, "just to check things out," and I am able to stay back and read my book. Lame, some may say. Awesome, I say. Let them bond with their father over this little thing and he can be the guy they look to when they turn 16 and he gives them the keys to an old, run-down Toyota!


Both kids are currently playing baseball. Ryan is coaching the team that we were able to get them both on. They both say that they like it, but their attention spans during games leave something to be desired. I assume this gets better with age. Or, they choose another sport (soccer, IMO) that moves a bit quicker and is more fun. There is not much family agreement in this statement, though!


We don't have much in the way of plans for the summer. We hope to travel north to the farm as frequently as possible, but that may be left up to last minute decisions, depending on road construction. Both kids are going to camp this summer, same program as we have done in summers past, and are excited to see old friends and make some new ones!


Annalee is nearly done with preschool and will be entering Kindergarten in the Fall. She is incredibly excited for this new step, as well as excited for not having rest time anymore! She is over sleeping during the day, well, sleeping anytime, really. The girl child has a bad case of FOMO, so anytime people are over, sleep eludes her!


Jack started OT for his sensory stuff a couple months ago. I won't say much on here about it, rather plan on using this to document the start and end. It seems to be helping with a handful of his quirks. Interesting how therapy can be such a useful tool!


What else? So much is happening so quickly but life also seems to not change much from day to day. It is amazing to think that the kids are already 7 and 5. They are such wonders to us and we are so lucky they are healthy and, for the most part, happy children. Ryan works a lot and is still enjoying his job at SPINS. Life at CLP is the same for me as it has been for the last 11 years. We are all just plugging along, and hoping the tooth fairy remembers to check under the pillows from time to time.

Anna turns 5!

About the only time I seem to log onto this site is to post about birthdays, so here I am again, ringing in another year of Anna's life! Annalee is five!! Five years of living under the same roof as this spunky, happy, intelligent, beautiful little person who has the biggest heart that I have ever known. I am exhausted, because she does not really like to sleep through the night, but hey, we can handle that! Annalee, you hate wearing shoes, love wearing dresses, really dislike when Jack is picking on you and you would jump in to help even your worst enemy (of which you have none, because, let's face it, you're five).

We pulled out all the stops for this birthday, picking Anna up from school early to go get a pedi/mani with mom and then to build a bear for a new stuffed friend. The biggest surprise, however, turned out to be something that Dad said we would never get....a kitten! Ryan surprised everyone by going out and adopting a black kitten and bringing him home to catch mice. Annalee waivered between naming him Junior and Bobcat, but Bob won in the end and our Bob Cat is finding a nice home in Bloomington. He isn't so sure about poor old Tippi, but I am convinced that as soon as he figures out that she is a warm body during the cold winter months, they will be best of friends.

Within an hour, the kitten became old news, so we headed back to MOA (ugh) and went to dinner at the Rainforest Café so that Anna could have the birthday volcano. Then...rides for the girl. Jack and I headed to the lego store to play while Dad and Anna bonded over high flying fun.

So, there you have it! Annalee is five and the next birthday is only days away, when Ryan will turn 40! 40 is so old!!! Kidding, Ryan....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mud room take 2

Do it yourself projects always take so long! What we started back in October 2016 is nearing completion, though, and well, we think it looks great (always humble)!

We purchased the lockers and shoe rack from Home Depot online. We went to Ikea for the desks and storage cabinet. One Ikea trip with a design fully laid out turned in to four Ikea trips and a mish-mash of ideas that nearly ended with the return of a days work of assembled furniture. Turns out, Ryan knows how to design a room and I have ideas that tend to work better in my head than in completion. By then end of my assembly line job (all day on Sunday) my hands were sore and I was so crabby that I ended up saying "to hell with everything" and went to bed.

Luckily, with plenty of sleep and a new outlook on life, we did a little rearranging and came up with the layout you see below. We have two fully built pieces of furniture that will need to be returned, but we are confident that once we find a counter top for the shelf on the left, we will be quite happy with how the north wall in this room turned out. We will be adding shelves above the desk area another day to finish up the space. One desk area will be for my sewing machine, yarn and other crafts, the other side will be for homework, a computer, etc. I anticipate that the space will evolve as the kids get older, but this way, a desk with a computer is somewhere else besides their father's office and they will have access to it for games and homework whenever they so choose. And I will have an easier time keeping them in check with what they are using it for!

On the other side of this photo, there is a bathroom that is currently torn up. That is the next big project in the house and I will get the photos up once we begin on that big job! We purchased the same tile as is in the mud room, so there is a cohesive look on this entire floor. As the house is a four-level split, this area as soon as you come in from the garage is quite compact. It will be a great floor, though, once everything is done! The bathroom will be a bit tricky, as the venting is low in the area where the shower is currently set to be located. We will just have to make sure our guests are relatively short, I guess! 

Our adorable, strong-willed daughter and the story of the scissors

Still adorable, even without bangs. They will grow back and her escapade with scissors only broke her mother's heart slightly. She said she wanted to look like Sophie (a beautiful, older friend who has no bangs, only long hair).

 If she does it again, though, I may be tempted to cut it all off. I do believe that is what my mom would have done!

Jack is almost 6!

I brought Jack in to the doctor the other day, as his coughing and runny nose were just not going away. I asked, as it is so close to his birthday, if we could kill two birds with one stone and just get his well child visit out of the way while we were there. At age 6, they don't have much in the way of vaccinations, so we went ahead and booked him in for both things. The kid came home with drugs for allergies and the knowledge that he is the same size as most seven year olds! Jack measures at 42" high and weighs 55.6 lbs, which are both in the 91st percentile for age 6. Along with his 20x20 vision, Jack is riding the same line he has been since birth. That is to say, big for his age, but just right for his size.

Jack's personality is growing with him and is just as big as ever. He loves to help and his teachers told us that, while at school, the kid does not have a mean bone in his body (this is a bit different than at home, but we will take it!). He is reading at a pretty high level and is super smart. He likes to play with all the kids in the class and they said he does well wherever he is seated. That is not to say we haven't gotten emails home about his behavior. Turns out Jack likes to talk a lot in class and can be a bit disruptive. I attribute that currently to his age. Here's hoping I am right!

Mudroom remodel

The first project of this new house has begun. It all started on Ryan's birthday, when I gave the kids hammers and let them go to town on a closet that had been annoying me! They did fine work of the initial job and Ryan quickly took over gutting the room and the bathroom (not pictured, never pictured.) when he came home and saw what we were up to!

I will try to bring us up to date here on what has happened with this project thus far in the reno. The room that you see was filled with all the junk that we couldn't find a spot for when we moved in. Doors are great when spaces are big and empty! Once the closet was down, Ryan made quick work of moving all my junk and hiding it all over the house. I am still looking for a few boxes!

The floor was brought down to the concrete and then I spent an afternoon peeling wallpaper. Adam and Emily may make fun of me for bragging, but I kick wallpaper's butt every time! I am believed to be one of the best wallpaper removers in the country. Don't believe me? The walls have never been so smooth!

Anyhow! The wallpaper came down nicely and has been re-purposed into frames to hang at my unassuming siblings houses and we were ready for the next steps. Ryan spent an afternoon taking down shelves and paneling and pulling all the random nails out of boards. Some of the ceiling tiles in the shelved areas were glued, so that will be an interesting thing to work around when the time comes.

We had a pal of mine come in to look at the duct work, as it is an add-on from a different project. Unfortunately, he told us that with the width of the duct that is needed for the addition above the garage, there was no way to hide it in the joists. So, Ryan and Rob have built around it and put up drywall in the hopes that, although it is low, by painting it the same color as the ceiling and giving the whole thing a consistent look, it won't end up being too much of a bother.

Ryan spent another evening taping up the room with plastic to take down the popcorn ceiling. It is smooth as a baby's bottom now! Nice work, Ry!

After the popcorn, we had to tackle was the wiring! Boy, oh boy, was that a doosey! That one little switch that is hanging from the middle of the ceiling controls the light on the opposite side of the ducts. In order to get to it, Ryan ended up having to cut into the ceiling and pull new co-ax. After an eight hour battle with one switch, we ended up hiring out the electrical and the professionals installed five can lights and straightened out one of the issues we ran in to. We are still trying to figure out the other one!!

That leads us to this past weekend. Three months after the initial ripping out of the closet, Ryan took to tiling and got nearly the entire mudroom laid. Fantastic!!

Please note that in all of the above sentences, I loosely used the term "we". All that means is that I am going to have a fantastic mudroom put together by one fantastic guy!

More will come after the guy comes out to mud and tape. Everyone has told us that muding/taping is a job to hire out and we are not people who shy away from taking good advice. Especially when it means we don't have to try to do something we have no idea on how to do.

Stay tuned!

Happy 4th Birthday Anna!

Our baby girl turned 4 this past week. Her daddy turned 39 a couple days later! I always look forward to this week in October. Birthday cake, presents, happy faces, surprise visits, friends. You name it, it is just a great week. Coupled together with it being Fall, and I don't think we can ask for anything better! 

birthday party

Annalee asked for a costume/Vikings/Pokemon birthday party, so last weekend, we indulged her many dreams and had a handful of family and friends over to celebrate. The new house is a great spot to gather, as there is so much more space than we previously had. It was a beautiful day for a party, so the kids spent a bunch of time outdoors, playing. Annalee now has to think about getting her thank you letters in the mail! 

Fulton cousins

We headed to the doctor to see Dr. Berry for the last time, as he is retiring in December. Annalee is 3' 4.12" tall and keeping on with the 60th percentile in height. Her eyes are top notch and her hearing passed with flying colors. She is so smart that the Dr. asked if she might get to early enroll in Kindergarten next year. We will have to think on that one. I am not sure what the rules are in Bloomington or if we would even consider having her be the youngest in her class. We shall see. 

Friends! 

Oleson cousins and Cadence

This little girl is 4!

Birthday morning, pancakes by daddy

Ryan's birthday was a great day, full of ripping out a closet in the entry-way from the garage. Now comes the decisions about what we are going to do on that floor. A mudroom is the idea, but we are not sure if the bathroom will remain a 3/4 or become a powder room. It would be nice to keep a shower in, but the plumbing is such that we may have some issues. We have plenty of time to figure all of that out, I guess! After demolition, our friends Jessica and Matt took the kids for the night and we headed out to Betty Danger's Supper Club, complete with a ferris wheel ride. It was a great night and we were home early because we are getting older and just wanted to sleep! 

A trip to an apple orchard with Rob and Jamie rounded out the weekend in a nice way. It was chilly, but beautiful day outside and the kids got out some energy. Fall is seriously such a fun time of year! And having friends in Red Wing is sure a nice perk! Thanks for moving away from us, guys! 

An accident waiting to happen or these jokers just having fun?
Depends on my mood.

This is the only good photo Jack took where is tongue was in his mouth.