Thankfulness 2013: Day Twenty-One

Having worked at a home improvement store for 5+years and my husband even longer, we both have the theoretical knowledge to get through too many DIY projects in our house for our own good.  That pretty much means we have grand plans for every single area of the house in the long term plan.

The problem I run into is absolutely the lack of hands between the two of us.  For nearly every project we have tackled in home remodel we have had volunteers.  I am so thankful for the helpers in our lives.  It has ranged from child wranglers to demo enthusiasts to go-fers to all-out-builders.  I'm even more grateful for them now that we live so far away from them all.  The vast majority of our help is now a 3 hour or longer drive away.  They still come when they are able.  We have an amazing support system that goes (clearly very far) out of their way for us.

Thankfulness 2013: Day Twenty

All kids have it, mine just excel at driving me nuts with it.  Regardless, I am thankful for their curiosity and determination.  If they hold on to that natural instinct to understand things and figure them out down to the bare nuts and bolts, it can take a child so very far in life.  It is a combination that is crucial in any aspect of their lives and any path they choose to follow.  I hope that I do not stifle it even when I get irritated and end up at the end of my rope with the endless questions and messes.  From a toddler who opened the ziplock snack bags around the early side of 1 year old, to a 10 month old who topples garbage cans and climbs into cubbies much too small, this will always be a blessing in a very convincing disguise.

Thankfulness 2013: Day Seventeen

Six years ago I was bawling my eyes out.  I was doing pretty well at not crying until I saw my dad that day.  He was tearing up a little and that set me off.  I cried for the next half hour off and on.  Lovely pictures that makes of course.  It was my wedding, well, it was just before my wedding and during.  I was a very happy watering pot that evening.

I am so very thankful for my husband.  He has been an amazing partner, friend, supporter, shoulder, rock, father, and every other role he has played in our lives together.  I could not imagine a better man for me.  He sees me at my weakest and loves me.  He shows so much support when I am excited about something (he even looks over my cards and enthuses over them without my asking him to).  He knows me, quirks and downright oddities.  I am thrilled to have been with him through two deployments and two kids in our eight years together.  I can't wait to enjoy the evening with him when he gets home from drill...

I should really consider looking back over the last 6 years and see how many he has been away for though.  I think we are about half of them!  Oh well, army doesn't get put on hold for anniversaries.

Thankfulness 2013: Day Four

I am so incredibly excited to have a 'waterbaby' now.  Mr. Wyatt loves his baths and playing with water!  His sister (soon to be a four year old) still cries getting her hair washed and won't actually go into the water at a lake.  She is so confident that it surprises me when she shows her fear of water getting anywhere close to her head.

Happy clean baby!

I can't wait to see where her confidence takes her, but I'm thrilled and thankful for the different personalities in my kids.  Wyatt will be my pool and lake buddy, while Alyssa is my little movie goer and game playing partner right now.  I am looking forward to seeing what other talents and interests our kids develop and we can share with them.

Halloween 2013

Momma and Alyssa

This year was a bit too cool out for Mr. Wyatt to join us during Trick-or-Treating.  We skipped the costume for him since he was going to be home playing with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa who came down to visit us and man our own ToT bucket.

Auntie and Alyssa wearing witches hats!

Alyssa however, was ready to get out that door with her Auntie and Momma and Papa.  She used her light-up wand (a Harry Potter wand from Barnes and Noble because I was sick of the umpteen breakable cheapies turning me into a frog or rabbit daily and splurged as the only required costume piece for her).

Unicorn Rider and Witch (who happens to be wearing a unicorn!)

We were just ready to get out the door and the big surprise showed up...FRIENDS!!!!  Now we had a Unicorn-riding costumed buddy to go trick-or-treating with so the night got infinitely better!  The adventures ranged from potty training requirement #1: Momma sacrificing pride and asking to use a stranger's bathroom (I did remove my mask before requesting entry to her house), all the way to a three-year-old totally 'burning' her father when he runs into something and she offers up her lighted wand "so you can see where you going"!

It was a great night and we were so happy to have our trick-or-treating buddies with us to make our night great

Pumpkin Patch Party

Our realty office that worked with us on the purchase of our current house sent out invites to join them for a small Halloween pumpkin patch party. It was held outside their office building and it was a chilly and windy day per MN luck.  Of course it was sunny but the event was in the shade of the building sadly which meant that it didn't help one whit.

It would have been a great event if the lines for things such as balloon animals (or flowers as the blurry yellow and green object in the photo is) or the wonderful face painting stand had been in the sunlight!  So while it was a fun hour of diversion, we stayed long enough to stand in the two lines, pick out the pumpkins for the kids and bundle back into the car and out of the biting wind.  Hopefully we get a warmer event next year!

Exploring Locally: Apple Orchards

One of my favorite fall activities has always involved eating.  My parents' house out in the country had some crab apple trees and that was one thing that I enjoyed.  I ate a few of them off the tree each year even when it was awfully tart.  My grandparents have multiple apple trees in their backyard also and they pick apples every year and freeze, bake, and can them (ready made pie filling!!).  Last year we found out that there is a local apple orchard not too far out of the suburbs around here.  Alyssa was 2 1/2 and we had a lot of fun picking apples, seeing the farm animals, and checking out the area in general.  Of course that meant that we HAD to go back this year!

We got to the orchard and unlike last year, we were there without any crowds.  Yay for weekdays!  It was seriously windy but it was a perfect temperature out to be hiking through an orchard.  My sister came for a visit so we got to drag her along as a kid helper too.  Alyssa loves tagging along with Auntie no matter where we are.  Even with the massive aphid problems this year, we were able to fill our bag to the brim in a relatively quick amount of time.  We missed out on the animals this year because we didn't see where they had moved to in the remodel until we were leaving.  As it was nearly past supper time already, it wasn't such a huge loss.

I'm looking forward to trying my hand at baking some yummy fall treats and possibly weaseling that canned pie filling recipe out of my grandmother for an ice cream topping!

Alyssa and Momma at the Orchard--Sept 2013

**No location, business, or individual has asked me to write these Exploring Locally posts.  I've taken all trips upon myself and at my own discretion.  I am merely sharing with you some fun ways that we pass our time and tour our own local area!**

With this ring...

Nearly six years, one deployment, and a nearly non-stop honeydo list for my DIY-er.  This is what my husband's ring has lasted through.

That is a Tungsten ring.  Those ones that they bang around and scratch with metal files to show how tough they are.  I have no idea when this happened precisely, but my husband is at annual training for the Army Guard....so yeah.  TaDa!

I guess we will be looking at new bands when he gets home and figuring out where in the budget timeline that goes.  Still, I'm rather impressed with that damage (and so was the jeweler when I asked if it could be repaired at all--Tungsten isn't repairable).

The Value of Photos

Our Venture Photography Mosaic!

I adore these photos!  I think they are so fun and they are perfect for the family room atmosphere.  It was an investment because they weren't cheap but I put a lot of value on family photos.  Capturing not only an image, but a feeling or a personality through a camera is not a simple challenge.  They may hire anyone who can point and click at the basic studios and many of those photos turn out nicely, but they are so similar to every photo we've taken before.

Venture Photography is a studio-based photography experience but with the personalization of having an on-site photographer.  Their studio is large enough to hold horses...really, they've done it!  You bring ANYTHING with (almost) that shows off what your family does and who you are.  You don't have a 15-30 minute slot where you fit in a bunch of standard poses.  You have an hour and you play, you dress up, you do whatever kinds of things you'd do at home.  Your kids get relaxed and glow for the camera.  That dreaded 'say cheese' isn't heard within the building unless *mom* slips up...oops!

I have no doubt in my mind that we will save up to do this again.  Our goal is to be able to do this every 5 years.  Wether that happens or not will of course depend upon what life throws at us, but it would be absolutely wonderful.

They aren't very spread out in the U.S. but they are great if you're nearby!  They began in the U.K. so they are an international set-up and neat to check out.  (US, UK, and Hong Kong locations)

**No location, business, or individual has asked me to write this post.  I simply wished to share a product and business that I've personally utilized.  I received nothing in exchange for my post.**

...and then there were three.

It's that time of year again for this guard family.  Annual Training!  I am going two and a half weeks with a teething baby and a toddler milking the last half of age three for all it is worth in tantrums and stubbornness!  No backup.  My "battle buddy" is off keeping his skills honed for any future deployments.  So....

Day One:  Last coin lost at 5pm. I "ruined her birthday!" I was pretty sure I had a few months to plan that event but apparently I simply forgot what day of the year she was born AND forgot to plan a party.  Crap.  I look forward to the teen years when the storming to the room is accompanied by at least a half hour of sulking.  For now I get a 2 minute shouting from the door and then returning to sulking in my presence paired with the random fit over the same thing.

Exploring Locally: Children's Museum

So....I absolutely hate driving to new places myself.  I don't trust 'big city' drivers and when I don't know where I'm going I get exponentially more nervous.  Pairing those two things with two kids who may or may not cry, yell, or demand something at any given moment in a car...well, you can see my hesitation to go to downtown St. Paul.

So my husband had a half day and picked us up to meet up with some family at the Children's Museum downtown.  We hadn't been there yet (the hours and a normal work schedule don't mix perfectly) and I was intrigued by posts that I've seen from other friends over the last year.

Ant Hill Running!

There was a ton to explore so we will definitely be going back (a few times more with Papa driving so I can get all my routes figured out better)!  They had a large ant hill (above), a beaver's dam (below), and some visiting exhibits like Dora and Diego or the exercise one which was pathetically empty when we got there.  Of course this last was good news for us because the kids and the adults got to have a blast without worrying about running over, or being ran over by, other kids!

Beaver Alyssa sliding out of her dam

There are some really fun exhibits that we could easily spend the whole day playing with!  This may become a frequent new indoor location for us if I can get my nerves beaten down to drive there myself.

Turtle Alyssa!

Dora's Rocket

Astronaut Wyatt

Astronaut Pilot Alyssa

Eventually I got into the exploring and forgot to take any more pictures!  If you take a trip to the Cities, you can check out the Children's Museum with your kids!  Here is a link to their website for more info on their exhibits, fees, etc.

**No location, business, or individual has asked me to write these Exploring Locally posts.  I've taken all trips upon myself and at my own discretion.  I am merely sharing with you some fun ways that we pass our time and tour our own local area!**

Exploring Locally: Butterfly Garden

Sometimes you just need to look around and see what there is to do near you.  Get out and explore your local entertainments!  We had some fun when the zoo opened their butterfly garden and we finally got a chance to get there to visit it.

**No location, business, or individual has asked me to write these Exploring Locally posts.  I've taken all trips upon myself and at my own discretion.  I am merely sharing with you some fun ways that we pass our time and tour our own local area!**

The Epic of Monday...

Some days are just too fantastic to be believed...those of us with toddlers can believe just about anything though.  Which is probably why this epic will resonate with your own experiences.

We haven't been able to take the gate down at night for our toddler.  She is too independent and headstrong to come into my room and get me in the morning.  It used to be that she would just go get into anything that she normally is not supposed to so we had to put the gate back up.  In our new house there is a flight of stairs that leads to a basement family room.  She isn't used to stairs from the old house.  I was a nervous Momma, glad to keep the gate up a little longer.  Now that she tries to potty train some mornings, I can't have the gate up if she is going to be independent like she wants to be with her potty training experience.  So......

8:15AM

*calling from a distance*  "Momma!!  Me went out in the RAIN!!"

Momma jumps from her bed and runs to the living room to see Alyssa taking off rain boots and coat in the dining room looking extremely proud of her adventure and being able to let herself back in without help.

"Me no get any wet, Momma."  Grinning and pleased at how well behaved she was to get all her gear on and play out in the wet morning with her chalk on the backyard steps.

She doesn't even remember that she is NOT allowed to go outside without someone.  She probably has forgotten that just last night she was asked to not color on the steps and to keep it to the sidewalk at the bottom of the steps instead.  She hasn't even realized that it isn't raining but just wet from the rain overnight.  She is so proud of herself and I'm horrified at what could have happened.  Wyatt slept in, she didn't wake me....she went out back instead of the front, thankfully!  She was able to get back in without help, thankfully!  She put on rain gear so that her sockless feet wouldn't get too chilled....

I tell her sternly in the split second that I've had to register all of what could have happened that she DOES NOT GO OUTSIDE WITHOUT ME!  I watched her proud stance melt a little.  She looked a little confused about why I wasn't so excited about her doing such a great job with remembering her rain gear and coming in dry and 'all myself'.  The next moment is where I realize that stern time is over. She knows.  She forgets.  She is three and did some really smart things while she was being forgetful.

"I'm glad you didn't get wet, Alyssa.  Can you pick up your boots and coat?  Next time you want to go outside you have to remember to come get me first.  I'm glad you were able to open the door all by yourself to come back in!"

I don't have any idea how long she was out there.  It scares me...there will be some new toddler-proofing today though I'm not sure what yet.

----A few minutes later, I'm mixing a bottle for the little guy who is just waking up to the voices.----


**WARNING: Potty Stories are rarely pleasant...and not for the weak stomachs.**



"Me have to go POTTY!"
"Okay, go in there."
*sounds of diaper being taken off and climbing onto the toilet*
*sounds of running out of the bathroom*
"Me already pooped!"

......ALYSSA!  Ughhhh, ew.

Has it sunk in yet?  Diaper came off but she already pooped?  Yup.  My bathroom has already met with toddler grossness and thankfully survived the event.  So, after cleaning up the tub side, the floor where it landed, and the toilet where she dragged her little gross butt across...

8:28AM

Monday has officially begun.

Bathroom Overhaul 2013

Our house has been hectic lately!  We had that week away followed immediately by a bathroom overhaul.  This is the first major project for the house and it was the top of our list.  I mean, you can only live with a tub/shower that has a register (AC/Heat) in it--think toddler bath time.

Yes, that is a window that you can see through easily there also.

Demo started on Monday afternoon (having returned home Saturday night).  My husband worked his job and then came home to do this big project with the help of his younger brother (13).  My job was to keep the kids out of the way.  Easier said than done with a curious three year old and loud noises!

The floor broke up a lot easier than they thought it would be...considering that one of the previous owners built up the floor with over an inch and half of concrete before tiling....over an old floor which was on top of the subfloor.  Oh, and it had the metal rolls through the whole thing!  It was also used as a corner form with the sheetrock/tile on the walls.


After that mess got cleaned up we had a blank slate.  Okay, so there really wasn't any way to reconfigure it when the door stays in place as does the plumbing.  But at least we could do everything else new!

Slowly the bathroom is getting put back together.  A week later we had the new tub and surround in, the electrical and plumbing completed, the register relocated, the laundry chute moved a bit further from the tub, and the window replaced.  I can hardly wait to have a complete bathroom across the hall from me again rather than in the basement (in an unfinished half without walls or door to separate it from the laundry!  We have the toilet installed, the sink is in (but not hooked up), and the shower will be the next step (right after the window trimming!).  I'll get some pictures of a finished bathroom up in the midst of my overwhelming excitement I'm certain.

Just a taste of what is going on still.

Card Making and Resolutions

Do you adore cards?  I love searching through the card aisles for hilarious or heartfelt messages.  My favorites are usually found among the Papyrus brand.  I simply love the handmade look and the oftentimes simple designs.  This is probably one of the reasons I decided I wanted to make cards instead of purchase them.  At typically $3 per card, and 4 Mother's Day or 5 Father's Day cards each year (that would be 9 total for me to buy--I buy for my grandmas and grandpas) just those holidays alone made it worth a try.

We are approaching Father's Day and I have not purchased a single card this year.  We've had birthdays, the Valentines, Mother's, and Father's holidays, and graduations, and even one bridal shower.  I have been LOVING the time spent card making.  Shapes and colors are what it comes down to artistically.  This is perfect for me as my siblings got the physical talents of music and art, I simply have the 'ear' or the 'eye' respectively for those talents.  When it comes to colors, that is my area of art.  I love to work with colors and textures but I can't draw a stick figure to play hangman.

I'm progressing in techniques and embellishments but I'm still very much a beginner.  Catch a recent glimpse at where I've been in this adventure:

Metalic Markers!

Love the lined paper (it is a heavyweight and dry embossed with alphabet).

Later I added "Grandpa" vertically...gotta work on my spacing that direction.

Love my gears dry embossing folder.

I love the texture this embossed frame gives when it is cut out!

Ribbon flower and traditional paper pattern!

Matched up the black paper with the green after embossing and added some ribbon accent threaded through.  (Added the age later because my Mom wouldn't appreciate if I posted that online for all to see!)

I am loving the progress I've made (if I had pictures of my work from the beginning of the year, I'd show you, I swear).  This is exactly what I wanted to accomplish as my "New Year Resolution"!  Progress in a skill, something tangible but not with pressure behind it.

I'm proud of these even if they still have visible flaws.  Trust me, I can see them, but I put a lot more effort into these than I did picking out the perfect card from the store before.

Too Much Fun

Some days are full of fun!  We had a long day playing at drill (family day).  Our toddler had story time, art projects, and an obstacle course in the gym while the adults took care of some classes.  Then there was more playing (for everyone) after lunch.

After all this, we drove the hour home and went grocery shopping for the week.  After supper Alyssa really wanted to go outside so we took our little dog on a short walk.

Toddlers, full day of fun, tired, and won't hold hands....end result, a sad and hurt little girl.  Her face met the concrete after tripping over some invisible nothing.  Poor kid had too much fun.

Dating

Hey there...come here often?  Oh yeah, I'm usually the one chasing a little blonde girl and pushing a handsome little babbler in a monstrous double long stroller...We mostly stick to the Barnes and Noble lego or train table.

Don't you love meeting up with someone you so rarely get to see out of certain contexts?  You know, people like your siblings away from your parents.  Girlfriends without the kids.  HUSBANDS without kids?  That is the novelty that we had.

We get the occasional trip to a store without the kids.  Valentine gifts (tickets to a comedy show) that require driving 4hrs to get to--luckily with a set of grandparents in between to drop off a couple kids who would not be appropriate audience for said show.  A Christmas party for his company...Oh, there was the hospital stay while Wyatt was asleep in his newborn state of nearly constant unconsciousness too!

Typically our 'alone time' is filled with schoolwork, crafting of greeting cards, catching up on the latest NCIS or NCIS LA, or apart altogether doing errands of sorts while the other is home.  If we are both home, we are lucky to only have to remind Alyssa that bedtime is required or 'tomorrow' doesn't come and if she doesn't sleep NOW...a handful of times.  If we have a miracle night, there aren't any tears coming from behind a gated toddler's door.

So while our friends are tag-teaming our kids alongside their own toddler, we celebrated still being adults with tastes that run more mature than My Little Pony or chicken nuggets and french fries.  (Well, maybe not much more mature than french fries...)

We highly recommend Iron Man 3....but stay until after all the credits have run through.  Now back to the standard parental lifestyle of attempting to remember to NOT pull our hair out, we'll go bald naturally eventually anyways from stress hormones.

Rummaging!

I love this season!

Seriously, garage sales galore and weekends in which to sift through every offering...*bliss*  Now if only I could do it without the kids!

I was lucky last weekend to have a sale a couple houses down from us.  I got to meet those neighbors, spent some time outside, and bribed good behavior out of the toddler by offering up the park down the way after some rummaging.  I love that she is still young enough to not have figured out we would've been going to the park anyways because of the lovely weather.  HA!

Look at how perfect the condition is!  So beautiful even if I never improve my sewing skills enough to do it justice.

A few weekends ago was the ECFE hosted multi-sale at a local school.  We didn't score as big as I wanted to in the jeans department for a certain little man who is growing by leaps and bounds but we did find a treasure nonetheless.

That used to be a white and powdery blue Little Tikes table.  Now it is a purple, green, and CHALKBOARD spray painted Little Tikes table.  (Did y'all know that the amazing chalkboard paint is in spray cans now?!?)

Yup, we are having a load of fun with the rainy day chalk now and finally have a kids' table for all sorts of activities.  Now we just need another nice day with no wind to get the chairs from their powdery blue glory to updated and fun purple and green.

Do y'all frequent rummage sales?  Got any tricks when dealing with toddlers at rummages?

First Foods! (Pictures and Video)

TaDa! Mmmm?

Waiting for the first bite...

The first food...I love it!  It is always fun to see how they react to new experiences and as expected, the impatience to be fed wins out for the very first bowl.  When he masters the whole gumming part we will up the consistency and pick out the first fun food!  YAY!  (Wow the doctor recommendations sure have changed in only 3 years...go ahead and talk to your pediatrician if you're close to this stage because we apparently could have skipped rice altogether now!)  Anyways...a small glimpse at meal time around here now:

I know....he was pretty boring in the video but c'mon, that rice stuff has NO flavor.  We can't expect anything exciting when he doesn't get to eat something exciting!

Loving the spoon thing

Clownin' Around the Playground

We made our first trip to the local playground at our new house finally (in between our multiple winters--melt, snow, melt, snow...SIGH).  It was a lot of fun even if our little man looks put out for only getting to swing.

Alyssa had fun being a monkey on some new things to climb...

Then there are the classics...

Driver.

Foreman and her worker.

...and of course, the swing?

Ummmmmmm....yeah.

Kinda creepy but I think it is the older part of the park that they kept.  The seats are neat though as they are baby swings with one side open to form an actual seat for that toddler who can't quite balance when swinging by themselves.