So, I did not scream at my children last night. Go me. However, I did scream for my children last night. Let me explain. When I got home from work last night Levi was still napping. But Kris said he wasn’t feeling well that afternoon and threw up all his lunch. That would explain the little steam cleaner sitting by the garage door when I came in. Levi woke up, we ate dinner, we played…all seemed normal. Until as he was sitting on my lap on the living room floor he threw up…all over his shirt, my shirt, my pants, his pants and even the carpet a bit. I couldn’t “catch” it all there was so much. Yeah. So I cradled him (so no more would spill) and headed for the kitchen sink. And that’s when I started yelling for Annika. She and James were in my bedroom watching “Shake It Up” on Netflix. I had to scream three times before she heard me and came down, annoyingly asking what I wanted. (Her attitude sometimes…) I told her Levi threw up again and I needed her to go get both him and I a new shirt and pants to wear. She does have a little heart of gold underneath the attitude and she scampered back up the stairs as quickly as she could. When she came back down I stripped both Levi and I in the middle of the kitchen and changed us both, hosing Levi’s feet and legs off in the sink. Then I steam cleaned the carpet and brought the messy clothes upstairs and washed them off in our laundry tub. That laundry tub has come in handy a couple times now! Levi went back to acting normally – no extra clinginess or crabbiness and we had a good rest of the evening. Right at bedtime he asked for something to eat so we gave him a couple cheese sticks and a clementine along with a little milk. He kept it down for thirty minutes and so I put him to bed as normal. Not 15 minutes later we heard him crying and sure enough, there was his snack all over his blankets and his face. Poor kid. Kris and I tag teamed the clean up (he always takes the bedding while I attend to the child – we make a great team) and got Levi settled back down again. Luckily we didn’t hear from him again all night. I’m hoping he’s better today. I’m also hoping no one else gets whatever bug he has.
Kris filled out his nursing school application last night. It’s due today and I’ll be dropping it off at lunch time. The deadline for the application is February 1st so we won’t probably hear if he’s accepted until a few weeks after that. I’m crossing my fingers that he gets in!
Tomorrow I’m going to Annika’s classroom to teach her class! It will be my first experience teaching 24 first graders, or really any class at all since high school when I “taught” Sunday school to 3 and 4 year olds. I’m volunteering with the Junior Achievement program and the first grade curriculum focuses on families and wants and needs. Hopefully Annika’s class, that has been in trouble for excessive talking in the past, can focus and listen. On a Friday afternoon at the end of the day? Well, we’ll see. I’m still kind of excited to do it but nervous too! I’ll be teaching for a half hour for the next five Friday afternoons.
Last night was a disaster at home. We sat down to eat a meal we’ve never made before. We had chicken enchiladas with tomatoes, cheese and some cream cheese based “Santa Fe cooking creme“. It was delicious but before Annika even took a bite she declared she didn’t like it and didn’t want to eat it. Dinner has become such a struggle with both her and James. James ate a few bites, declared he liked it, agreed that we should make it again and then caught wind that Annika didn’t like it or something and changed his mind to saying he didn’t like it. And then Kris finished his dinner and left for work and I continued to battle with the kids to get them to eat. Levi, my only remaining “good” eater, ate a bunch of his and even grabbed a few tomatoes off Annika’s plate. My precious baby got the “good kid award” last night, that’s for sure. I’m not proud of the yelling I did last night but sometimes my frustration runs over. Do the kids like tortillas? Yes. Chicken? Yes. Cheese? Yes. Cooked tomatoes? James Yes. Annika No. So why wouldn’t they eat it? They didn’t like the “sauce.” I made them eat a whole bunch of it anyway (maybe 1/3 of what they were served) and then sent them to the basement to play. I was done and angry and didn’t want to see their precious faces for a while. I’m sure they were tired of me too. Every parent has those nights, right? We had a pleasant bedtime routine with baths and books and kisses and hugs. Thank goodness kids have forgiving hearts and short memories. I love my kids. I really do. But I am so tired of struggling to get them to eat sometimes. We usually use the “eat as many bites as how old you are” rule but last night I made them eat even more than that. Just to be mean, probably, but really out of frustration. Please tell me this is just a phase and that they won’t be this finicky forever. They weren’t always like this. I especially hate when they “like” a meal one time and then “dislike” a meal the next time we make it. Or they’ll eat it in a restaurant (stir-fry with rice noodles for example) but won’t eat it at home. Argh. At bedtime last night Annika asked if tonight we’d make a dinner she likes. *sigh* We can’t have mac ‘n cheese and hot dogs or peanut butter sandwiches every night, dear daughter. After they were in bed I went and took a relaxing, whirlpool bath. Kris poked his head in once and I even told him I needed some “alone time.” And then I got out of the tub and went to bed. Today is a new day. My patience has been renewed and hopefully tonight will be better.
It has been a very busy few weeks. Christmas and New Years has come and gone and you’d think with almost two weeks off work that I’d have time for a post or two. Guess not, huh? Because I don’t feel like I spent a lot of time just sitting around! This may be a marathon post if I put in all the details so I guess we’ll see but here is a bulleted list of all the fun things we’ve done in the past few weeks:
• We closed on our old house on Friday, December 23rd
• We went to Erin’s birthday party on Friday night, December 23rd
• We celebrated Christmas with Nana, Papa, Carrie, Adam, Isak, Hans, Dusty, Melanie and Mabel on Saturday, December 24th
• We celebrated Christmas with Gramme, Krystle, Pierce and Ayla on Sunday, December 25th
• We celebrated Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma on Monday, December 26th
• We had a playdate with Ryan, Erin and Charlie at our house on Tuesday, December 27th
• We cleaned the house and caught our breath at home on Wednesday, December 28th
• We had a nice visit at our house with Are, Jessie, Mia and Vanja on Thursday, December 29th
• Krystle, Gramme, Annika and I had manicures and pedicures on Friday, December 30th
• We hosted game night in our new house for the first time on Friday, December 30th
• We celebrated at Nick and Lindsay’s wedding with Gramme watching the 4 grandchildren (and 2 granddogs) overnight on Saturday, December 31st
• We celebrated at Grant’s graduation party on Sunday, January 1st
• We had a nice visit at our house with Nana and Papa on Monday, January 2nd
Do you see that? We’ve had 1 day without plans in the last 12 days! No wonder I’m exhausted and sick. I couldn’t call in sick to work on my first day back after an extended break though so I toughed it out at work today. Hopefully I can get to bed on time tonight so I can get some decent rest. Now, let’s walk through each of those fun things above and talk about them in more detail!
We were scheduled to close on the old house on Thursday, December 22nd. All five of us plus the buyers and their 21 month old son sat at the title company office for almost three hours that afternoon. And we left with us still owning the house! It was frustrating but while all of our paperwork was there and signed, the buyers lender was having issues with their computer system and couldn’t get the paperwork to export from their system and sent over to the title company. So we all left frustrated. We got an e-mail around 1:20pm the next day saying the paperwork was ready and we’d close at 2:30pm. We all converged back on the title company office for another hour but this time left with signed paperwork and an officially closed house. We handed over the keys and garage door openers and then ran out of there to get to Erin’s party on time.
Party! Erin turned 6 on the 23rd and we were invited to their house to have dinner and dessert with them. The kids were so excited! It had been a while since they had played together and as soon as we walked in Annika and James had run off to play with their friends. Maria had made us a very good dinner and when Erin opened her gifts from us she seemed to like them. Maria said she had spread them both out the next day across the kitchen table and was having a blast with them. The kids were sad to leave and we had already set a date for a playdate the next week. Maria gave each of the kids little goodie bags and the boys’ bags included Hex Bugs. Levi really likes his Hex Bug. He likes to put it in his mouth (of course) and let the bug vibrate on his teeth. He also loves to put his Hex Bug on the floor and then squeal when it comes near him. He loves it. We sang happy birthday to Erin, enjoyed her ice cream cake and then we had to go soon after that to get the kids home and in bed. I don’t like having to drive to their house. Boo for being so far away!
On Saturday the 24th we gathered up the kids, the presents, the food, the fancy clothes and the dog and went down to Nana and Papa’s house. We were the first ones there and Annika and Nana had a nice time playing with paper dolls. James and Levi had fun playing with the trucks and tractors in the office. We tried to get Levi to take a nap and he did take a short one in the pack ‘n play. Mid afternoon Dusty, Mel and Mabel joined us and shortly after that Carrie, Adam, Hans and Isak arrived via train from North Dakota. James had fun tracking the train online with Papa. When they arrived we said hello quickly and then all changed so we could get to church on time. Nana and Papa were singing in the choir so Carrie, Dusty and our families sat in a pew together with Aunt Anita. Uncle Jim was the pastor that day and it was nice to hear him preach and to sit with Aunt Anita. Levi has a hard time sitting still during an hour long church service so we sent him up and down the aisle to spend time with all the adults. At least it gave me a break from trying to entertain him and keep him quiet. When we got home from church, we finished getting dinner ready and then all sat down to eat together. It was a lovely and ethnic meal! We had lutefisk and Swedish meatballs along with the mashed potatoes and white sauce. The kids all love Swedish meatballs! No comment on the lutefisk… Everything was delicious though, especially the almond bread I had for dessert! All that was left was presents! We had a hard time keeping the kids under control. They just wanted to rip into all the presents all at the same time. I’m not sure who gave what to each kid but I do know that they love all the gifts they received. Books, trucks, keyboards, pajamas, etc. have all been read and played with and loved. Isak was funny. He’s two and has the patience of a 2 year old and would just start ripping into something. We had to ask him a couple times to wait and you could just see it was torture for him! After all the wrapping paper had been cleared away we put the new Christmas pajamas on all six grandchildren, lined them up on the couch and pleaded with them to smile so we could get a picture. This is the best picture I got: (It’s not too bad!)
The Froyum cousins - Mabel, James, Annika, Hans, Levi, Isak
Christmas morning the kids let us sleep in until about 7:30am. We left Levi to sleep more and sat down to open presents with Annika and James. Annika stated matter-of-factly upfront that the package from Santa was not big enough to be an American Girl doll like she requested at the top of her list to Santa. She didn’t seem overly disappointed so we just rolled with it. We left the Santa presents for last and had the two of them take turns opening their gifts from us. Their reactions are so funny sometimes. Annika opened her new roller skates and simply said “But I already have roller skates.” I asked if they fit her anymore and she said she didn’t think so and then the light bulb went off that hey, these might fit her and there ya go, a good gift. James showed the proper amount of delight over each gift, even when unsure what that gift actually was. Twister? What is this Twister game you gave me? After an explanation and later, an actual game of it, he liked it more. Annika looked puzzled at her new purple dress, wondering if it was a shirt or a dress. I told her it was a short dress that she could wear with leggings and that it was made by the same company as one of her favorite blue short-sleeve shirts. Then she was on board and has worn it at least three times since then. Levi woke up just as Annika and James were finishing their presents from us so we made time for Levi to sit down and open his presents too. He’s too young this year to really understand what’s going on and wasn’t much interested in opening his gifts. I helped him out to hurry us along a little bit. Then it was time for Santa! Annika opened hers and while it was indeed not the American Girl doll she hoped for, it was a Rapunzel dress-up dress. And guess what – it was also on her Christmas list to Santa! Well, what do you know?! James thought his monster remote control truck was cool and big which is just what he wanted and Levi thought his new Little People train was cool although James commandeered it and played with it more than Levi did those first couple days. It wasn’t too long that they were able to play and then I was hustling them to their rooms to get dressed.
We spent Christmas Day with Gramme, Krystle, Pierce and Ayla at Gramme’s house. We arrived at 10am to a beautiful brunch laid out with the good china in Gramme’s formal living room. We like to get fancy on Christmas! All of the food was so, so good as were the mimosas! The kids were anxious to open presents so after the dishes were cleared we sat down in the living room and Annika handed out the gifts to everyone. We were all spoiled rotten as usual but Annika was spoiled the most. Gramme gave her the coveted American Girl doll that Annika had been asking for. Annika got real quiet when she opened it so we couldn’t tell right away how excited she was. It wasn’t the exact doll she asked for (Kit) but it was one that looked like her. Annika gets self-conscious with all the attention on her and withdraws and that’s what she was doing here. She loved it though. She even got another outfit for her doll from Krystle and Pierce and Ayla that she loves. Emily (she’s named the doll Emily) has a special place in her room where she sleeps and she travels around the house with Annika to participate in most of Annika’s play. Annika loves her so much. James received a water gun which will be great fun this summer. Levi received a zoo duplo set from both Gramme and Krystle and Pierce and Ayla. Fortunately they were complementary sets which was great and are a fun addition to our Duplo stash. Kris received a nice book and game and I got a red vest and a sewing machine. I have made my first sewing project, a blanket for Emily, and didn’t do too terribly bad for my first sewing experience in probably 20 years! We spent the afternoon with Gramme before heading home for the evening. It was a really nice day.
We had one more Christmas celebration. The day after Christmas we went to Grandpa and Grandma’s house for a delicious meal at noon. Turkey, salad, potatoes, appetizers, wine…I could go on. It was all so good. Once again after eating we convened in the living room and doled out the presents. Annika was being awful – she could only find one gift under the tree with her name on it and she was acting like a spoiled princess because one present wasn’t enough for her. I hope this is a phase and that the gratitude lessons I try to instill in her will take hold. I had some harsh words for her in private letting her know I was disappointed. I hope to not see a repeat performance of that behavior. What she didn’t know was that Grandpa and Grandma had bean bags for all three kids and because they are big and difficult to wrap, they had hid them in the basement. When Grandpa came to the living room with them at first the kids didn’t really know what they were. It didn’t take long for them to jump on them and starting playing with them. We now have bean bag chair games in the loft at our house. I just have to keep an eye on them because James tried to roll down the stairs on his bag one time and then Levi the mimic thought he should try it too. Ugh. Anyway, Grandpa and Grandma were very generous and gave us a gift card for trees and shrubs for our house this spring. I already can’t wait to break ground. We played a couple games and then it was time once again to head for home. Annika always asks now if we can play dominoes when we go to their house. She plays on her own and is getting better and better at it. It’s so fun to include the kids in our games now! James plays on Grandpa’s team. I bet in a couple years he’ll be playing solo too.
We didn’t slow down the next day. We invited our old neighbors Ryan, Erin and Charlie over for a play date. The kids were excited to see each other and spent the first 20 minutes running and screaming through the house. As usual they calmed down and played so well together for 2-3 hours. It was nice to visit with Maria while they played. I don’t see her much anymore!
The Wednesday of Christmas week was our only day with no plans. We cleaned up around the house and relaxed. It’s nice to have those days every once in a while.
Thursday Are, Jessie, Mia and Vanja came over for a visit. They came over from Norway for a visit with family and friends over the Christmas holiday and we were so excited they could fit us into their schedule. Are brought Kris another bottle of Aquavit. Our last one was gone (sadly – heh) so Are needed to replenish us. Man, that stuff is awful but it’s kind of a long-running joke now that whenever Are comes to visit he brings Kris a bottle. Annika was being an ungracious host which was again making me mad. We had just cleaned up her room and she was upset that the girls were dumping out the Barbie and Polly Pocket stuff and mixing them together and making a mess. Um, isn’t that exactly what you’re supposed to do on a playdate? I assured her we’d clean it back up again after they left but to just enjoy the girls while they’re here. Jessie and I talked about the girls and activities and even though they are in a completely different country we have surprisingly similar routines and opinions on priorities for our children. Some things are just universal, aren’t they?
Friday of that holiday week was a big day for Annika. Thanks to a couple groupons Krystle and I purchased, Annika, Gramme, Krystle and I went to have manicures and pedicures that afternoon. We went to a small salon in St. Louis Park where they had 2 pedicure chairs and 2 manicure stations. Basically we had the whole place to ourselves for the majority of our visit. Annika and I had pedicures first. Annika’s still so little (except, not really, of course) that her little legs didn’t reach very far into the water. And she couldn’t sit back in the chair and feel the massage feature. But I think she liked it anyway. She chose an electric blue color for her toes. Then we moved to the manicure stations while Krystle and Gramme moved to the pedicure chairs. Annika was a polite, shy little girl and did whatever the technicians asked her to do. At first when they would ask her to do something she would look at me for approval and I would tell her to listen to them. She got the hang of it though and had pretty pink nails at the end of the manicure. Gramme just about didn’t make it through her pedicure though. Gramme has notoriously ticklish feet. She was fine with most of the massage but when the pumice stone came out she turned into a giggle monster. She had to ask the technician to stop a couple times so she could regain some composure. Of course Krystle and I just laughed along with her. It was entertaining to say the least!
Before we left for our spa afternoon though we welcomed Uncle Mathias home. He drove straight through from his home in Texas and arrived at our house about 11:30am. He was tired (of course – it’s a 24 hour drive!) but we were excited to see him! He brought his boxer puppy, Dakota, with him and Dakota and Dagur had a blast chasing each other around the house and playing. It was like father and daughter, the two dogs looked so similar!
Why was Mathias in town? Because we had two family weddings to celebrate! First up was Nick and Lindsay’s New Year’s Eve wedding. We put on our fancy clothes that Saturday to go to the wedding. The wedding was beautiful and the reception location was very nice. It was at a golf course and reminded Kris and I of our own wedding. During the social hour we tried to keep the kids entertained with snacks and a movie because there wasn’t any room really for them to run or play. This worked fairly well. I was mortified when Levi and my cousin’s son (also 1) were standing looking at each other, sizing each other up and then Levi takes both hands and pushes the little boy in his chest, knocking him to the ground. I immediately reprimanded Levi (no push, etc.) and my cousin Angie picked up her little boy. He has an older brother and is use to such rough treatment so he wasn’t phased at all by the shove but I still felt awful and apologized several times. What a bully my kid is! I think we need more playdates stat to properly civilize this child! Ugh. It wasn’t long after that though that the ballroom opened and we could sit at our tables. It was way past the kids’ regular dinner time and they were hungry and getting squirelly. We strapped Levi into his high chair the first chance he gave us (without screaming) and tried to keep him entertained. Dinner arrived and we finally had some occupied kids for a little bit. Dinner was delicious and not long after it was time for the kids to go home. Gramme drove down and picked up all 4 kids (Annika, James, Levi, Ayla) and brought them back to her house for the night. She also had our Dagur and Dakota. Brave woman! This meant we were free to party the rest of the evening and party we did! Krystle and I danced most of the night and Kris was out there with me too at times. We had a great night.
The next day we got to Gramme’s house just before noon the next day with low in tow. We had even more partying to do. This time it was my cousin Grant’s graduation party at my aunt and uncle’s house. Dave, Darleen, Evan and Grant had come up for the wedding from North Carolina. It was so fun to see them all again! So we picked up the kids from Gramme’s and went to the graduation party for a few hours. There are no little kids at that house any more so we had to keep a pretty good eye on Levi. Annika enjoyed the many treats available. And James snuggled up on Aunt Darleen’s lap for a good 20 minutes and told her all about his life. She is of course smitten with James now and can’t believe he just snuggled up with her for so long. He looked at her at the end of their snuggle time and said “I’m done with your lap now” and then hopped down. My precious boy. I may need to ensure he and I have more snuggle time together. Levi was working on minimal nap so we didn’t stay too long before we went back to Gramme’s to pick up Dagur and then head home.
I was fortunate enough to have one more day of vacation before I needed to report back to work. That Monday, the 2nd was a relaxing day at home for us. Nana and Papa came to visit that evening which the kids were excited about. I wasn’t feeling 100% so I spent some of the afternoon on the couch resting.
And that was our full and fun Christmas break. Now we’re back to normal life and routines. School. Homework. Playdates. Kris applies for nursing school soon (by Feb. 1st) so please keep your fingers crossed for us that he gets in!
It was over 50 degrees out yesterday! Unreal! So, Annika and James and I went to the park while Levi napped and Kris prepared dinner. Here’s our proof:
Annika riding her pony at the park on 1/10/12
James riding his truck at the park on 1/10/12
Enjoying the swings on 1/10/12
I know I haven’t written about Christmas yet. I’ve got a post started on that. Warning: It will be a long one! Watch for it soon…
This post is a Christmas miracle. I haven’t posted at all in December and here it is, the 16th already. You’ll forgive me though won’t you? Well, no matter. I forgive myself. It’s been one busy December! On November 29th we closed on our new house and on December 3rd we moved into it. The past three weeks have been incredibly busy with packing and then unpacking all our belongings. We’re 99% unpacked in the new house. The house is pretty much done. The donate/sell pile has been neatly stacked in the corner of the garage. And in the spring we’ll deal with shelving and bike hooks and such in the garage. It’s way too cold to worry about that now. Plus we have other fun things to spend our money on like blinds and water softeners. So exciting! The move itself went off without a hitch. We had a large army of people helping us, two enclosed trailers and three trucks moving everything. And we had everything out of the old house and into the new house by 2pm on that Saturday. That turned out to be a very good thing because that afternoon/evening it snowed 3-4 inches! We haven’t yet closed on the old house. We were supposed to do so on the 9th of December but a financing snafu for our buyers have delayed us. If things continue to go well, we should be closing on or before the 27th of this month. Cross your fingers that happens! I don’t want to have to make 2 mortgage payments on January 1st!
The kids have taken the move really, really well. Not once have they said they missed the old house. They seem to love having their own rooms and once we put them in bed at night we generally don’t hear a peep out of them again until morning. OK, sometimes Levi wakes up and we need to go cover him up again and find him a pacifier but even those are OK because they’re quick and easy and he’s back sleeping again. We’ve already had our first playdate in the new house when last weekend we watched Elyse and Liam while Krista and Scott did some Christmas shopping. We’re trying to arrange another playdate, this time with Ryan, Erin and Charlie, our old backyard neighbors. I definitely want to keep those friendships alive for the kids. They were great playmates for all those years!
Kris and I finally started our Christmas shopping on Monday night, placing a rather large order with Amazon and Target. And we hope to finish our shopping tomorrow along with having a visit to Santa for the kids. We might just yet be ready when Christmas arrives. It will be close and I’ll probably be wrapping gifts well into the 22nd and 23rd (since some of the gifts ordered may not arrive until the 20th or 21st!) but it is what it is. Maybe next year we can get organized sooner like other people.
So what else is new with the kids? Well, Annika’s teeth are finally starting to come in. For the longest time she’s been missing 4 teeth – two on the top and two on the bottom. Her other front tooth is coming in along with the two on the bottom. She may just have a normal-ish looking smile again soon. Did I ever tell you about Annika’s “boyfriend” or her “first kiss?” A month or two ago Annika got off the bus and walked into the house on a cloud. She was smiling from ear to ear and wouldn’t let anyone touch her cheek. Come to find out the neighbor boy Ryan had kissed her on the cheek on the bus. Hmm, maybe that playdate I mentioned up above isn’t such a good idea! Heh. It was later that week when Ryan and Erin were at our house playing that Ryan asked Kris if he knew that Annika had a boyfriend. It turns out a boy named Ty in Annika’s class was her “boyfriend” and Ryan let us in on it. You know Kris has had fun teasing Annika about that!
James is still my sports guy. The other week I was helping him get dressed in the morning and he wanted to wear his Vikings shirt. I told him they weren’t playing that day so he looked at his Wild jersey then asked me to look up if the Wild were playing that day and if they were, he’d wear their jersey and if not he’d stick with the Vikings shirt. And his hair. Oof. He’s still growing out his hair “like Dave Grohl” and it’s getting pretty long. He has hair like me meaning it has lots of body and waves so it can get a little out of control sometimes and look like a frizzy or static mess when he has to wear a hat. It would be nice if we could cut it but so far he’s refusing. And really, it’s just hair so I don’t worry too much about it. maybe I should put some hair gel in it and make it all curly like mine! 
Afro-James!
Levi is up to his usual tricks. I found him last night on the kitchen island. The night before that he had scaled a pile of boxes six feet high. He also still loves technology and will spend an hour “playing” on the Touch or iPad. He still doesn’t say much. He prefers to get his point across with grunting and pointing. But if I ignore him long enough I’ll get a loud, wailing “MaMa!” out of him. He was trying to say meow and woof there for a while but now he’s back to ignoring me when I ask him what a kitty or puppy says. He’s just not that interested in talking yet I guess.
And with that I’m over and out. I’ll try to sneak another post in before Christmas…
It has been 17 days since my last confession, er, I mean post. Sorry, that old catholic in me slips out from time to time.
Yeah, so it’s been a while. Kris is bugging me again to post. I have too much going on man! I mean, really, it was November sweeps! There was TV to watch! (Unfortunately, that is not even a large exaggeration.) Of course there has also been a ton of packing and stressing about the new house. And there has been work and parenting and holidays and family gatherings like two bridal showers and so much going on! So, let me take a deep breath and try to remember what my kids are doing these days so I can share them with you and write them down to keep forever here.
Annika is Star of the Week this week at school. We printed 12 pictures yesterday for her to take to school today and share with her class. And tomorrow Kris and I (after closing on the new house – yay!) will be joining her for lunch at her school. I think she’s really excited about that. She told me that she had to write down who she admired most at school and she put her mom (Yeah – that’s right!) and then asked what admire meant (oh, never mind). I told her it was something you looked up to and wanted to be like and thought was a good person. She just said oh and walked away. (Hmm, maybe she wants to change her answer?) Annika is turning into this sassy little monster girl and if anybody has any ideas on how to make her nice to her brother (James really, she still adores Levi), that would be great. Argh, the fighting. She just picks on him all the time. James can barely say a word and she’s all over him to be quiet or go away or belittle his accomplishments (he writes like a baby…and he’s also 4 so shut it little girl!). Kris and I are doing our fair share of discipline over this (time outs, talking to her about it, and okay I admit it – YELLING!). She is still also a delight and giggles and laughs about silly things and is still learning at an awesome pace. She still likes to cuddle in my lap and tell me about her day at bedtime. She also wants an American Girl doll for Christmas. And when Kris made the mistake of telling the kids we might not spend as much on Christmas this year because of the new house, smartypants Annika decided that was just fine. She’d just ask Santa for the expensive American Girl doll then. (Yes, she still believes. I’m trying to keep this going as long as possible, OK?) Instead, Kris and I conned my mother (Gramme) into buying it for her. Heh. Oh, I mean, Hi Gramme! You’re the best! Now I just have to figure out how to have Gramme give Annika her present before Christmas so Annika isn’t disappointed Christmas morning when there is no American Girl doll from Santa. (Maybe a Christmas Eve family gathering???) Whatever, we’ll figure it out. I’m kind of ignoring Christmas until after we move and sell the old house and OH MY GOD THERE I GO FREAKING OUT AGAIN. Annika has been so relaxed about this moving thing. She asks some questions here and there but I think we’ve kept her well enough informed that when she asks where a toy is and I explain that it’s packed away there is no whining or anything. She just accepts that and finds something else to play with. I also found her twirling around with her arms outstretched in her new bedroom one time when we were visiting the new house. I’m pretty sure there will be a “No Boys Allowed” sign taped to her door within 24 hours of us moving in. She’s a good kid…except for that brother thing.
James is also a good kid. He does like to bug his sister too but she’s definitely the instigator in the fights more than she is. James is still growing his hair out so he can be like Dave Grohl (singer of the Foo Fighters). He still looks more surfer boy with his blond hair than rock star but whatever. Any mention of a trim or hair cut and you’ll hear a loud “no!” before you can even finish asking the question. And he still wants to be a drummer so we’re looking to get a piano moved into our new house and some piano lessons are on the horizon too for the young man. He is definitely going to be my musical child I think. He loves watching the Sing Off with me and he sings along in the car to the radio. The other day he out of nowhere started singing “This Little Light of Mine” to Levi while they were playing, complete with the hand gestures. He also loves to snuggle with him mother and tell me about his day. But he’d probably rather play tickle monster and have me chase him through the house and then tackle him to the floor. He’s usually giggling before he even has a chance to sprint away. James was heartbroken the other week when I told him he couldn’t come with me to a bridal shower (Sit in a community center room with other ladies watching my cousin open presents? James was in!). He just wanted to come with his mommy. So, I caved and said why don’t we invite Elyse and Liam over for a play date while Mommy’s gone! Hi Kris – would you like 5 kids to take care of while I’m away in stead of the normal 3? Super because that’s what I just promised James you’d do! They were able to come and play and it worked out just fine. Those 4 play pretty well together. James asked yesterday if Levi was big enough to play football yet. I said not really. He can’t really throw or kick or anything yet. And then I looked over to see them both standing on the couch with James hovering over Levi. And that’s when I said, a bit louder, that Levi is too small for tackling. No tackling your brother! That was all he really wanted to know. Can he tackle Levi yet? Luckily (for him, me and Levi!) he listened to me and left his brother alone.
Levi is talking a little bit more! Yay! He has added woof, meow and moo to his repertoire. He may be up to about 6 words now (mama, uh-oh and hi being his others). He is still my little man of few words. But seeing him try to make words is so much better than the stubborn little blank stare he used to give us. What else is my baby doing? Dancing. He loves to dance and bop his head. And he’s getting pretty good at his shape sorter toy. And he makes truck noises when driving his trucks. And he still loves to climb. While making dinner last night he scaled some boxes and ended up four feet off the floor before I retrieved him. He still loves bath time and if you say the word bath he will immediately head for the stairs intent on taking that bath right this instant. He’s not afraid of the water one bit. He lays down in the water with just his little itty bitty face sticking out and smiles like a fool. And when I wash the soap out I stick him right under the faucet and let the water run over his head and a little onto his face. He willingly puts his face in the water too. And even after a hour hour of bath time he still fights me when I try to take him out. The other night though? When he pooped three times in the tub and I had to first fish him and then the toys out before I could go after and clean up after the, uh, gross stuff, well, I’d had it and when Kris arrived home told him he was on bath duty for the rest of that night. I went and sat on the couch for a few minutes, free of motherly duties. He is still my snuggle bug though. I must hold him each morning (that I’m there), each evening when I arrive home from work and each night at bed time or he pitches a fit. He’ll also demand to be picked up and snuggled at random times throughout the day too which can be frustrating (like when I’m trying to cook dinner or order pictures for Annika’s star of the week thing) but is also endearing. Pretty soon this stage will be over so I try to stop and savor it as much as I can. One of the things he likes to do when I’m sitting on the floor is push me over backwards and lay on top of me and give me a kiss and snuggle into me. I let him do that as much as he wants!
Thanksgiving has come and gone. We had a wonderful weekend filled with family. Thanksgiving morning was perfect. As they woke, all three kids snuggled into bed with us and I had my arms around all three of them at once. I told them I was thankful for them and their dad and this perfect start to the day. Annika said at school they had to write on a poster what they were thankful for and she wrote her friends and family. James said he was thankful for presents. Then he heard Annika’s answer and said he was thankful for family who give him presents. I had to laugh at his four-year-old-ness. We spent Thanksgiving day with Nana, Papa, Auntie Carrie, Uncle Adam, cousins Isak and Hans, Uncle Dusty, Auntie Melanie and cousin Mabel. I got lots of baby snuggles in. Annika and James had a wonderful time playing with Isak. And we all enjoyed seeing everyone again. The three older cousins (Annika, James and Isak) went home with Nana and Papa to spend the night. The next day Kris, Levi and I met Carrie, Adam and Hans at Ikea for lunch and a little shopping. Then we went to the farm and watched as the kids helped with chores. James is such a farm kid, reveling in the feeding tasks given to him. He knows exactly what to do, which scoop to use, how to turn the water on and off, etc. I was so proud, watching him in action! Then we all went into town to see the live Nativity scene and the small holidazzle-like parade. It was a fun evening capped off with a yummy dinner. Saturday we spent the afternoon and evening at Grandpa and Grandma Marcia’s house with Krystle, Pierce and Ayla. There was lots of yummy food, some football (Go Gophers!) and finally a game of dominoes as requested by Annika and James. Annika played by herself this time and James helped Grandpa play. Both are pretty good at the game!
Yesterday we had our final walkthrough at the house while Gramme was at our house playing with the kids. They were all so excited to see her and gave her big hugs. It sounds like they all had a great time with her (watching part of a movie, playing hide and seek, etc.).
And now we’re getting down to the final days in our house. We close on the new house tomorrow. We move into the new house on Saturday. We close on the current house on the 9th. It’s sad to say good bye to this house. It’s been good to us. But we’re also excited for the new house – bedrooms for all the kids, a playset in the backyard next spring, a fun sliding hill in the backyard, etc. We’re going to like it there I think. I hope.
Last night was James’ first school conference of the year. I’ve been worried about James. He still can’t pronounce his l’s and r’s very well. And being the second child, has not received as much attention as Annika has for school readiness. I haven’t sat down with him very often to count with him or recite his ABC’s or make sure he can identify each upper and lowercase letter. So I was nervous for his school conference last night. What if he was behind? Should we be doing more? Worry, worry, worry. It’s what I do people! Turns out I had not need to worry. James is “advanced” in every category tested. For his age he knocked every test out of the park. Sure, he still forgets fifteen when counting from 1-20 but that’s normal. And he sometimes forgets what X is or what Q says but that’s also normal. He knows most of his letter sounds and his preschool teacher gave us a list of the first 50 sight words that they learn in Kindergarten because she thinks he’s ready to learn to read. His gross motor skills are great (hopping, skipping, jumping, jump-roping even) and his fine motor skills are right on track. His letters are still big when he writes them but that’s what they’ll work on in preschool this year – making sure his writing is more defined before he starts kindergarten next year. I was so happy with his conference. I have two above average students. I’m so proud of my babies.
While Kris and I were at James’ conference, Gramme was over at our house playing with the kids. She doesn’t like it being called babysitting. She calls it playing. And boy did the kids have a great time playing with Gramme! They read books, played zookeeper (where the kids jump on Gramme – ummmm), watched some Strawberry Shortcake movie, colored, etc. Annika had a whole series of activities planned (wonder where she gets that planning thing from!) for Gramme and was very upset when I disrupted her plans to announce that we had to all go to the new house to check it out and pick up more boxes from our new neighbors. But Annika had plans! I assured her we would resume the plans once we got back home. Anyway, the new house looks great. The carpet is in as is most of the trim. They taped yesterday most of the house in order to do the touch up painting. And they were still working outside last night when we got there at 5pm (in the dark) grading the dirt around the house. They want the city inspection to happen soon because they want to put in the sprinkler system and sod yet this fall. We’ll see if that happens but it’s so exciting to see it almost complete! And when we arrived back home we did indeed resume Annika’s plans in order. Eat dinner, watch movie.
Wednesday night Annika was holed up in her closet in her bedroom, complete with the closet door shut watching a movie on the iPod Touch. It must be quiet and dark in there or something. It’s probably also private. Anyway, the boys and I were downstairs and while I watched some DVR’d shows from Tuesday, James and Levi played their little hearts out. James was being so careful with Levi that my heart was bursting with pride. The boys were running around the house with James chasing Levi, with James shouting “I’m gonna get you!” and “Here I come!” and Levi shrieking with laughter. James would of course catch up to Levi and instead of bumping into him and knocking him down he would fall past him and onto the floor next to him. Levi would then gut-laugh at James and the game would start all over again. Every once in a while Levi would fall down or run into something and “get hurt.” Then he’d come over to me fake-crying and I would kiss his “owie” and tell him he was all better and then he’d be off running around again. At one point they each had a big truck that they were pushing around and making truck noises with each other. I think he and James are going to be best buds. After a while I made Annika put down the electronics and play with her brothers. She got into the act too and she and Levi would hide from James by putting the couch cushions into a teepee shape and hiding under them. Levi thought that was great, until he decided he wanted to climb on the cushions instead and jump on them. It was a noisy evening but it was also so great to see all three of them laughing and playing together.
Ack! It’s been two weeks since my last update. My, how time does fly. There are three big things I want to capture here today; Halloween, Levi’s 18th month well child check up and new house progress.
First up, Halloween. Every Halloween has to begin with a visit to Great Grandpa! After all, his birthday is on October 31st! Sunday the 30th after church and lunch we drove down south to visit him. Dusty, Mel and Mabel were able to join us along with Nana and Papa too. Great Grandpa is looking really good and seems to enjoy it there now. It was great to see him happy and smiling. We got a couple cute pics of him with the kids and Kris showed him pictures of the house that Kris has uploaded to facebook. It was a very nice afternoon. Levi was especially interested in the birds there. In the activity room is a large (think 6’ long by 6’ tall by 2’ wide) bird house. Over and over again we had to go look at the birds. He would laugh every time a bird would fly from one end to the other.
Great Grandpa with Annika, James, Levi and Mabel
Annika was an ice princess. James was a clone trooper from Star Wars and Levi was Yoda (again) and also from Star Wars (of course). We purchased Annika and James’ costumes at Target weeks before Halloween and took them out of the packages shortly after so the kids have been wearing their costumes for weeks as play clothes. Why not, right? Those things are expensive to only wear one night! Annika was sold on her costume as soon as I said its name had princess in it. She’s now decided that her new room will be pink and princess themed. Is anyone surprised? James specifically requested to be a Storm Trooper this year (he was Darth Vader last year) but Target didn’t have any of those. He was fine being a clone trooper. Even better was the big, white plastic fake toy gun (of Ryan’s) that he got to bring with him while we trick or treated. That boy still loves to “pugh” things all the time. And once again his costume had a big mask so in all the pictures I can’t see his cute little face. We have a little tradition with Jeff and Maria and their kids to go trick-or-treating together and we kept that tradition alive this year. Kris, the kids and I went to their house shortly after 5pm and we all ate pizza together and got all the kids dressed. Then we sat them all down on the front step outside so we could get group pictures and family pictures. Krystle and Pierce along with Gramme and Ayla joined us there so we got a cousin picture too. And Jeff and Kari and Nellie were there too for the big group kid picture. We started trick or treating shortly after 6pm and went down our traditional route (down Jeff and Maria’s street, down the little side street and back). Just that little route usually results in a bucket full of candy. It may not be a big route but it’s certainly sufficient! About half way down the street Pierce and Krystle and Ayla bid us good night and went home. Ayla goes to bed pretty early and so she was done for the night. Annika and James had a great time with Ryan and Erin and Charlie running to each house. I had the wagon with me to haul Levi in. At first he was fine with this arrangement but then he wanted to join the big kids. So at each house I got him out of the wagon and he ran up to the front door and each time without fail he would stop dead in his tracks about 4 feet from the front door and turn around and head back down the driveway to the wagon. There was no way he was going to go up to any stranger, candy or not! My baby still has a raging case of the stranger anxieties and Halloween night was no exception. About halfway through Andrew and Isla caught up with us and joined us for the rest of the night. It was also about this time that Annika and James had enough walking and wanted rides in the wagon from house to house. Poor Gramme was helping me pull the wagon and got quite the workout pulling those two around! At the end of the night we stopped by Katie and Andrew’s, Jeff and Kari’s, Joe and Wrinthia’s and Krystle and Pierce’s houses before calling it a night. Kris had to leave about halfway down the first street to go to class so we didn’t have anybody at our house the whole night. When we got home I turned our light on and got a dozen or so trick or treaters before turning the light off again at 8pm to get the kids in bed. We had a ton of left over candy! I’ve taken a few bags to work where my coworkers are happy to eat it and the kids and I have been munching on the rest at home. It was a great Halloween. The weather was perfect. The company was perfect. We couldn’t have asked for more. And Maria and I are already planning Halloween for next year – will we come back to the old ‘hood or will they travel to our new one? Either way I think we want to keep the tradition of trick or treating together going.
The Trick Or Treaters - Annika, James, Levi and Ayla
James and his big gun
Next up – Levi’s 18month well child check up. Levi weighed in at 23 pounds, 13 ounces (22%), was 35.3 inches tall (98%) and has a head circumference of 18.2 inches (11%). My baby is a tall, skinny peanut. That’s easy to see just by looking at him. Everything at the check up went smoothly. He didn’t really appreciate the left ear cleaning he got so the doc could make sure his ear was clear but that was a minor bump in the road. He let her listen to his heart and lungs. He showed her his drawing skills by swiping the pen I was using to fill out forms to start scribbling. He showed the age appropriate stranger anxiety. And he tolerated his two shots (vaccinations) just fine too, only whimpering to show his displeasure. I asked the doctor about his lack of words. By 18 months he should have about a dozen or so. He has two – mama and hi. And he only says those if he feels like it. She said he should have a language explosion in the next couple months but if he’s not talking yet by two then we can have an evaluation done. He is communicating in other ways like grunting and pointing and some sign language. He even made up his own sign last week. He really likes to wash his hands so he started grunting and pointing to the sink and then rubbing his hands together. And he signs for milk (which means drink or food depending on his mood) and waves bye and such. And he can hear what I’m saying and follow simple directions so we’re not concerned that he isn’t hearing or understanding what we’re saying. I don’t think it helps that he’s a bit stubborn. Ask him to point out the dog or cat or horse in a book and he’ll simply grunt his displeasure and try to turn the page. But if I make it a game, complete with boisterous clapping, for every correct response, he’ll point out a couple animals before becoming bored and demanding to move on. I’m hoping that in a couple years I’ll look back on this post and laugh about how I wanted him to talk when at the moment all I want him to do is stop asking so many questions. Until then though, I’m going to worry about my baby and his non-talking self.
And finally, a house update. We close on our new house on November 29th and we close on our current house on December 9th. We’ll have a week and a half to move from one to the other and get the current one cleaned up. Perfect! Our plan right now is to close on the new house and go over there and epoxy the garage floor. That will need a few days to dry and cure. Then on Friday Kris will go over to the new house with a load or two of items and wait while the cable/internet/phone is installed. Then we’ll officially move over to the new house on Saturday and Sunday, weather permitting. That will give us the next week to finish moving smaller items over, unpacking at the new house and cleaning up the old one. It’s an exciting time! We’ve been packing almost every day. Kris has taken apart beds and the entertainment center and the garage is getting full of boxes. The new house is coming along quickly. The cabinets, light fixture and tiling is all in. The plumbing fixtures are in. The appliances are almost all in (stove still needs to be delivered and the dryer and dishwasher still need to be installed). There is some trim work left to do and the carpet is being installed tomorrow. Touch up painting needs to be done as well as a thorough cleaning. But they’re probably pretty close to being complete! They’re still working on the soffits and fascias outside and may not get the pillars out front or the wood surrounding the windows painted this fall. That may have to wait until spring. But they are hoping to still put in the sprinkler system and lay sod yet this fall. As long as the ground isn’t frozen, they can probably do that. I guess we’ll see how much they can get done before the weather changes or the 29th gets here! I took window measurements last Thursday and Sunday we went shopping for blinds. I forgot how expensive they can get! We may have to trickle those in as funds allow. I’d rather get something we want to look at for the next 30 years rather than something cheap that I’m going to want to replace sooner rather than later. If I have to have a sheet in the window for a month or two, oh well, right?
And now I’ve written over 1600 words on three events. I think I’ve adequately covered them, don’t you think? And now I’ll work hard again to not let it be another two weeks before my next update. Well, as long as the move doesn’t completely consume me that is.
Funerals always bring with them highs and lows. There is the obvious low of saying good-bye to a loved one. For a softie like me, another low is that I tend to cry whenever I see someone else, especially a loved one, cry. It was especially hard for me to see my mom so sad. I’m worried about her being sad and lonely. I’ll be keeping a pretty close eye on her for a long time I think. Hopefully her grand kids and her sisters can help keep her spirits lifted while she works through her grief and finds her way. The funeral service on Friday was very nice. The minister led a very nice service with Levi adding a little comic relief. He is so hard to keep contained and I let him out of the pew so he could play with the stained glass light installation just to my left. And then he got away from me and bolted for the front where he found his way in amongst the flowers high up on pedestals. I could just see the flowers all go tumbling so instead of going in after and chasing, I backed away into the next room and he followed me. *whew* Crisis averted! I apologized to mom right away after the service for the interruption but she didn’t seem to mind. At least Levi is cute, right? After the service we all met at the Legion for lunch. After they were done eating, Annika, James, Ava and Levi proceeded to get their energy out by running around the room. Fortunately, the room was big enough to accommodate rowdy kids. It was pretty cute when they started playing ring-around-the-rosie together. Levi thinks he’s a big kid now and wants to be by and play with Annika and James more and more. Of course his danger barometer is not quite as sophisticated so I had to stick close to him to make sure he didn’t get into anything. I feel bad that I wasn’t able to spend more time with my family but I did scoop up Levi long enough to say hello to my grandmother who had flown in from Arizona. After lunch we drove down to Fort Snelling for the burial service. What I didn’t know (or remember from maybe the only other time I’d been there) is that the service doesn’t take place at the burial site. It takes place at one of five shelters and then they bury the body/urn later that day. It was a very brief service with the gun salute and taps and some nice words and then just as quickly as we’d arrived, it was over. Mom was presented with a flag though and we’ll be on the lookout for a nice case for that. Krystle, Mathias and our families went back to Mom’s (with our vehicles full of flowers and left over food) for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Mathias’ girlfriend Martha made us a delicious queso dip and homemade chicken enchiladas for dinner. Super yummy (and a little on the spicy side which Kris loved!). Kris made margaritas and Martha and Krystle both repeatedly said how good they were. Otherwise we just helped mom put away all the food and she played with the kids and talked with us. The kids had a great time playing together. At one point Annika was hiding the dolls and then exclaimed that the “babies were missing” and all the kids plus Gramme would have to go search and find the babies.
Saturday morning Kris and I cleaned the house. It had been a while (since we’re no longer having showings there is no reason to clean, right??) so the clutter had started to accumulate again. It felt good to be able to see all my countertops again. A nice clean kitchen especially is a mood booster for me. It’s amazing that I have to re-learn that all the time! In the afternoon Mathias and Krystle came over (with their families) and we took them over to see the new house. Things are moving along there! The interior paint first coat is done. The fireplace is in, complete with marble and mantle. The cabinets, trim and interior doors have been delivered and are ready to be installed. It’s getting so exciting! Mathias thinks it’s “weird” to have the laundry room on the second floor. I told him it’s genius – who wants to be schlepping their laundry all over the house!?! He still thinks it’s weird and it’s not typically done that way in El Paso but Martha thought it was great too. She’s totally on my side. Take that Mathias!
After the house tour we all went over to Grandpa and Marcia’s house for dinner. Yummy grilled burgers for everyone! We all kind of settled in the family room after eating but the World Series game on that night was so slow moving that innings were taking forever so instead we all went upstairs to play dominos in the dining room. Now that is some good fun, right there! James was “helping” Grandpa and Annika was “helping” Marcia. Levi was asleep on Grandpa and Marcia’s bedroom floor. Pretty soon it was clear that Annika didn’t need any helping with this game and Marcia let her take over her spot to play on her own. I was so proud of my little munchkin! Being able to sit at the table and hold her own in a game of dominos. And she did pretty well too! Earlier in the evening Marcia was at the kitchen table coloring with Annika, James and Ava. They must have been having some pretty funny conversations because there was a lot of giggling come from their way! I’m not sure how it came up but Annika was grossing Marcia out by telling her she was eating fly pie. Yeah – I have no idea where that came from. It sure cracked Annika up though.
Sunday morning we were low on cereal so instead I made homemade pancakes for us. When I opened the cupboard to get the baking powder out I saw an opened bag of chocolate chips. I grabbed them and threw them into the batter for a little treat for the kids. Chocolate chip pancakes! The kids were so excited and gobbled up the pancakes. While Annika was eating her second pancake she decided they looked like fly pies! Both she and I cracked up at the realization of what we were eating. We tried to call Marcia to tell her we were eating fly pies but she and Grandpa had gone up North for a couple days and she wasn’t answering her cell phone. Either way, the pancakes were a hit.
After breakfast we started carving our pumpkins. Well, Annika didn’t. She didn’t want to cut up her pumpkin so instead I gave her a Sharpie marker and she drew a face on hers instead. She even wrote the name of her pumpkin on it “Sofy.” I hollowed out the rest of them though and carved three of them. I let Annika and James pick out what to put on my, Levi and James’ pumpkins. We ended up with 1 cat, 1 scary face and 1 happy face. Kris did a scary face on his pumpkin too. They all turned out pretty good! I’ll have to snap a pick of them before they turn to mush. And I saved all the seeds from the pumpkins and roasted them up. While I did that Kris made a from-scratch beer cheese soup. Yummy! All of this was in preparation for Gramme, Mathias and Krystle and their families to come over. They came to watch the Vikings/Packers game. And they brought a lot of left over food with them too! We had cake and queso dip and bars and pie, all from Friday. Krystle brought rotel dip which we all munched on too. I brought Gramme over to see the new house. She hadn’t seen it in a few weeks. Then we spent the rest of the evening playing with the kids, watching the game and visiting with each other. Mathias and Martha had dinner reservations at Capitol Grill later that night and they left Ava with us. At 8pm I put James to bed and at 9pm I put Annika to bed and that left only Kris and I to play with Ava until Mathias and Martha got back. And play I did! We filled up our toy cars with gas and then raced them down the Little People garage over and over and over again for a good half hour or more. And we did a puzzle. And we played with other Little People toys. By 10:30pm I told her we were done playing and it was time to sit on the couch and cuddle with me and her blanket while we watched Sprout. She fells asleep about 15 minutes later, just in time for Mathias and Martha to get back. She was an angel the whole time but I was tired!
One quick milestone from Sunday – Annika learned to braid! She braided her Rapunzel Barbie doll’s long hair for the first time. We’ll have to see if she can do that on her hair or mine now. So cool!
As you saw from my last update we lost Papa Merv Saturday morning. He passed away peacefully in his sleep, exactly the way each of us would like to go I think. It’s sad that he had to battle cancer and be taken from us but I’m happy he is no longer suffering. It was still a crappy Saturday morning to get an early phone call from Gramme saying he’d passed. I jumped in the car and went over there to be with her. No one should be alone during that time I think. Gramme made all her phone calls and made as many arrangements as she could and then she left with me to spend the day with Krystle and I.
Saturday morning I had pictures taken of the kids at Target. They were for Annika’s 7 year pictures and Levi’s 18 month pictures. Annika’s turned out great. I only got one good one of Levi. He’s in a stranger anxiety phase right now and started to cry when the photographer was trying to play with him and get him to smile. He does the same thing at church when I try to leave him in the nursery except there he falls apart as soon as we walk in the door, complete with crocodile tears, crying and clinging to my neck. That one picture is OK though, even if he is rather stoic in it. Then we tried to get some pictures of all three kids. Levi wasn’t very cooperative though so they didn’t turn out the best. Maybe when we go back for James’ 5 year and Levi’s 2 year pictures we’ll get some better ones.
After pictures Krystle, the kids, Gramme and I went shopping and found Gramme something nice to wear to the funeral. Funeral details: visitation Friday morning 9-10 at Johnson’s Funeral Home in Waconia. Memorial service at 10am at the funeral home. Luncheon to follow at the American Legion in Waconia and then internment at Fort Snelling at 12:45pm.
After we were done shopping Gramme went to Krystle’s house to spend some time with Ayla while I stayed home with my kids while we had a pre-scheduled play date. Elyse and Liam came over and the four kids played together so nicely while Levi napped. I’m so happy the four of them are such good friends. Hopefully we can continue to foster that relationship!
Sunday was church and football and I packed a whole ton of boxes. Our garage is starting to fill up with boxes and our closets and cupboards are starting to look bare. Of course if you walked into my house it would look like there’s a long way to go…and there is. I’ll keep working on it every day and hopefully come moving day we’ll be packed and ready to go.
Last night Kris didn’t have class (MEA break for colleges too?) so instead we drove to the new house. The only update there was that they’ve paved the driveway. I expect they’ll start painting inside soon as the ceilings are done. After that quick trip we stopped at a couple furniture stores. We’d like to get a new couch (and chair and maybe some end tables) for the new house. I’m not sure when we’ll purchase something but it was fun to go shopping and look. Luckily Kris and I have very similar tastes so deciding on something should be relatively easy. Annika brought along the iPad and watched a movie while sitting on the couches in the furniture stores. At the second store we put James and Levi in store-provided strollers that looked like a dinosaur (Levi) and a car (James) to keep them entertained and contained. It worked well for a while until Levi had had enough of that and demanded to get out. He is a hard one to contain! It was bed time though so we ushered everyone back to the truck and went home.
Tomorrow the kids and I are going to Mom’s house to help her with pictures and Thursday night we’re going over there to have dinner with her and Mathias, Martha and Ava. If nothing else comes out of this crappy week, at least we’ll have some good family time together.
