Post #30

So I made it to the end of NaBloPoMo and I thought I should have something great for my last day of the month. Thought, but don't have. I'm glad I didn't promise anything to you because then you'd be really disappointed.

I've been very busy lately. Ella and I got the Christmas tree decorated yesterday. I started painting the walls downstairs. The paint color is perfect. Exactly what I wanted! Between that and just getting everything else done, there wasn't time for me to come up with the great post.

I am a bit surprised that I actually made it through the 30 days. It's a lot harder that you would think. Yes, I can go on and on about this and that, but actually coming up with some things that are more interesting is very hard. I really liked being able to write my posts over Thanksgiving and have them automatically post while I was gone. It seemed like a break even though it really wasn't.

I tried to do some shopping today on Cyber Monday, but I haven't found any great deals on anything that I need. I do have a little more time left. I might go searching a little more before bed.

If you don't hear from me for a couple days my mind is taking a break from all this thinking...

Thanksgiving

We were up at Brainerd this Thanksgiving and had a good time. It was pretty chilly out. Well I guess pretty warm compared to normal, but windy, thus making it chilly. I'm glad I didn't have to go outside much!

The kids had fun swimming in the pool and playing with their cousin. It's very nice to be home though.

Got my paint for the downstairs so I can start painting this week. I can't wait to finish; it always looks nice when you're done.

Here are some photos of the kids from up at Brainerd. Nothing fabulous, just them being them. Sam likes the new train whistle we picked up for him when we went shopping in Nisswa on Friday morning.

Deck The Halls

Thanksgiving is over and it's time for Christmas!! The weather was beautiful here, at least for November 28th in Minnesota. I think it got to the lower 40's today and sunny! We went to chop down our Christmas tree. Many other people had the same idea and it was pretty busy. They even got to see and talk to Santa. Sam did, Ella didn't but daddy helped them out and Ella realized that Santa wasn't so bad after all.

We got the tree down and home. It is now sitting in our family room with lights ready to be decorated. We didn't get it decorated tonight, but we'll do that tomorrow. The kids just love the tree and get so excited when they first see it. Ella doesn't get quite as excited as she used to, but Sam really gets into it.

The lights are on outside and the stockings are hung by the fireplace. I've had more fun decorating this year than any other year. It's starting to look really nice around here.

We went to Home Depot to pick up our paint for the walls. We also got a new programmable thermostat that I just installed (while Zan was doing yoga). I figure the money we save from the new thermostat will pay for the Christmas lights outside, right?

Well here are some photos from the tree chopping and a little video of Sam saying "Christmas tree". It's so cute when he says it. He tries so hard to get it out and is usually so excited.

Friday Shopping

Since it's "black Friday" I thought I would post about shopping. I'm not one to get up early and go shopping. To me the hassle of getting up and fighting with other people just isn't worth it. I'd much rather shop online or when the stores are less busy. Some of the deals they have are very tempting, but I'm not that desperate for such deals.

Since moving into our new house I've done most of my shopping online. I've been very please with everything that has been purchased. I've found good deals, free shipping and that all makes shopping that much more pleasant.

I will say that I'm mostly all done with the Christmas shopping and have been for some time. I'm one of "those" people that likes to be done early. There are always things that pop up as you get closer to Christmas and not having too much to worry about is nice.

I received a catalog in the mail a short while ago and I thought it looked like the best stuff ever. It's called Nova Natural and if I had little babies I think I would buy everything. They have great wraps, clothes and wooden toys. You should really check them out.

Happy shopping!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!! I hope you're all enjoying a great meal with friends and family! This is also my 200th post!! Wow two things on one day, scary! I will say that I've really enjoyed blogging and meeting great blog friends. I hope to continue to write and improve into next year and my next 100 posts. Thank you to all who read and support me here!

We have so much to be thankful for this year. 2009 has been a very busy and exciting year for us as a family. We sold our house, built a house, and finally moved into it a couple months ago. Things got a little crazy for a while, but in the end everything worked out as planned and we feel very fortunate.

We are thankful for our very supportive families and great friends. We are thankful that we have all stayed healthy. We are very thankful.

So on this Thanksgiving I hope you are thankful too! I am thankful for all of you! (I rhymed!)

Wordless Wednesday - Thanksgiving 2008

35 Silly Questions

I stole this questionnaire from Jen over at The Tale Of Two Coins. She has a great blog, you should check it out. Thanks for the idea Jen!

1. What color is your favorite hoodie? Grey University of MN sweatshirt.

2. Do you plan outfits? Some days. If I'm going out I do. Otherwise for everyday I just grab something out of the closet.

3. What’s the closest thing to you that's red? The handle of the hammer on my desk.

4. Did you meet anybody new today? Nope

5. What are you craving right now? Anything sweet, peanut butter cups in the pantry!!

6. Do you floss? Every night.

7. What comes to mind when I say cabbage? Coleslaw. Which isn't my favorite.

8. Are you emotional? Sometimes

9. Would you dance to the taco song? Don't know the taco song and only dance when I'm alone or with the kids.

10. Have you ever counted to 1,000? Not that I recall.

11. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it? Lick it. Sensitive teeth.

12. Do you like your hair? Most days. I usually just grow it out then cut it off to donate.

13. Have you ever met a celebrity? Does Buzz Aldrin count? I have his autographed book.

14. What are you listening to right now? Zan working out downstairs, otherwise nothing. I really need a T.V. in the office!!!

15. Are your parents strict? Pretty normal strictness wise.

16. Would you go sky diving? No!

17. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush? Sure!

18. Is there anything sparkly in the room you’re in? Bag of tacks? Can you tell I've been hanging things up around the house?

19. Have you ever been in a castle? No

20. Do you know your neighbors? I know a few neighbors. We just moved in, so I'm still meeting.

21. Have you made a prank phone call? No

22. Do you own a gun? No

23. Can you count backwards from 74? Probably

24. Brown or white eggs? White

25. Ever been on a train? No

26. What year did you graduate? 1993

27. Is your hair curly? Stick straight!

28. Last time you cried? Recently. I get teary eyed reading blogs of people who are going through very hard times.

29. Ever walked into a wall? Yeah, all the time.

30. Do you like your life right now? Yes, life is good now.

31. How often do you talk on the phone? About once a day, sometimes less.

32. What is your favorite animal? That's a tough one. Bunnies are good. The kids love to see the bunnies, they get so excited.

33. What was the most recent thing you bought? A pair of shoes on clearance at Target.

34. Can you hula hoop? It's been a while, but I'm sure I still can.

35. Have you ever crawled through a window? Yeah, probably a few times.

I hope you enjoyed all the questions and answers!!

Early Morning Blogging

Early for me anyways. Sam has been getting up earlier so I haven't been able to do any blogging in the morning. I don't like putting it off until later in the day, so this is nice.

On the way to the bus stop this morning we saw that there was a hawk sitting on the edge of our roof. There were crows flying around that weren't too happy with it for some reason. I thought they were going to wake up Sam, but I guess not.

Ella only has one day of school this week. They are making gingerbread houses today, so more fun that learning I guess. Then we can start getting ready for Thanksgiving. Num!!

Yesterday was Zan's birthday. I probably should have mentioned that over the t.v., but the t.v. was more fun. We didn't do anything special. Had a good day though. I made him snacks for the football game and gave him a beer. What more could he ask for? I even bought him some Vikings cupcakes.

I was going to bring Sam to get his hair cut today, but I think I'm going to give it one more shot. I'm the only one who goes to get my hair cut around here. I cut everyone else's hair. Sam's is just tricky because his hair is so fine and he doesn't like to sit still. I have a few tricks left up my sleeve that will hopefully work. Otherwise I think I'll need to borrow a Flobee from my brother. :)

The Splurge

As you know we went to Best Buy yesterday evening and closed the place down. I think we were the last ones out of the store. Apparently they don't announce over the loud speaker that the store will be closing. I just assumed they were open late. That is until we walked out into the parking lot and there were seriously two cars in it. Including ours!!

Oops, oh well. The cost of business I guess. We went to look and things and of course ended up buying. This isn't like us, well Zan anyways. It is like me. We ended up buying a few different things but this is the main attraction...



A 52 inch t.v. to go over our fireplace. Woo hoo!! When we were building the house we had them wire for a television in that spot, so we were planning on buying one in the very near future. Plus it is football season and the Vikings are doing great, so why not enjoy it while we can.

Unfortunately it wasn't in stock and we have to wait two/three weeks for it to come in. The silver lining to that cloud is I will have time to paint before it goes up. We are going with paint color number 3 in case you're wondering. The dark one (number 1, on the left) turned purple in artificial light. I mean really purple! I guess this is the reason you sample them out to see how they look in different light.

Squeaking It In

I wonder if you get home after midnight and then do your posting if it counts on that day or the previous day? Well I'm usually in long before midnight but it is late tonight.

We went out to run a couple errands after dinner which ended up a couple long errands. We ended up at Best Buy splurging. (I won't go into details...yet.) The kids were really good. We sat in one of their movie rooms watching Transformers. The kids got a kick out of the "robots". It always seems to take so long there, but we just got home and plopped the kids into bed. I'm sure they're already asleep.





These are old pictures, but you get the idea! :)

Multiple Choice

After staring at these off white walls for almost two months I'm feeling the urge to get some paint on them. This morning Sam and I went to Home Depot to pick up some samples. I've never gotten the samples before but I love them!! They are the best thing ever! Plus they're huge! I painted 4 large squares of each color around the house and I still have about 3/4 of the little jar left. I totally recommend them if you need to choose a color.

Another thing that's nice is the colors can really change depending on the sunlight versus the artificial light. A couple of our choices really changed depending on the time of day and it was really nice to see.

So we've got a couple that we really like, so I'd like to know what you think. Which one do you think we should go with, or which one should we not go with? That's it. Easy peasy! Keep in mind this color will be throughout the entire main level and upstairs hallway.

Day #19

As it would seem I'm running short on things to blog about. I do have a few things waiting in the wings, but with Thanksgiving coming up I thought I might save those for next week. Don't want to have all the fun at once now do we?

I gave Zan the chance to stick his foot into my blog and give me an idea to write about, but alas he did nothing of the sort. Gave me a bunch of stupid bad ideas that didn't work for me.

We were watching Fringe tonight. That has got to be my new favorite show. If you haven't seen it it's kinda like X-Files, but better. Maybe I just like the characters better, but love, love the show. You should definitely check it out if you haven't done so.

Yesterday, as I was in the middle of my workout, the doorbell rings. I go downstairs to make sure the dogs barking doesn't wake Sam up and it's Ella's friend from down the street. She wanted to know if Ella could go play at the park. Her mother was there too. Gotta love coming to the door in workout clothes by the way...

So off she went to play at the park. I like the fact that I can clearly see the whole park from Ella's bedroom window. I finished my workout and got Sam up from his nap. Who needs to nap when it's probably the last really nice day until next spring? There were a number of children all at the park. Everyone seems to know everyone there too. It's kinda nice having a neighborhood with lots of kids and that sense of community to it. I think next summer will be lots of fun around here.

Wordless Wednesday

Bow Making 101

Okay, for those of you who want to know; here is how I make my bows. Sorry about the quality of some of the photos. I was using my point and shoot instead of my other camera, but when you're trying to do two things at once the little one is easier/lighter to use.

Here are the supplies you will need. (This picture wanted to be sideways no matter what I did to fix. Sorry!)

* ribbon - I like the grosgrain, but you can use any you'd like. Most of my ribbon I get in the dollar section at Target. Each roll will only make one bow, so pick up extra if you want two. Great deal though. Otherwise Michael's is good too.

* for the non-slip I use silicone aquarium sealant. It works so well. It will take a couple hours to dry once you put it on, but that gives you time to make the bows. You can find this at most pet stores.

* Glue gun. I've found this is the easiest way to make them.

* jewelry wire for cinching the bow. Again I got this at Michaels in the jewelry making section.

* alligator clips. There are two prong and one prong. I have one, but might try two next time. You can get these from suppliers. I got my off of E-Bay. Good deal too.



First you'll want to cut the ribbon that the clip will be lined with. I've measured this out to about 4 1/4 inches.



The next step is to put on the non-slip silicone. This will be a line about 1 1/4 inches long. Remember this will need to set for a couple hours. You'll know when it's ready.



While this is "setting" you can make the bow. You can just start with the end and trim once you're done or measure and then cut them all the same length. I cut them the same length, but it will depend on how poofy you want your bows. I didn't measure mine.

After you get the bow formed you need to pinch it and cinch it with the wire. The wire is about 1 1/2 inches long. You'll twist it and wrap it around the middle. I've found the cinching of the wire is the trickiest part of the bow and may take a little practice.

I have still shots of the bow in progress and a video at the end because sometimes it's just easier to watch it being done.













Once you have the bow formed you want to add the center strip to cover the middle. Take your glue gun and put a dot on the back middle. Put the end of your small strip on it. Wrap it around the bow and put another dot of glue on the back to hold the ribbon down.

If your silicone strip is dry you can now line your clip. I make a line of glue down the inside top the clip. I suppose you could do it on the back side of your silicone strip too if you'd like. Then put the ribbon on the clip.





Then you'll put a line of glue on the top of the clip and fold the ribbon over the top. I then put a drop of glue on the top of the "pinch" part of the clip and a drop on the bottom of the "pinch" part of the clip. Fold the ribbon all the way over and your clip is now lined.





Now all you have to do is put a drop of glue on the bottom middle of your bow and place it on top of the clip. You're done!!





I hope this "tutorial" helps you to make your bows. If you have any questions about the process, just type it in the comments section and I will try to answer as best I can.

Have fun bow making!!

Tuckered Little Guy

Poor Sammy just gets worn out trying to keep up with Ella.




































It all started with daylight savings time. He's been waking up earlier in the morning. At least most mornings, but not always. Usually his nap time was 1 - 1:30. Lately it's about 12:30 or so and he comes to me to tell me it's his nap time. Which is way too cute if you ask me.

He tries really hard to keep up with Ella. She only has two speeds. Sitting still or full out mode. They run round and round (of course I continually tell them not to run) the house doing this and that. They are very good at pretend play. But after all this running I think he gets a bit tuckered out. This was the first time I've actually seen him lay down and watch t.v. Can't even say that it was the football game that wore him out. He did take a 3 hour nap just a couple hours before I took this picture.

He just looked at me funny when I went to take his picture. Then got mad when I got in the way of his show. Lets just say he went to bed really well last night.

Bows and Football

As I mentioned in my last post I've been wanting to make some more hair bows for Ella. Since I finished painting the laundry room (turned out great) it was time to make bows. It really is a process. If you're going to do one you might as well do more, or in my case about 40.





















It took about 4-5 hours, but they all turned out really great. I found a new way online to make them non-slip and it works so great!! They turned out so much better than I was hoping.

I think I'll have a post this week on how I make my bows. It's really pretty easy once you get all your supplies.

So while watching the football game today I was making bows. All day. The football game could have been a little more interesting, but at least the second half was better than the first. And they won, so there's no complaining here.

Around 4 o'clock I finished the bows and they looked so pretty.

Saturday

Well I guess the good news is that it's about half way through the month, so there's only 16 more days of boring blogging.

We just got back from dinner at the local Mexican restaurant. Mediocre at best. I don't think I'll go back there again. I miss the restaurant that used to be there. It was more my style.

Zan took Ella this morning to get her H1N1 vaccine. The county had a free immunization clinic at the high school, so we thought why not go. He called me shortly after they left to inform me that there was a huge line of people around the building. I told him to come home that he didn't need to wait in line. After Ella's swimming lessons we ran a couple errands and before we headed home decided to stop back at the school to see if it was busy and if there were any vaccine's left. Well they had some left and there was hardly anyone there. Walked right in and right out. Worked out better than we had planned. Zan said that there were news vans there this morning and everything. Apparently people go a little nuts for this type of thing. I figured if we get it we get it, if not then oh well.

I'm going to go try to finish painting the laundry room. I really want to work on some hair bows for Ella, but I should finish up the painting first.

Quick Update

Wow, I almost went to bed and didn't write my post for today. I've been busy in the laundry room painting! It's almost done except for behind the washer and dryer. I'll have Zan move them this weekend and finish up.

We have a busy weekend ahead of us. Zan will be flying up north for a memorial service for a co-worker. He gets to fly on the company jet. That's Sunday afternoon. I guess I'll be watching football all my myself.

I've come to the realization that I need to get some more Christmas decorations. I've never had too many which was fine, but now that we have a new house I need to get a few more things. Need to look festive around here.

Well I'm off to bed. I made myself a drink about an hour ago and made it a bit strong. And since I normally don't drink I'm a cheap date and it only takes one to give me a buzz. Off to bed I gooooo....

:)

Bullet Points

It's one of those days where a bulleted list seems appropriate.

* It's so windy outside! It's supposed to be warm, but with this wind it's very cold. It doesn't help that we live on top of a hill, but still.

* I need something soft under my keyboard because I don't think that the desk surface is exactly level and it makes banging noises every once and a while. Drives me nuts!

* I've noticed cobwebs starting to form in my tall, tall entry way. They are up by the window and chandelier. I have no idea how to clean these other than a really tall stick of some sorts. I just stood there at the top overlooking these webs as the sun was shining in so everyone could see. I need a very tall ladder to clean the webs and my window. I have no idea how we will change the light bulbs when they go out, but that's another issue altogether!

* I was going to cook a small turkey for dinner tonight but I got busy cleaning out the kids closets that I didn't get it in the oven in time. I need to think of something else for dinner tonight.

* One of the reasons I'm writing this now is because I don't want to forget and I really want to see the end of the C.S.I. trilogy tonight.

* We got our new Christmas stockings the other day that I ordered. They are very cute and have all our names on them. I thought it would be fun if I had a really big oversized stocking, but Zan didn't think that would be fun. :(

* Thanksgiving is only two weeks away and I'm pretty excited. Nummy food!

* Tomorrow is Friday the 13th. I'm not superstitious at all, but I always mention it. Let's hope it's a good day.

* Not superstitious, but I just went back and counted my bullets and thought there should be an odd number of them for some reason, so I added another one. I guess I'm a little weird.

Wordless Wednesday...One From the Archives

Street Art

With all the nice weather that we've been having here the kids and I have been able to play outside in the afternoons. One of their favorite things is playing with the sidewalk chalk. Ella is really good at drawing all her pictures on the driveway. She just loves it all and usually ends up covering a good portion of the driveway with her art.

She was drawing a pig family and a couple other pigs. I asked her to draw a penguin because I love her penguins!




































In the past year she has become so creative in the things she makes. Today while I was cleaning the office out she was downstairs making a spider hat. It's a black crown with eyes on the front and little legs hanging down the back. I'm always amazed at her creativity. It will be so much fun watching her artwork grow.

Here are my penguins that she made for me this summer. They were put in a frame and are hanging in the laundry/back entry. They are my favorites!

A Quickie

Once again I almost forgot to post today. Nothing going on today, didn't get a chance to really think about what I wanted to write.

Sam and I went grocery shopping this morning. We drove by the spot where the tire blew on the truck when Ella and I were on our way home. Well the guy had stopped the truck as we were driving by, so when we drove by today the big tire tread had been moved out of the street but was sitting on the side of the road. I'm wondering why the people/companies don't feel it's necessary to pick these up? Why is it okay for them to leave this tire/litter on the side of the road? It's something that has always bothered me. The guy was driving a dump truck for crying out loud; put it in the back or something.

Anywho...

I've been noticing a little more traffic on the blog, but no further comments. I recognize a few of the web addresses/locations that I see. Say "hi" and identify yourselves. I'd love to know who you are!!

Can I Buy Another Weekend Please?

We're still trying to settle in and I've been very busy doing little projects here and there. There are some projects though that require another person to help me. The problem is that Zan works early and late so he isn't available most weekdays to help me. Needless to say by the time the weekend rolls around I have a nice list of things that needs to get accomplished in only two days.

This weekend we cleared out our storage locker, yay!! Cleaned out the garage and got everything that didn't belong in the garage down in the basement. (The basement's pretty full!) Got the Christmas lights up along the roof line. (They look really cool!) Hung up a really big picture and a few other things. He also had to do some work this weekend, so there are a couple projects that will get moved to next weekend.

This week isn't busy for us though. I don't think there's anything on my calendar, which is nice. I think I might paint the laundry room/back closet. I got a cool, kinda retro laundry room green. It's a softer green, not quite a teal, I guess it's an aqua with more green than blue and soft in tone. Very laundry room.

Well it's getting kinda late. I almost forgot my post for the day. I will have a post about Ella coming up soon. Since I just had one of Sam I need one of my sweet pea.

Master Samuel

With Ella being away at school in the morning Sam has had to play by himself. I mean I'm there to read and play with him too, but there are times when he plays by himself. He's been into the train set. I set up the train on the table, but after the first day he took it down and started building a track on the floor. So now I don't even bother taking the time to set it up on the table because he just prefers building a new track every day.

I've had fun watching him decide which piece to use next and where to put it. He really thinks long and hard about such things. He's a little engineer.














































I love this age that he's at. Most people say the terrible two's, but it's amazing the things they learn when they are two. The speaking skills and figuring things out for themselves. He comes up to me every day with something new to say. Some funnier than others. If he knows he's not supposed to be in the kitchen when I'm cooking at the stove he'll come in and say, "hug". He knows that works with me every time. I think the funniest thing is when you ask for a kiss on your cheek he HAS to kiss both cheeks. If you don't he will grab your head with his hands until he gets both. Must be the European in him.

Ella had her swimming lessons today also. She'll be moving up to the bigger kid classes in January. She's such a good swimmer. I should bring my little video camera and get that on video so you can see.

On our way home today we were behind a dump truck and we suddenly heard a LOUD bang. Well the truck blew a tire! I always wondered what it was like when a truck blows a tire. You always see the treads lying on the roads. Well I finally got to see it. Luckily I wasn't driving too close behind (for this and other reasons) so we had plenty of space to maneuver around the debris. Kinda cool and makes me thankful I wasn't driving too close to the truck, yikes!

Busy Day!!

Wow, I was planning on adding a post this morning. I'm only a little behind.

Sam and I went to the doctors office this morning. I decided to get him the H1N1 vaccine. Ella isn't in the high risk group yet, but Sam is. It was the flu mist and the nurse was amazed how well he sat there and didn't move or flinch or anything. He was pretty funny.

Nana came over after lunch and we headed to the Christmas tree farm to pick out her tree. We found a few that would work for her (tall), but they were all tagged. She'll have to find her tall tree elsewhere. We had a great time running around all the trees since the weather was so nice!

After Sam went down for his nap I decided to paint the lower level 1/2 bath. Painting a small bathroom is harder than you'd think. There are so many 'little' places and working in a small space is tricky. Plus there are 9 ft ceilings, which is new to me. Needless to say I had to get the tall stool because the step stool wasn't cutting it. It is done and looks really nice. It's a nice brown color. I believe the name is "mocha latte". Looks fancy. :)

Painting took all afternoon and into the evening. Made dinner then played basketball with the kids. Then bed. Now I sit here deciding whether or not I should go for a run. I was planning on it, but I'm quite tired. I figured by the time I was done writing this I would have decided whether or not to go. I think my mind is procrastinating by babbling on and on here. I suppose since the weather is nice I can go on my run and walk if I can't run. I wish I had songs on my iPod. I should really find that.

I was actually going to post about Sam, but I think I'll just do that tomorrow.

Another Day

Another day, another day. I've been trying to think of something interesting for today. I think it's funny when the kids wake up and see frost on the ground and they say "snow". I try explaining frost to them, but each morning I hear snow.

We went and picked up a bookshelf for Ella's room yesterday. It's shaped like a dollhouse and is really cute. Got a great deal on it too. We then went to Home Depot to pick out paint for the laundry room/mud room and the lower level bathroom. Can't wait to get those rooms painted.

Ella just loves her new skirt that she got. (see photo below) Found it at Target on clearance and thought she could use a skirt since she doesn't really have any. She thought it was so cute. So cute that when I went to make sure she was tucked in bed Tuesday night she was sound asleep wearing her skirt over her jammies. Very cute. She wanted to wear it again today too, but I explained that I had to wash it and she could wear it again next week if she wanted.

The funny smile I captured on Sam's face was pretty funny too. I asked him if I could take his picture. To which he replied, "no". I did my fake wimpering and he runs over, stands in front of me and gives me his smile. The fake wimpering gets them every time!!

It's supposed to be really nice this weekend. They said 60 degrees on Saturday. I told Zan that we're going to empty out the storage unit. There are only a few things left in it, but we're paying for it. Then we're also going to get the garage organized. Must do that before winter. I will not hang out in the freezing cold garage. Nor will I try to hop over things all winter to get to what I need. So this weekend it is. Plus the Vikings have a bye week, so there won't be football to watch.

Wordless Wednesday - Smile!!