Bedtime is my favorite part of the day. Most nights it is just me and Madison while Zach is at work, and we crawl into her bed and snuggle up together. While we snuggle we talk about our day and what fun things we are going to do the next day and whatever else her little mind comes up with. She gets to pick out a couple of books to read and then we read a story from her children's Bible. We finish up with prayers and lots of hugs and kisses.
Last night we read the story of Jonah and the Whale and while we were talking about it afterwards she came up with what might have to be our new family motto. We were talking about how Jonah was swallowed by the whale because he didn't listen to God and disobeyed when God told him to go to Ninevah. Then we talked about how mommy and daddy have to punish her when she is naughty, but we don't like having to do that and we would much rather that she listen to us. Then she looked at me at told me that she needs to listen to mommy and daddy or she would get swallowed by a whale too.
Clearly we need to work on the moral of the story some more...
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Summer 2011 Bucket List
I thought it would be fun to write down all of the fun things that we are looking forward to doing this summer and keep track of what we have actually done. Here goes...
- Go to the zoo (both Como and Minnesota)
- Roast marshmellows around a bonfire
- Go to a water park
- Go play on rides at Camp Snoopy (or whatever it's called these days)
- Go check out the Maple Grove Farmers Market (done!)
- Spend a lazy rainy day watching movies together
- Go rollerskating
- Go to the MN Arboretum
- Make homemade ice cream
- Go to an outdoor concert
- Let Madison decide what we do for an entire day (within reason)
- Go back to the huge playground at Highland Park and go on another paddleboat ride
- Go the the drive in movies
- Go walk around and take pictures at Minnehaha Falls
- Have a BBQ with friends
- Get Madison started in swimming lessons
- Take Madison to the beach for the first time
- Get ice cream from the ice cream man
- Learn how to work my camera
- Take a day trip somewhere fun (Stillwater, Duluth/Two Harbors, Taylors Falls)
- Go back to the deer farm
- Go back to Color Me Mine and paint more ceramics
- Get another pedicure with Madison
Where I've Been
The past couple months have been really hectic for us. After my gramma passed away a few months ago, my mom and uncle had to make a decision about what to do with her townhome. They didn't really want to sell it because of the market, but the homeowners association doesn't allow owners to rent out the houses. However, immediate family can move in if needed. Sharing a house with my parents had started to put a strain on our relationship and just didn't seem to be the right fit anymore. We started talking about the possibility of Zach, Madison and I moving into her place, and at first it was almost said in a joking way. After a while we started to talk about it a little bit more seriously to see if we could make it work for the 3 of us because my parents didn't think that it was big enough for the 2 of them (they have a LOT of stuff!) and would need alot of modifications if my uncle were to move in because he is in a wheelchair. Ultimately it is a little bit smaller than what we would like, but we can make it work and were excited to have a place of our own again after 4 years of sharing our rental house with my parents.
Because our lease was up at the end of May we needed to make a decision pretty quickly so that we could give our 2 month notice that we wouldn't be renewing our lease. Once we had pretty much decided that we were for sure going to move to Maple Grove (about an hour north of our old house), my parents decided to focus on finding a place in the north metro that was close to where we were moving. After they looked at maybe 5-6 places they found out that there was a townhome for sale that was right next to where we were going to be living. Each section has 4 units (2 upstairs and 2 downstairs) that share a main entrance area and my parents are buying a unit in the next set of 4 down from us. So when we go to our main entrance door and they go the theirs we are maybe 30 feet apart and can see each other. So far this setup has been amazing. We each have our own space and don't see each other every day, but are still super close which was important to us. Madison has lived with them her whole life and was used to going back and forth pretty much whenever she wanted. Part of why we moved in together in the first place was so that they could help out when I was in the hospital or not feeling well, but because we are so close we still have that if/when it is needed.
So over the past 3 months we have had to get through all of my gramma's things, figure out who was taking what, donate what no one wanted (and there is still a ton of stuff in our garage that hasn't been figured out yet), sort/pack all of our stuff up, and all of the cleaning/moving/organizing that comes along with a move. We, mostly Zach, also helped my parents move a lot of their stuff too. We didn't get a moving truck because we figured we would just gradually move stuff out there since we planned to be staying there at least a few weeks before we needed to be out of our old place. About half way through we realized that we had made a dumb choice and overall spent WAY more in gas for all of those trips than what we would have to just rent a truck. I guess we will know better for next time!
At this point we are almost completely settled in, we just have a few more boxes and need to get stuff up on the walls but we are waiting until after they get painted. The garage is still a disaster with some of my grammas stuff, some of my parents stuff, a bunch of things from when Madison was younger that at first we planned on keeping but have decided to sell, and some of our random stuff that we will organize on the shelves out there once we get the other stuff figured out.
So far we are really enjoying our new place. We are closer to Zach's parents, and my cousins and their families, and my uncle will be moving to the Maple Grove area in the next few months now that we are up here as well as his kids. We are looking forward to seeing everyone more often now that it is not such a long drive both ways to see each other. We are very excited that Madison will be able to be around her (2nd, 3rd, twice removed?) cousins, especially Isobel who is about a year older than her. We are going the get Madison in swim lessons and after she does level 1 then we are going to try and let the girls do it together.
So there you go, that's what we've been up to and why I have been slacking on bloging even more than usual. I have a bunch of ideas for different posts, and lots of cute pictures that I want to get up in the next few days and weeks, so I am going to try and get better about posting on a more consistant basis. Just so that this isn't just a long boring post that doesn't even have any pictures, I will leave you with one of my favorite recent pictures.
Because our lease was up at the end of May we needed to make a decision pretty quickly so that we could give our 2 month notice that we wouldn't be renewing our lease. Once we had pretty much decided that we were for sure going to move to Maple Grove (about an hour north of our old house), my parents decided to focus on finding a place in the north metro that was close to where we were moving. After they looked at maybe 5-6 places they found out that there was a townhome for sale that was right next to where we were going to be living. Each section has 4 units (2 upstairs and 2 downstairs) that share a main entrance area and my parents are buying a unit in the next set of 4 down from us. So when we go to our main entrance door and they go the theirs we are maybe 30 feet apart and can see each other. So far this setup has been amazing. We each have our own space and don't see each other every day, but are still super close which was important to us. Madison has lived with them her whole life and was used to going back and forth pretty much whenever she wanted. Part of why we moved in together in the first place was so that they could help out when I was in the hospital or not feeling well, but because we are so close we still have that if/when it is needed.
So over the past 3 months we have had to get through all of my gramma's things, figure out who was taking what, donate what no one wanted (and there is still a ton of stuff in our garage that hasn't been figured out yet), sort/pack all of our stuff up, and all of the cleaning/moving/organizing that comes along with a move. We, mostly Zach, also helped my parents move a lot of their stuff too. We didn't get a moving truck because we figured we would just gradually move stuff out there since we planned to be staying there at least a few weeks before we needed to be out of our old place. About half way through we realized that we had made a dumb choice and overall spent WAY more in gas for all of those trips than what we would have to just rent a truck. I guess we will know better for next time!
At this point we are almost completely settled in, we just have a few more boxes and need to get stuff up on the walls but we are waiting until after they get painted. The garage is still a disaster with some of my grammas stuff, some of my parents stuff, a bunch of things from when Madison was younger that at first we planned on keeping but have decided to sell, and some of our random stuff that we will organize on the shelves out there once we get the other stuff figured out.
So far we are really enjoying our new place. We are closer to Zach's parents, and my cousins and their families, and my uncle will be moving to the Maple Grove area in the next few months now that we are up here as well as his kids. We are looking forward to seeing everyone more often now that it is not such a long drive both ways to see each other. We are very excited that Madison will be able to be around her (2nd, 3rd, twice removed?) cousins, especially Isobel who is about a year older than her. We are going the get Madison in swim lessons and after she does level 1 then we are going to try and let the girls do it together.
So there you go, that's what we've been up to and why I have been slacking on bloging even more than usual. I have a bunch of ideas for different posts, and lots of cute pictures that I want to get up in the next few days and weeks, so I am going to try and get better about posting on a more consistant basis. Just so that this isn't just a long boring post that doesn't even have any pictures, I will leave you with one of my favorite recent pictures.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Ceramics, Pedicures, and the Circus (oh my!)
***Note-I started this a few weeks ago and am just finishing it up now***
Last week Madison and I were able to get out on many adventures together. First up was Color Me Mine, a studio where you go and paint ceramics and then they take care of everything else for you. Madison chose a cupcake where the top "frosting" comes off and she can put her treasures, and I painted a big mug. She had so much fun picking out her colors and painting it all. We were just able to go pick them up and I love how they turned out.
I love the chances that we have to get out of the house and do fun things that make lots of memories. Pretending to play circus or pedicure have become part of the norm around here, and she asks daily when we can go paint "ramics" again.
Working hard at painting her cupcake
Pretending to taste it!
The finished product!
After that we went to go get her first manicure and pedicure. I have been painting her toes since she was a baby, but this was the first time that she got to go have them done. She was so excited and loved putting her feet in the warm bubbly water and especially the flowers that they added. Unfortunately, she is like her mommy and nail polish comes off of her finger nails almost immediately after they are painted. The polish just peels off still intact, so I guess we will just have to stick to pedicures.
A few days later we were able to go to the circus while it was in town. She went last year with my husband and father-in-law and had a blast. This year she got to go with mommy and daddy and had a blast. We get there early so that she had plenty of time to do the fun stuff before the circus started. There were elephant rides, pony rides, face painting, a bouncy house, a big ride on train, and a place to take a picture with the clowns. She got to ride on the elephant once with each of us, go on a pony ride, and go in the bouncy house. The elephants were a huge hit, she would have rode on it all day long if we let her. She liked the animal acts the most, especially the tigers and elephants. She likes clowns from a distance, but when we walked up to one after the show she wanted nothing to do with him.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Five Question Friday-April Fools Edition
***Note-If you want to join in, head on over to Mama M's blog at www.fivecrookedhalos.blogspot.com
- Hahaha...this one makes me laugh! I have had surgery more times than I can count. I have had my tonsills/adenoids/appendix/right ovary and tube/gall bladder all removed, have had surgery on my right wrist twice, needed to have ovarian cysts removed 4-5 times, I've had 3 surgeries on my pancreatic and common bile ducts to try and treat Sphincter of Oddi, and had a C-section when Madison was born. Those are the major ones that I can think of.
- I have had a couple ambulance rides. The first time was when I was 7/8 I fell backwards down our stairs so I went to the hospital in an ambulance to make sure I hadn't broken anything in my back. At another point I was having issues passing out and my mom decided that I had passed out too many times in a row so she called an ambulance. The last time that I can think of was right after I had my ovary and tube removed once I was released from the hospital. Zach and I were watching TV and I told him I wasn't feeling right so I decided to call my mom, all I got out to her was "Mom, something's wrong" before I pretty much passed out. I was white as a ghost, and unresponsive. Once I got to the hospital they figured out that I had severe internal bleeding from the surgery. I had to spend about a week more in the hospital and have a few transfusions, but was finally able to get out of the hospital about a week before our wedding.
- I am very very calm. I don't freak out and just think about who needs to be called, or what needs to be done, etc. One possible exception to this could be if something major happened to Madison. She has been sick, even hospitalized as an infant, and had her share of boo-boos, but we've never been in a situation where she is extremely sick or severely injured.
- This past summer we had vegetables that we grew in lots of pots because we have lots and lots of wild bunnies that are known to eat everything in a traditional garden. Last year we grew green/red peppers, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, tomatoes, and strawberries, but would like to do even more this year.
- Well technically I still live with my parents right now. We had been living in our own place, but when we found out I was pregnant we made the choice to have my parents and Zach and I move out of our apartments into a rental house. We have the top level and they have the lower level; we each have 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a living room area, and share the kitchen, dining room, laundry room. In the next month or two we will be moving into our own places again, but still very close. Zach, Madison, and I are moving into my gramma's townhouse/condo and my parents bought one that is in the next building over from ours. When Madison wants to go over to visit, we can walk to the front door and one of my parents can be waiting at their door to meet her. It gives us the convenience of being close, but still gives us our own space.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)