Finally...

It's late on New Year's Eve and the rest of the family is walking through the large beautiful flakes of newly fallen snow. It's a gorgeous night here.

Kinda warm for MN

First Snowman of the Winter of 2011

The first snowman of the year has been born!

We have about 2 inches on the ground in about 5 hours.

I love shoveling the snow while it is snowing.

It is quiet and everything is white.

Beautiful night to be outside.

It's December

I am looking outside and there is a little snow and I am glad we don't have feet of snow on the ground. It has been a nice gradual move into winter and I appreciate that. We are supposed to get more snow today but probably only an inch or two.

I sing in a church choir and last night was our Lessons and Carols service. I was nervous because I had a little line to sing by myself. The concert was good. I wish that I could hear it for myself because as the singer you know the parts that were missed. I had decided not to talk about the negative parts and just focus on the positive. It is always a nice way to start the Advent season.

Lots to do in December and as a single parent for most of this month, I will be relying on friends, grandparents, and surrogate grandparents to get me and the kids through. I know even by ourselves we would be fine but with help we all get through with flying colors.

A little snow finally.

Blog-Anniversary

It is hard to believe that another year has passed. In November 2007, we were parents of a 3 year old, waiting for our next baby to come in January of 2008. Now we have a 7 and an almost 4 year old. Our lives include first grade and potty training.

In other news, I just found another new blog. Aiming Low has some pretty fun stuff on it.

We are expecting a little snow today after not having any precip for a long time. We'll see if it materializes. I have my doubts.

Quote of the Day

Mom. I don't want to wear an eye patch, because then I would be eyepatched. And one of my eyes would be dark.
All said very earnestly as we laid in his bed at 10pm.

I have a crafty daughter

Thank Goodness It's Friday

It is officially Friday as I begin this entry.
Laundry is folded around me, dishes are soaking, and I am hoping I actually get 6 hours of sleep tonight without a small person interrupting my night.

Tonight I watched some really good performances on 'The Sing Off'. It is hard to watch some of them because they are just off but when it is good - it is really nice!
I also watched the finale of 'Top Shot' this week. Another fun show that could do without all the drama. It is weird to watch drama between a bunch of guys that mostly have military backgrounds or are exuding machismo in some way.

My husband actually said something about purchasing a tv. Then I couldn't believe that I actually jumped on it and said 'yes'! It would be so nice to sit in my comfy chair watching a screen that is bigger than 14 inches.  Now I need to work on a couch...

Hope you are looking forward to the weekend. I am!

Yummy Pretty Hot Chocolate

The Upper Class War

Whenever I hear the Republican's using the phrase 'class warfare'. I can't figure out which of their constituents they are trying to win over. And does calling it 'class warfare' mean that it is the rich against the poor?  Because if that is the case, we all better make sure we are calling our representatives and telling them which side you hope they are supporting.  Remember... republicans aren't going to help you - it is your fault you are where you are.

Cat always has to be on my stuff!

Almost Autumn

I can't believe that we are almost officially into Autumn.
This summer was too wet, hot, and then for about 3 weeks was absolutely perfect.
It is still nice enough to be outside but it is getting darker so much earlier that I can't be out until 9pm at night anymore.
Weekends become so much more valuable.


I can't wait until I have some more time to get into the garden and start splitting up plants and getting the garden ready for winter.
I really didn't have a lot of time to maintain any sort of garden this summer.
Hopefully Autumn will be long and I will find some time to get it all weeded and ready to go for next Spring.

Happy Autumn!

Fun new (to me) Blog

I found a new blog today and really like it.  It is Already Pretty.

Check it out!

Gardening

Where has Summer gone?
June was rainy, July was super hot and humid, August has been pretty beautiful but the garden is so overgrown from June and July!
The last two weeks I have spent more time in my garden than I have this year. I would love more time before the snow flies - but this year has been so unpredictable weather-wise.
We have some things that I would like to complete before the end of the year. Tear out the violets, concrete stepping stones, thin clumps of plants, plan for raspberries next year, pick grapes, clean up grapes, dig out grapes(?). I guess the list is pretty huge. But a girl can dream right?

Fun at MOA

Netting the Big One

The Little Man netted the big one while he was out in the boat with Gma and Gpa.

Can you saw Dew Point?

Here are the current conditions:

Current Conditions

Minneapolis , MN
81°F Clear
Humidity: 88%
Dew Point: 77°F
Wind: 5 mph from SE
Heat Index: 88°F
Pressure: 29.90 in
Visibility: 5.0 miles

Updated: 10:53 PM CDT on July 16, 2011

Feels like walking through water out there.
Thank goodness the air is on and working!

103 degrees

My metro area was hotter than your metro area... 103 degrees.
Crazy.
I heard from a few sources that it hasn't been this hot since 1988.

The kids had a wonderful time playing outside with water this evening.
I filled their tub toys basket and then added ice to it. It was cold, maybe even a little too cold to feel good until the wind came up and cooled my skin.

Hope the rest of the summer is hot but not this hot!
I love getting out the sprinkler but not when your clothes dry before you have run through again.

Happy June in MN! Where it is 103 one day and 60 by the weekend. Ugh.

Water Play 2011

Amazing.

102 degree fun

Making dolls

Remember these?

Having kids does make me feel young again - especially when we do fun stuff like this!

Beautiful Spring Day

Siblings

When MD and I finally decided to have some chillens - I always knew that I would want two of those little people in my life. One just seemed unfair. Who would one talk to when Mom and Dad weren't being fair? Who would really understand the hardship except a number two?
So we had two. And two it will remain. Though certain people, who will remain nameless, continue to hope for #3. I do not want to be outnumbered.

Two are just so cute!

Amazing Storm

Tonight we had a storm without much thunder and lightning but rain and marble-sized hail.
Of course it happened right at bedtime so the kids wanted to come out and play in the rain with Mom as I took pictures.
We thought this cloud was pretty cool.

Beautiful Afternoon

Waiting for the dad to get home and the kids and I are enjoying the warm afternoon in the backyard.
We were away over the weekend and when we returned, the trees had gained leaves and flowers have pushed up out of the dirt.
On a side note, my son just told me he wished it would snow because he likes to shovel. I guess I didn't get him out enough this winter.
May is a wonderful month of transformation here in this part of the world. So much to look forward to in the coming months.

Looking into the Past

MD and I have been doing a lot of searching on Ancestry.com lately.
It is a fascinating way to spend an evening but a HUGE time suck.
The barn above was taken on a piece of land that was owned by a relative that we found. I think that is the most satisfying part of the whole experience. Being in the same space as your ancestor.

What a ______!

Week! Month! April is gone and here we are in May already. It is hard to believe that it has been over a month since my last post.
Work has been busy. Turnover and review time make for a little more stress in the work place. I think my mantra is 'the only thing you can count on is change'. But I love my job and where I work so it is nothing I can't handle.
Then there is politics and international happenings. A certain terrorist was extinguished this last week. It is hard to rejoice in anyone taking a human life and I whole-heartedly agree with Martin Luther King Jr whom I will paraphrase here - Darkness isn't overcome by darkness - but by light. Violence is only going to perpetuate more violence. We must believe and realize that. So to all my readers out there not from the USA - please believe that what our media is putting in the headlines isn't what we all believe. We are not all jumping up and down about this. It is a very complicated issue.
And what about all the tornadoes in the southern United States last week and weeks prior? How can we not be afraid of what is happening to our Earth when our weather continues to become more extreme? How many more tornadoes this decade did we have than in the 1950s?  How many times has the Mississippi flooded in the past twenty years? All good questions that we need to be dealing with.

So heavy times here at the blog. Which is part of the reason why I haven't posted in a while. No since in dragging everyone down in the dumps with me. Not that I am depressed - just doing a lot of heavy thinking which isn't always fun to write about to a random audience. :)

Take care of those you love and remember that random acts of kindness go a long way.

From the other side

I made it through my birthday week with flying colors.

Annual review, child at different daycare for a week, one less hour of sleep and one more hour of sun in the evening equals kids sleep schedule totally off -- any one of these things could have been a game changer but it all went smoothly.

I ended up taking Friday off with my youngest due to some scheduling issue but it ended up being perfect. While my three year old isn't the best behaved little person, I did get a bunch of stuff done and felt relaxed too.
Note: I think it is hailing right now...  Going to check... Don't see anything but it is hitting the windows.


Anyway, it was a good week.
I hope you all had a good week as well and enjoyed St Patty's Day.

Being reminded of the old stuff I used to love

I love watching 'Glee' because of the music.
The new stuff is fun but the old stuff is the best.

Last week - Ms. Paltrow did a pretty fun version of Joan Jett's 'Do You Wanna Touch Me' and so I had to go purchase the song from iTunes that night and have been listening to it fairly regularly since.

I purchased 'True Blue' last week as well.  

I thought I would post another new favorite that I found recently as well.
Now don't read into it because I LOVE my job. :)
It is just a rockin' song and something everyone can relate to at some point in their life.


(Dad - I think your band should do a version of this...)


Sorry that this version is live - I would have preferred their video.

 

So draining

I am sitting here amazed at the amount of energy I have today.
Last week, at this time, that was not the case.
Last month that was not the case.
2011 has been the year of worry so far.


The issues were personal so I am not going to share the specifics.
Let's just say that those that know, have had the same things happen to them.
Health and aging, children, pets - they have all factored in.


I am just amazed at the amount of energy I spend on being worried.
My 2011 resolution on the last day of February is to manage those worries that I can and try to live a life that has momentum that I direct.


Happy Last Day of February!

Weekend of FUN!

We haven't seen our cousins in way too long. I think it has been since Thanksgiving and I just can't believe that!

Tonight we got together Mom's and Kid's for a MN Children's Museum outing and had lots of fun. Unfortunately the Mom's were busy chasing kids under 4 so we didn't get much chance to talk but it was still good to get together.

Here is a picture of most of us tonight.

We were singing about riding a chicken - pretty funny!

Fairy by B

B drew this fairy today.
Pretty sweet.

Saturday Night

Tonight was 'A Single Man' with headphones, laundry, and a beer, while MD watched 'Up' without headphones less than 10 feet away.
Kind of kills the mood of my movie when he is laughing over there!
But I am being dramatic.
It was probably good that he was laughing because otherwise I would have been crying over here and I know that I really DON'T need that.

I liked 'A Single Man'. Colin Firth is just about my favorite actor. The story line, while not about a couple that I can fully relate to, is about lost love which is a universal story. I think I would have liked a different ending but I don't know what would have worked.

MD just looked over and said that 'Up' was probably one of the cutest movies he has ever seen. I guess I know what I am doing for the next hour or so...

Just another Friday night

Thought I would record what is happening with the family...

Tomorrow we have the ice dam people coming to steam our roof.
Sounds like fun!

B has a VERY loose tooth. She was showing me how wiggly it is tonight.

D used the potty twice tonight! YEAH!

Hope your evening is as productive as ours was!

Vices

For some reason, I got a wild hair and I have now become serious about dropping my soda drinking down to a bare minimum.

I have dropped my consumption from a high of 2 Mtn Dews at work to less than 3 a week. I sometimes have a 7Up at night but I am trying to keep that to less than 5 a week.

Do you have a favorite beverage that you look forward to every day? I would love to make a switch but juice based drinks and coffee are really harsh on my stomach. (Can't believe soda isn't.)

Just Do It

I just have to say that sometimes getting older truly sucks.

A tooth is not behaving and now I must visit the dentist tomorrow and to say that it is upsetting, is an understatement. I think talking about it helps but there is still that unknown factor to pain. When it doesn't hurt, you figure the fix probably won't be painful right? But when it hurts, you know more pain will come before relief.
I guess I have to hope that after the fix, the pain will be gone.

One other aspect to this episode is that when I knew I had done something to my tooth, I was also dealing with the fact that we were probably going to have to put my kitty to sleep. So emotion is running rampant with me.

Part of me would just like to cry my day away and sleep until tomorrow but the practical, realistic, grownup part of me says, 'Suck it up. People go through this everyday and survive. You don't want it to get worse.'

Ok. I will just have my little cry now and then get back to being a grown up.

One Cat House

Our home has changed since becoming a one cat house.

Wow. Litter boxes take about 2 minutes to clean from start to finish. There isn't hair EVERYWHERE. Now I only have one cat sleeping in my bed.

I miss Oliver but like the saying goes - there are always positives and negatives with change.

Miss you Ollie!

New Links!

Fun New Links!

Check out MADE and ~Ruffles and Stuff~.
New crafty blogs I found through Make It Do.

Now I want to make something.

Enjoy!

New Year's Resolution?

One of my links on my blog is 'Make It Do'.
I like reading through her entries.
It reminds me of Martha Stewarts magazine a few years ago, when I liked it.

Anyway...
I was reading her blog last night and her entry about her plan for 2011 resonated with me. She wants to make her new home work better for her and her family.
I agree with that. That is something I would like to do for my family as well.

It will be made up of small projects - like places for the kids to hang their coats in the entry and a bookcase to put their toys and books in - and maybe one big project - a start to updating the kitchen.

Are there things that you have done in your home that you say to yourself - ah, that makes my life so much easier. If you like, share them in the comments.

Have a wonderful week!

Input

Strengths.
Sometimes I don't think of them as strengths.
  Empathy
  Developer
  Input
  Adaptability
  Context
Sometimes I think of them as burdens.
Today I couldn't get enough new input to satisfy my need to see what was going on in the world with news and on Facebook.
I wonder sometimes if I should deactivate my Facebook account and put away the laptop for a few months and see how I do.
Have you deactivated your FB account or changed your media habits in some way? What was the outcome?

Oliver Francis 1998 - 2011

My crazy lovable cat went to sleep for the last time this week.


He was such a unique creature and I always said he acted like my little boy more than my cat. He loved to sleep on my head, turn somersaults as he rubbed on my legs in the kitchen, and meet me at the door whenever I came home.

He was a bit of a stinker too. I think he drew blood from my sister and from my good friend. He used to guard the bathroom when we had guests over. He liked to get up in friends faces and sniff and then give a big hiss. So it wasn't all roses with my boy cat. I admit he was a bit territorial and over the top at times.  But we loved him and he loved us.


I miss my Ollie.

positivity reigns again

Okay.

I didn't get into an accident today. That is a plus.
I got my daughter off to school today. That is a plus.
The sun is shining. That is a plus.

All sorts of pluses in my life right now.
As my mom would say 'Buck up!'
She also used to say, 'Go get yourself a coke and jump back into it'.

Thanks Mom for always helping me get out of my funk.

We are still in intermission

I kind of like this musical interlude bit so let's do another one.

I just learned this song from my parent's.
It is so cute. The video is pretty corny but you don't have to watch it.

Enjoy.

Musical Interlude

While I try to come up with something... anything... positive to say - let's have a musical interlude.
If you don't know this one - you should.

It isn't the best quality, but Harry Chapin has a wonderful voice and this song fits right now.

Circle by Harry Chapin

Alternative Friday (read 2nd)

Good Morning Everyone!

Well - I am excited about all the fun stuff up and coming in 2011.
I thought I would write it down and see where we are at in a few months.

1. Redo Kitchen - YEAH dishwasher is coming
2. Get the youngest into a big boy bed.
3. Organize the garage, attic, basement. - Who wants to watch the kids for 3 months?

There is more to come but I don't want to totally overwhelm you with how busy i am going to be.

I have high hopes for 2011. Kids are *almost* at the age that I can let them play together and it won't break out into a shoving match, or yelling match, or licking match. Ick.  So maybe MD and I will be able to get something done.

Perky Perky Perky...  Maybe if i say it enough, it will happen!

(Feel better? I almost am...)

Friday (read 1st)

This week, I have felt like 2011 isn't going so well.
I hope January is in like crap and out like winning the lottery.

Examples of crap:
1. Excited to get Xmas cleaned up.
2. Headache because I am trying to NOT clench my teeth
3. Its snowing. again. for like the 7th time this week.
4. My cat's health is going downhill.
5. My six year old is perfecting the art of the tantrum
6. My sister's family is sicky poo and I need her to keep positive for me!!!

I apologize if I brought you down as well today but sometimes writing about crap helps me to move on from it.
Have a happy Friday and I hope your 2011 is going better than mine is so far.

Happy Birthday to my Three Year Old!

My 6 year old decided to create a Happy Birthday banner for her brother all on her own.
She got it all laid out and got the first bubble letter done and then needed help.
So I did all the letters and she colored them and drew the truck as well.
I am so proud of her.

Her brother loved it!!

Here is a closeup of the truck

Isn't the man waving just a stitch?  I love it.

Happy New Year!