Highs and Lows of JAN 13

LOW
Finding a letter from the newest preschool teacher, whom Silas ADORES and has proclaimed as "his best friend" since DAY ONE of 3 year preschool, indicating that Thursday will be her last day teaching at the preschool. Sniff, sniff.... sadness. She was EXCELLENT with the kids!

Discovering that there is a $100 non-refundable fee for holding your place for next year's (FREE) four-days-per-week 4 year old preschool at our current preschool location and knowing that the chances of moving are higher the longer we live here. (Next week marks Mike's SIX YEAR anniversary date at this store.)

Hearing that Sydney had to lower his clothespin at school. (He moved DOWN to blue, but eventually moved his clothespin UP two more spots to end the day on yellow.) He didn't elaborate on WHY he moved his clothespin DOWN. (I believe this is the FIRST TIME he EVER moved down!) We later learned, via email, that

a little FYI...Sydney had to move his clothespin down
today - possibly for the first time ever - he later moved
back up and ended the day really well.  But he may
share this with you as he was not too happy of course
to have to move down.  I asked him to finish his project
and noticed he was really having a hard time following
that direction...then when I checked back he had put
glue all over his hands and was chasing _______ telling
him he was going to put glue on him.  So I asked him
to move down.

He and I had a chat also about the quality of his work
this week as I have noticed it going downhill somewhat
from his usual effort.  He really stepped up his effort
and did a great job then on his snowman writing. 

Hopefully the math club will help him
end his day with a smile:)

Another dinnertime battle.... with plentiful whining and fussing. (Oddly enough, the offender was the one who PICKED pizza for dinner AND picked his own toppings!) Dinner battles are getting old in a hurry...

HIGH
Outdoor recess, playing in the snow.

Silas practiced his violin today; he's not been overly interested in it lately as I remind myself: he's THREE!

Silas not being set on attending the same preschool next year; he wants to look at the preschool at Sydney's school. They have an Open House later this week and we have set up a classroom tour on a morning that Mike can come, too. Sydney's school requires a significantly smaller deposit to hold your space AND offers five-days-per-week, instead of four. It doesn't hurt to look; again, we never know IF we will be here for the school year, but it WOULD be terribly convenient to drop Sydney off for 1st grade between 8-8:15am and to drop Silas for 4K between 8:10-8:20am at the same general location. (At this school, 36 minutes per day of religious education is above-and-beyond the state-funded 12 hours of 4K.)

Math Club started today after school. Sydney enjoyed "glow in the dark geometry" where they used glow sticks to make shapes. He got to bring three glow sticks home! FUN!

Book Club - I finished reading the selection for tonight's book club and enjoyed some adult conversation at the local library. FUN!

Boys Night - The boys love, Love, LOVE having BOYS NIGHT with Daddy because they watch a movie and get to sleep in the BIG BED with Daddy!

Plentiful sunshine!

2015 PICK TEN: Relocate. Write.

NOTE: We are NOT announcing a relocation at this time!!! It simply is the time of year that he's asked to (annually) fill out his 'Preferred Market Relocation Form' and sign his 2015 contract.




He picked SEVEN. Granted, he took all of the "easy ones" such as Eastern Iowa, Western Iowa, Southern Minnesota, Central Wisconsin, Southern Wisconsin, Eastern Wisconsin and Milwaukee.)

I was responsible for the other THREE selections. He did, however, indicate a few possible suggestions. (For example, we're adding the Western Twin Cities and Eastern Twin Cities markets.)

Now, in case you are keeping track... we're at NINE.

Kansas? Missouri? Southern Indiana/Kentucky? Northern Illinois? Eastern Nebraska? North Dakota? South Dakota? (There are 32 "markets" to pick from, each containing 5-13 stores within each of those markets.)

Grrrr, in 2012, we picked Eastern Nebraska and the two Dakotas, as well as Central Chicago. We have, however, ruled out much (but not all) of Illinois, simply because we do NOT want to raise a family there. We've said it in the past and we'll say it again... we would rather raise a family in the Dakotas than in (any of the) downtown Chicago stores where the cost of living is out-of-this-world, crime is high and there are armed guards at the store(s).

I ruled out Kansas from the misconception of it being in tornado alley. (Thank you, Wizard of Oz!) Eastern Nebraska (likely also part of tornado alley) looks like it has a lot to offer with some nice looking communities.

I ruled out Southern IN/Kentucky because the median household income was too poor for my liking.

Mike's former boss relocated to Missouri and LOVES IT THERE!!!

Do we stay close to "home"?
Do we go on an adventure?

Does it even matter?

Time will tell...

FINE PRINT: I understand that all attempts will be made to honor my preferences, but business needs may require that I relocate to a non-preferred market.

Mike has started to announce "look, this would be a PERFECT PLACE for you to write!" as he looks at random houses online. {love that!} Thank you, Mike, for finally encouraging me to pursue writing... a dream that I've had for years!


In our Zillow searches, we've been able to find a house we'd like to call "home" in almost every community that we've searched. That. Is. Promising.

Timeline project updated for 2014

Updated my TIMELINE project with our 2014 photos. I can't wait to have a place someday that I can display this in our home. {love, Love, LOVE seeing how much we change from year to year!}

Oddly enough, it is now BIZARRE to see pics of Mike without his facial hair. He's had that since fall 2013, I believe.

 THIS is the version I saw on Pinterest years ago (that inspired me to do this project)

A sense of calm and organization

I've been staying busy lately TRYING to make our house beautiful and with far less clutter and chaos. I've been folding laundry more regularly. I've cleaned off the dresser tops for the first time in YEARS (and am making a point of picking up after US to keep it that way). 

We recently took apart the oven door to CLEAN between the panes. (We are STUMPED how that much filth can get BETWEEN the panes of glass like that?!?) Mike did a great job researching that on Pinterest and getting it done. It's SO PRETTY NOW!

The bathroom window shelf has been cluttered with medicines, cleaning supplies, etc.

NOW, it is beautiful and clutter-free. (Also, all of our medicines have been checked for expiration dates and better organized.) If only I'd find a cute matching Kleenex box again, soon.

The laundry cabinet's countertop has been an eye-sore for far too long as well.

Voila! (Let's TRY to keep this free of clutter, too! Seriously, BEFORE and AFTER pics would be downright embarrassing, I'm afraid!)

I've been TRYING to keep the kitchen cleaner recently, too!

I cleaned up the fire-trap hazard where Mike had all sorts of cords plugged into the power strip in the corner of our bedroom (where he often tosses the laundry that he JUST took off.) 

Seriously, this corner had been SCARING ME quite often!

My office still needs A LOT OF WORK to make it fully functional and beautiful again. (**blushing at the mess** HOWEVER, sorted through FIVE BOXES of mostly junk in late November and FILLED a landscape bag with papers to recycle = MAKING PROGRESS, slow-but-sure!) Hoping 2015 brings better habits!

With the New Year under way, we are still digging through Christmas toys and trying to find a home for new items, as well as maintaining a sense of organization. 

I stayed up late (again) last night, in an attempt to PICK UP THE HOUSE and organize the toy selection. 

It is SO SAD that the house stays clean only WHILE WE SLEEP! 

It looks SO NICE when it is clean!

Yesterday, the boys and I were searching for a creative storage solution for their bedroom to fit in the nook under the slanted ceiling of their bedroom. (Sydney was THRILLED to have a place to store his Lego creations... a firetruck and an airplane... that have not (yet) been turned into a new invention. Silas was anxious to store his Jeep pulling a trailer and bulldozer-type-thing.)

This morning, we built the second shelf. (I am HOPING that Mike will actually be able to hang them on the wall so that the top shelf is closer to the start of the slope, leaving room to run the vacuum under them.)

Ideally, I would like the recliner closer to the wall, but Mike insists upon being able to recline it for nighttime snuggling so, we'll make this work!

At some point, I have to get back into the basement to organize our (cleaning supplies and) Christmas decorations. 

I'm planning to have EVERYTHING for the blue and white Christmas tree stored in the BLUE TOTE. I also want to have our other things clearly labeled and easy to find. (I bought red and green totes last year for Christmas, as well as orange and black totes for Halloween.)

Eventually, I also have to start working on the school's yearbooks. That project was dumped on me on Halloween and I have NOT touched it yet. Perhaps, best NOT to let that one go to long... 

Things to do... better run! Don't want to lose my ambition...

How hard is it to AIM?

I'm seriously wondering HOW HARD IS IT TO AIM the firehose (and pay attention to what you are doing) when going to the bathroom?!?!?!? 

The GOOD NEWS is that we never finish any project 100% so it was easy to take the baseboards away from the wall to clean all of the urine from behind and under them. I'm guessing the bathroom WALLS and floor were due to be scrubbed (again) anyways...

#lifewithboys

(Thanks, Silas!)

sell this house PICS (master, hallway, stairway)

VIDEO: Silas has a creature power suit and good manners!

Silas has a creature power suit and good manners!

VIDEO: Sydney has a creature power suit!

VIDEO: It's just what I wished for when I BLaked (breaked) the wish bone!

Silas: (calmly) This IS the biggest box.

Sydney: (excitedly yelling, pulling paper off) What IS this?!?!

Sydney: WOW!!!! This is a.... HUGE!!!!!

Sydney: OPEN!!!!!

Silas: (still calm) First, let's get it off of the paper.

(Teamwork used to lift the GIANT BOX off of the wrapping paper.)

Sydney: Come on, Grandpa. HELP US OPEN!

Grandpa Lowell: OK

Sydney: I wonder what's inside. I really hope it's something REALLY SPECIAL!!!

Grandpa Lowell: I'll bet it's the Grinch.

Sydney: (yelling) NO!!!!

Silas: (calmly) Maybe it's the Grinch toy?

Grandpa Lowell: Maybe it's a Grinch toy.

Sydney: (yelling) WE DIDN'T ASK FOR A GRINCH TOY!!!

(Pulling paper out of the box.)

Silas: (calmly) What is it?

Sydney: (look of awe and surprise on his face) I asked for... I wished this when I bLeaked (breaked)... I wished this when I bLeaked (breaked) the wishbone! It has a toy bear in it... that we can put together... and with a dog house... and Santa made it come true!


*** AWESOME CHRISTMAS MAGIC ***

Christmas Day wishes come true (PICS!!!)

It started off as a good day. 

When Sydney woke in the three o'clock hour, Mike took him on a potty break and sent him back to bed. (I'm sure he was just excited!) 

He woke again at a more reasonable time, closer to the seven o'clock hour.

There were things in our stockings and presents under the tree so, we all MUST have been on the NICE LIST this year. (Yay!) Silas did declare that he was happy that he didn't get any coal again, as he did on St. Nick's day.

Sydney was feeling like a million bucks and was excited to get into his ROBOT KIT. The first thing we made was a pair of glasses, which Daddy reports DO NOT HELP HIM TO SEE any better. (He has been meaning to make an eye doctor appointment for the better part of the year... one of these days...) 

Sydney had dug into his stocking before Silas woke up. I think he ate an entire roll of PEZ right away this morning from his new ELF PEZ dispenser. (For sure, Silas ate an entire roll of PEZ and was disappointed that we wouldn't let him reload again until tomorrow.)

The boys noticed that most of Santa's cookies were gone and discovered two candy canes in the shape of a heart. (Later, we discovered Barney had done that with the candy canes and had even left his picture on our desktop of our computer! What a sweet elf!) Silas is sad that Barney couldn't stay with us for the whole entire year... Bummer! 

Despite being a little disappointed that Barney is no longer here, they were, however, SO EXCITED to see presents from Santa!!!!!

The boys were quite interested in the BIG RED BOX, labeled with both of their names. Inside, they discovered a Word World Duplo block set... something that Sydney had wished for when he broke the wishbone! Amazing....

They got some books: FLY GUY (with character doll) for Sydney and Pete the Cat (with character doll) for Silas. ALSO, Sydney had a Wild Kratts easy reader book in his stocking while Silas had a word world holiday video in his.

Daddy got a new air purifier, a new electric razor, matchbox cars and a book.

Mommy got a bike helmet, a Kimberly Locke music CD and a book.

We all got various candy/food items in our stockings. 

The boys got new crayons. 

Mommy also got a new pair of cute socks!

Silas and Sydney each got a Wild Kratt tshirt, Wild Kratt creature power suits with gloves, tubing sleds and a book with coinciding character. They also got a tackle box case for matchbox cars.

Grandpa got a chain saw blade sharpener, a book and a large tin of dominoes.

From Santa, our family also got: a Candyland puzzle, Candy Land board game and a BluRay DVD player.

It was a good day for everyone!

UNTIL... our green creature power suit wearer had to get gaggy and attempt puking into yesterday's bucket. We immediately treated him with an anti-nausea Zofran tablet and he was better for a short time... before having a messy case of diarrhea. Poor guy needed a bath and our entire bathroom needed some clean-up work after that. Silas didn't eat much after that point...

After Silas selected a long, tube present that contained a Wild Kratts tshirt (with his name on the back!) Sydney was anxious to open another present.

Once Sydney opened his Creature Power Suit (vest and gloves) Silas was anxious to open his matching box as well. Two incredibly happy little boys now had CREATURE POWERS!!!

Sydney was disgusted to discover that his last wrapped present was JUST A SLED because he had really hoped it would be a creature power water suit. Silas was excited to get a new tube/sled.

Mike asked Sydney for ONE GIFT this Christmas: Mike wants Sydney to read him ONE BOOK!!! (Sydney is still trying to figure out the perfect book.) What a great gift, indeed!

For Christmas morning breakfast, we had pumpkin pancakes and bacon/scrambled eggs.

For mid-day snack, Grandpa ate an entire container of herring. The rest of us enjoyed Pioneer Woman Restaurant Style Salsa and chips, with sour cream. Silas and Mommy picked out festive red and green chips. FUN!

For dinner, only the adults ate: smoked pork, potato baskets and fresh green beans.

(Mike laughed when I asked if I should move the beans to the microwave so they would stop cooking; they were in a cast iron skillet and continued to cook while the pork chops were not yet warmed.)

Despite having all new toys to play with, the boys asked for Grandpa Lowell to take them out to the Bonus Room to play. Later, they all ventured down to the park down the street - since it was 41°F on Christmas Day. (The only WHITE CHRISTMAS that we enjoyed was the paper snowflakes left by our elf!)

At bedtime, the boys enjoyed "one last showing" of Daddy's favorite "The Grinch" and then headed off to their bedroom where they were excited to activate the starry night light. (They keep messing with it though, making the parents nauseated from all of the movement.)

Favorite Part of the Day

Silas: Elf PEZ dispenser

Sydney: Wild Kratt Creature Power Suit, Tshirt and book!!!

Mommy: When Sydney declared that he wished for this when he broke the wishbone

Daddy: Watching the excitement of the boys when opening gifts.

Our day truly was: A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!