Busy but very fun weekend

Dave and I have been on the move for the last few days. Friday night we spent in Mason City with my parents and had a little birthday celebration for me. My mom made a nice meal and after a short walk on the lake, we had a very chocolately ice cream cake. We got the kiddos to bed (Calvin is easy, Violet is more of a challenge!) and talked more over a nice bottle of white wine. We made plans to spend most of the day on Saturday with some friends of ours we know from Bethany Bible Chapel. The Stickfort family was so kind to invite us to their lake condo in Clear Lake for the day. We arrived at 10 am and sized up the weather for the day. It started to sprinkle in the morning as we were walking out to the boat to take a boat ride, but after a few minutes it cleared up, and the whole day ended up being really sunny and bright. Before lunch we went to the condo's indoor pool and let the kids get wet in the water. Dave and I switched off holding Calvin the whole time and tried to let Violet got to float in the water with her life jacket. She's a pretty fearful kid...and wouldn't trust her life jacket to hold her up. She had to clutch to one of us the whole time, or hold our thumbs while she floated. She was mostly terrified that she was going to end up under water somehow. Then we took a boat ride. Violet enjoyed the boat very much. She loved to look at the water and talk about how windy it was. Calvin was fine, too, but didn't seem all that excited. He was mesmerized by the hum of the motor. The water was pretty choppy in the morning. Doriece and I were on the front of the boat and got soaked. We enjoyed a yummy grilled lunch (burgers, brats, hot dogs, salad, fruit) and got the kids down for naps. Violet was excited to have all her bed time stuff with her, and was even more excited to sleep on the top bunk bed in the bedroom. She fell asleep quickly. Calvin, however, did not. He may not have even slept 15 minutes, poor kid. We didn't have a fan for him to sleep with, so he didn't seem to settle down with out that white noise. We did get to go out on the boat for awhile. I actually woke up Violet from her nap so she could join us on the boat. I knew that if she woke up and we were all on the boat she would be upset that she couldn't have gone. Doriece volunteered to stay back with Calvin and get him to sleep a little so the rest of us could get on the water. Dave wakeboarded a little, I waterskiied a couple times, Skylar waterskiied, Nate waterskiied, and then we all boated back in. Later in the day we took the boat out again so Dakota, Skylar, and Nate could all go tubing. Dave somehow convinced Violet to go on the tube. He started by just getting her to sit on it. She seemed happy with that. Then he got her to lay down on her tummy and hold on. She seemed happy enough, so he went one step further and said "how about Randy pull us with the boat realllly slow?" So she went for that, and before we all knew it, Dave and Violet were being pulled by the boat on the tube, and the both of them were grinning from ear to ear. She loved it! Supper was pizza, and I got a chance to bathe both kids and get them in their pajamas before the car ride home. We left Clear Lake around 7:30 pm. I thought for sure both kids would pass out in the car and fall asleep, but that wasn't the case. They stayed awake for the hour and a half drive home. Calvin did konk out the last five minutes, but Violet kept him entertained almost the whole time. Sunday morning, Calvin slept in til 9:15. Dave and Violet took the truck to BBC and I waited until Calvin woke up, knowing that he would need that extra sleep. I woke up that morning STIFF as a board, I was soooooo sore. I am still sore this morning. I know I skiied probably more than I should have, but it was just too fun. I'm still battling a sinus cold. We had made plans with our friends Scott and Jeanne Hansen to spend the day with them on Sunday. The summer gets so busy with plans that we had to schedule this one out a few weeks in advance. Violet and their daughter AnneMarie are good friends, and really enjoyed playing together. We drove to Charles City where they live on Sunday afternoon and let the kids take naps there. Calvin had snoozed off in the car ride there, so he wasn't exactly ready for a nap when he got there. Violet did sleep for a long time, though. We had a nice time talking and catching up and letting the kids play. Jeanne prepared a yummy meal (Scott grilled steaks) with broccoli salad, bread, fresh fruit, baked potatoes, grilled garlic and buttery mushrooms, and even made her famous butterfinger dessert. She stuck a couple candles on the cake for my birthday and we sang happy birthday - that was very nice. We took the girls for a walk to the park between dinner and dessert and let them feed the ducks and geese who hang out by the river's edge just waiting for people to come by and feed them. It was really late by the time we left - close to 9:30 pm. Calvin was an absolute nutcase...running around all hyper and overtired, crashing into things and making a fool out of himself. He was body slamming me and laughing so hard. Violet picked up "the big bad wolf" story from AnneMarie and they tore through the house and laughed all crazy...it was nuts. We had to get them home and in bed though....this whole weekend of not sleeping that much is catching up to me and them. I still haven't gotten completely better. My sinuses still feel plugged and I'm really sore still. Today is my birthday. :) I'm 28. The weather is beautiful! We have the air off and every door and window open possible. I'm enjoying the refreshing breeze after such a humid week. Calvin was a mess this morning when he woke up (tired, clingy, not eating much), so after being awake for about an hour and a half, I put him back in bed for an early nap. He went down at 10:30 and is still sleeping. Violet is running around the house talking to me, begging me to read her a book, asking me to take a walk with her in the house, just asking for attention. I read her a lot of books, and now she's asking me what is wrong with the air conditioner, lol. Sorry if this post is disconnected, I've had to get up and sit back down about 15 times since sitting down to start writing.

Using a spoon by himself

Calvin has entered the oh-so-fun phase of starting to feed himself. He has been fussing lately when I've tried to feed him things that require utensils (oatmeal, applesauce, yogurt, etc) and the only thing that will calm him down at meal time is if he can help himself by putting his hand on the spoon as it goes into his mouth. He has tried poking pieces of pancake with a fork and been successful in the past few days, but using a spoon requires a different kind of dexterity. I got some suction bowls and special spoons for him to start using, so tonight I bit the bullet and let him go for it. He didn't do too bad! Violet was excited to see him do it by himself. Of course, she demanded to use a special spoon and a suction bowl, too. And she had to have applesauce just like Calvin. I was trying to take a little video clip of him using his spoon successfully, but in the background Violet was whining really loudly about wanting her OWN bowl and her OWN spoon that I get annoyed when I watch it back. First the spoon was like a dipper. He would stick it in, get a little applesauce on the end of it, and lick it off, but soon he figured out how to actually scoop some and get it in his mouth with out turning the spoon upside down (which happened a lot, too). I remember this phase with Violet, and it was just a few days before she was an expert at it. I hope he gets good fast, too, because I am not crazy about the messy food everywhere.

I've been playing catch up

all week. I'm just now washing the sheets and towels from the weekend. I think I'm behind because I feel sick. My head starts throbbing when I bend over or stand up, and my nose is stuffy. Dave has been making me take all my vitamins (he's my reminder, like the only thing he DOES remember to do is take his vitamins daily!) and extra vitamin C. I'm fine if I just sit still for awhile, but life does not allow me to do that. I didn't have much for dinner tonight, but I did see hash browns in the freezer, bacon and eggs in the fridge, and bread for making toast. So we had a big breakfast for dinner tonight. Violet thought it was funny to eat breakfast food for supper. She ate most of her scrambled eggs, a slice of bacon, a piece of toast and a little of the hash browns. We didn't dare tell her they were potatoes, for whenever there is a potato item on her plate (mashed, baked, whatever), she says she doesn't like potatoes. ("banadoes" she calls them) I told her the hash browns were like french fries, and she went for it, and apparently liked it. We had a few super strong thunderstorms blow through very quickly in the last few hours. I noticed about 4 pm that the sky was getting REALLY dark. I took the kids downstairs and turned on the news, and watched the bright red radar move across Iowa and land in the Cedar Falls area. The worst passed in about an hour. There were a few REALLY loud thunder claps afterwards that shook the house (I could feel it under my feet like an earthquake!), but nothing else. After "dinner", we went to the mall so Dave could get some shopping done. In the last few weeks, all of his shorts have either gotten stained or ripped, so he was down to one pair. He called ahead before we left to see who had sales going, and he ended up getting 5 pairs at half off all the prices. Not too bad. Violet had to go to the bathroom at the mall twice. She is really chatty with strangers. She is happy to say "hi!" and then proceed to tell them that mommy is pushing Calvin, and daddy is looking for clothes. Most people just smile and keep walking. I think she told that same story to about 3 different people. Calvin is under the weather, too. He has a really hoarse cough that sounds croupy. Today he has been really whiny and clingy and wanting to be held. Wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that he's well over 26 pounds now and a lunk to carry around. I hope a good night's sleep will help him feel better. I was hoping for the same thing myself yesterday (since I took a nap on Monday afternoon while the kids slept), but it didn't help. Naps during the day almost make me feel worse, especially if I'm woken up by a very cranky child.

Today just wasn't my day

I suppose we all need to have days like I had this morning to appreciate the good ones. Calvin happily greeted me when I got him out of bed this morning. I cuddled with him for just a minute in my bed, and he sat up on my tummy and then his head came crashing down on my face. I think he was just trying to be fun and playful, but his forehead smashed into my lips, making my teeth break open my lower lip so badly that it started gushing blood. I took some ibuprofen and iced it for about 30 minutes. It is raw and very tender. I couldn't sip my cup of coffee this morning! I had planned to go to the park this morning to meet some friends and let our kids all play together. Deciding to go is one thing, making that happen was another. I got the kids fed and then sprayed them down with sunscreen. Violet made the (unknowing, of course) bad mistake of rubbing her eye with the back of her wrist that I had just sprayed sunscreen with. She started whining about her eyes and then it turned into blood curling screams. The sunscreen was obviously burning her eyes. I had to pin her down on the counter next to the kitchen sink and use the gentle sprayer to wash out her eyes. This is a girl who hates water in her eyes, and can't stand a drop near them in the bath tub. She screamed through all that - three eye rinses. She was so hysterical that it took her 15 minutes to stop gasping for air. She wanted to just grab her blankies and go to bed - she was so exhausted from that whole ordeal. Poor Calvin was strapped into his car seat patiently waiting the whole time. I finally got her satisfied and in her car seat, so I grabbed my diaper bag and purse, and left. On my way, I realized I forgot to pack a lunch! We always pack lunches and eat there so the kids are fed before we go home and ready for naps. I decided to pick up some chicken nuggets from McDonalds instead just so I didn't have to waste more time (I was late already) making sandwiches for 15 more minutes. As I left the McDonald's drive through, I looked in the back seat and realized Calvin was bare foot. I had forgotten his shoes in the middle of Violet's eye burning mess. So I went back home thinking that I would just quick grab his shoes and leave again, but I found Dave in the kitchen sopping up leaking water. I wondered what was going on!! The 2 gallon water filter that was sitting on the counter top somehow was leaking water from the spout. I guess when I pulled the lever to fill up my water bottle, it was left just a little bit pulled, not retracted all the way to stop the flow of water. All of the groceries that Sean and April had sitting on the counter got soaked, including our box of vitamins. I was quite upset...I can usually handle these things alright, but it just felt like too much stuff happened in too short of a time. I helped Dave move all the groceries and sop up the water as best I could. But he was in a hurry to leave because he had an appointment with the Blood Center of Iowa to donate some blood. We cleaned up quick and left. It was a super hot humid day, too. The kids didn't feel like playing in the beating sun, so they ended up whining most of the time (and not eating their food, of course). The did play for awhile on some riding toys. Calvin even got distracted by a deep mud puddle - and ended up muddy from head to toe. I just stripped him down to his diaper and left. I got home, got the kids cleaned up (Calvin got a bath in the laundry room sink!), and in bed as quick as I could get them there. I shut ALL the windows in the house and turned on the air. I was just dripping wet, so it was just the right time to turn on the A/C. I relaxed for a little bit, and as soon as it had started, nap time was over, and both kids were awake and whining about being hungry. A half hour later (and after she ate a couple cold chicken nuggets), I saw the mail lady drop off our mail, so I went outside really quick to grab the mail. I got back to the house to find myself locked out. Violet had shut and locked the dead bolt to the house, and it was so tightly shut that she could not re-open it. I yelled at her to go get daddy. He came upstairs after a minute or so and let me in. I don't know what I would have done if Dave wasn't home. The garage was shut, I didn't have a key, and all the other doors were locked. She was not strong enough to do it herself. Somehow she locked it. But she couldn't get it open. UGHHHHH. I'm sort of wanting to shut myself in a closet and not go anywhere else for the rest of the day.

6th Anniversary

So, we did find someone to babysit tonight. We had a nice night out. We tried Farraday's Steak House at the Isle. Great food, but lots of it! We have enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Then we spent an hour at Break Room Billiards and played pool for an hour and rediscovered how terrible we are at trying to get our own balls in the pockets!! LOL We got home at 10 pm - kids were sleeping! Michelle said our kids were a dream to put to bed (easiest ever I think were her words). Violet can sure give us a run for our patience when she's getting ready for bed. I think she just saves up all her wonderful behavior for mom and dad and is a perfect angel for anybody else.

Lunch time

Today Violet was eating lunch with us and said "I have to put all my food in my tummy so Jesus can take it and put it in the garbage." We both went "huh???" Our plans to go out tonight for our anniversary got canned when the babysitter we had scheduled called this afternoon and told us she had a fever and a sore throat. She said she could still babysit, but we told her we didn't think it would be a very good idea to risk getting the kids sick. She understood. We don't have plans yet for tonight. The kids are napping now and Dave is outside mowing the lawn. Maybe we will go out to eat as a family tonight.

One year ago today

This is the 1 yr mark from when the flood hit the peak of its height and landed 2 feet of water on the main floor of our river house on Cottage Row Rd. I never thought a year could crawl by so slowly. There was (and still is) SO much waiting and there has never been such a time in my life of so much uncertainty. I am not even sure what I thought life would be like in a year since that day. I couldn't really think at that time much past that day, tomorrow always seemed like too much, so I lived in each day with out thinking much past that. But God has been amazingly faithful. I know he caused those events to occur in our lives for a reason. Tough times force us to trust in Him to carry us through and work out the details that seem impossible. He knows we are so weak and needs those challenges in our lives to look to Him. If life was great, it would be easier to just forget about God. I asked Dave in passing if he wanted to do to commemorate a year's worth of survival after such an event, and he just shrugged his shoulders and said "nah". I agreed. The event isn't the attention anymore, its HIS faithfulness that I remember. I read a book in its entirety over the weekend (mostly on the airplane rides) called Captivating, written by Stasi Eldredge. It was a page turner for me, I couldn't stop reading until I was done, and I'll probably read it again. It made me laugh out loud, it made a few tears fall down my cheeks, and touched my heart in a special way. It seemed to be just the thing I needed to read. It is a book dedicated to the unveiling the mystery of a woman's soul and what it is to be a woman, and why a woman was created the way God designed her to, and how to stay true to that. I would recommend it to any woman for encouraging reading. It isn't a "how to be a better wife/mom/woman/lady/person"...not at all...its just really great.

A very welcome home coming

My flights home on Monday were much more relaxing than I hoped, it was nice. The first flight I didn't have anybody sitting next to me, and the 2nd flight I was in a row by myself. I spent 99% of the time reading my latest book called Captivating. I found it to be a real page turner, the time just flew by. I was really ready to come home by the time our trip was over. I drove into the driveway at 4:30 pm and Dave and Calvin were outside waiting for me. As soon as Calvin saw me he started crying because he couldn't TO me right away. Dave plopped him in the truck with me for a moment and he cried "mama!!" over and over. He seemed very happy. I was really glad to see Dave, too. We talked for a while and waited for Violet to wake up from a late nap. She was really excited to see me when she got up. She ran into my arms and gave me a long, long hug for probably 10 minutes. Dave told me she was beaming ear to ear when I told her how much I loved her and how glad I was to have her back with me. She was happy to know that I came home like I said I was going to. We had a fun night together. We were all happy to be in the same place again. We took the kids to Southdale park, then out to eat for pizza at Old Chicago. When I tucked Violet into bed, she cried and cried, she was sad thinking that she wasn't going to see me again, so I climbed in bed and snuggled with her for a little bit, and promised her that I would be here in the morning, and I promised her that she could help me make pancakes in the morning. We did just that this morning. Today is back to regular life. We went to a park for a couple hours and got McDonalds for lunch at the drive thru. This house didn't have much left for food in it, so I spent nap time at the grocery store. I got some yummy chicken marinade, lots of fresh veggies and fruit, and yogurt. I was afraid to check my email this morning, not having checked it for 5 days. There were only 38 messages, that is managable. Rachel has all the pictures from our trip on her computer. She's going to send them to me soon.

NYC ~ June 4-8, 2009

Hi! I'm writing from the desk of Ruth Hardinger on N.Moore Street in the Tribeca neighborhood on Manhattan island!! Rachel and I organized a trip out to NYC to visit our Aunt Ruth and Uncle Michael for a few days. It is a break from reality, a vacation, a breather, and at the same time, different and exciting. Rachel and I are literally in a different world! We planned our flights to both arrive on Thurs, June 4th with in minutes of arriving at the same time. I flew from Waterloo through Minneapolis, then onto Newark, NJ. Rachel flew from OK City and through Atlanta, GA. My flight was an hour ahead of time, and Rachel's was an hour late. So when Ruth and Michael came to pick us up, we ended up sitting at the McDonald's restaurant in the airport drinking decaf coffee until Rachel's flight came in. Rachel's flight landed around midnight. I had gotten in around 10 pm. They drove us back to their place and we were warmly greeted by their two dogs and two cats, named Ishtar, Xoxo (pronounced HoHo), Balam and Seven. Balam is the black cat with white markings, Seven is the white cat who is so named for her seven fingers on each paw. Balam is by far the cuddliest cat, and very sweet. Ishtar is the only female. Both dogs are smooth collies. All of us were so excited to be there, we couldn't just go to bed when we got there. We decided to take a late walk and get the dogs out moving that night, so we walked just a few blocks west of their place and ended up walking on the promenade by the Hudson River. New Jersey is right across the river. We walked for a long time in the light rain. We all got wet but enjoyed the conversation. Nobody else was up walking at 2 am, we had the whole thing to ourselves. We eventually got ourselves to bed around 3:30 am. Everybody slept in Friday morning - we all rolled out of bed around 11 am and ate some fresh fruit and granola with the most delicious maple syrup on it. They have the best maple syrup here. Dave would have LOVED it. They get it from a place that gets the maple drip right from the trees, it is boiled down to make syrup, and bottled locally. The flavor of the day was really relaxing. Ruth and Michael set their own schedules and work when they want to, so they had freed up most of their time this weekend to spend time with us, which was great. They enjoyed a lazy breakfast with us and then we all got ready. They did have a couple things to do work-wise, which were mostly showing properties to people looking at their listings. Rachel and I decided to take a walk downtown to see the site of Ground Zero. Neither of us had been to NYC in about 10 years so it was very different this time. The only down side to this walk downtown was the fact that it was raining pretty hard. We had to borrow jackets to shield off the wet cold breeze. Cameras in hand, we got to the site, and found it REALLY hard to see. Construction was well under way for a new building, but the 15 foot tall fences covered with fabric made it nearly impossible to see what was going on. We got advice from a guard to go to the third floor of the Winter Garden building, so that is what we did. We met Ruth and Michael back at their place at 3 pm for lunch which was fresh fruit and yummy bread with peanut butter and honey. She planned light meals throughout the day with plans for a larger dinner. Rachel and I crashed on our bed and took a two hour nap. The room where we are sleeping has no windows, which makes for a sleeping atmosphere that makes you wonder what time it really is! Ruth had been working in the kitchen during our nap and woke us up in time for the meal to be served. She baked a whole chicken with fresh thyme leaves (from her upstate farm) along with potatoes and veggies, and steamed asparagus. It was delicious. We hurried to finish our delicious meal so we could take off in time to make it for the Brooklyn Academy of Music's performance that night: Youssou N'Dour. He is an african music artist, one of R&M's favorites. He was really fun. His music just made you want to get up and dance. I suppose you could google his name to get a sample of his music. http://www.youssou.com/. The concert went from 8-10:30 - we got home late and listened to a little more music while reviewing some of Rachel's pictures on her computer from the day. I suppose I'll get around to posting some pictures of our trip later. We've taken hundreds already!! :) Saturday morning we woke up around 10 am, enjoyed more fresh fruit and granola with maple syrup, mused over articles in the New York Times, and then showered and got ready for the day. We took off for a walk to the Whole Foods stores to pick up some groceries. We were amazed by some of the produce items. Morel mushrooms selling for $59.99 a pound (Selena, I was thinking of your brother!), ostrich eggs for $50 each, all sorts of things I've never seen in Iowa. On our way back we stopped at a local bakery and picked up a loaf of bread for lunch and some sweet delicacies to eat for "dessert" after lunch. We ate a small lunch and then took off for some more sight seeing adventures. R&M had an exhibit they really wanted to see: Ernesto Neto's creation. I can't even describe the big piece of art that it was, you will just have to look it up. He calls it "anthropodino", and used tulle fabric to design an ENORMOUS piece of art that you can walk into, and parts of the tulle were tied off and large pieces 40 or 50 feet long dangled from the ceiling and held spices and things, it was just indescribable. Google "Ernesto Neto" and see some of the images. We made a stop at a divine imported chocolate store. We called it edible jewelry, the store was that pretty. We indulged in some yummy chocolate and lattes, took our treats to the middle of Central Park and sat down to eat it. A nice lady took a pic of all of us together, it is a great picture. Taking in the atmosphere, the different people, and what everybody else is doing is so much fun. We spent the next few hours walking around the Metropolitan Museum of Art, mostly in the african section, in modern art, and enjoying the rooftop display of tangible art and the view from the top. We could see the entirety of Central Park and the bottom half of Manhattan to the river from that view, it was beautiful. We ended up getting home from that adventure late, by 9 pm, so they fed their dogs and took them with us as we walked to the Indian restaurant we had reservations at that night. R&M know the owners of Salaam Bambay by name, and asked for a table by the street, so we could have the dogs by us, so they sat outside right next to us. We didn't know the food there at all, so Ruth ordered everything. We tried a couple appetizers (Rachel has all this written down, I don't have it in front of me), three different entrees (we split them all), lots of sides...there was shrimp, lamb, seabass, spinach & chickpeas, rice, bread, mango chutney, yogurt sauces, just amazing different flavors with each bite. We all got super full, but had enough room to taste two or three bites of rose ice cream. The ice cream is flavored with rose water - water soaked in roses. It was so crazy - the ice cream tasted exactly like roses smell. Rachel and I also spent more time on the town by ourselves, exploring parts of "the meat packing" district. Sunday was spent mostly shopping. We had a plate of fruit and took off for the morning. After getting dressed and ready to go, Rachel and I went straight up West Broadway and first hit Anthopology (a clothing store) and countless others just looking at the clothes, newest fashions, gawked over the thousand dollar items, many shoe styles, and smells of the city. After a few hours, R&M met us with the dogs on a point on West Broadway. They had to give a client a showing of a property while we shopped, so they had the time later on to meet us. We walked through Little Italy, Chinatown, and then back to their place. We each got a Manhattan magnet from a street vendor, I found a piece of artwork to frame as the start of our bedroom redecorating, etc. R&M picked up a case of 12 mangos, it was a nice random shopping trip. My feet and legs are so tired from walking. We rested for a little while, changed clothes at their place, and then spent some time in their art studios learning more about their current works of art in the making. Ruth explained her folded paper graphite abstract art, and Michael gave us a painting demo. We had dinner plans at a place called Zutto, a japanese place. They had reserved an outdoor table, and Rachel and I had some fantastic firsts. We tried some raw sushi (one made with salmon and rice, dipped in soy sauce and wasabi, and the other of tuna and rice), and we both even took some hesitant bites of eel sushi. It all tasted pretty much the same to me...I'm sure the other three in my company would disagree. It was better than I thought it was going to be, but still not the taste I could appreciate to eat for a whole meal, so I opted for the teriyaki steak and an avocado cucumber salad instead. It was still delicious. We probably spent two hours after dinner just sitting and enjoying the night, talking away. The weather was absolutely perfect, warm, sunny, and the nights didn't get chilly. We loaded the dogs into the van and drove up to Times Square for a last touristy fling. It was jam packed with people, just sitting around on the closed off streets on lawn chairs, just sitting there. The streets were filled. we took lots of great pictures. I called it an Electronic Ocean of lights. Like a little mini Vegas strip. Rachel and I enjoyed the Hershey's shop. I got a Reeses peanut butter cup coffee mug and she got me a Reeses sweatshirt for my birthday. I got Violet a big pack of different Bubble gum flavors. I know she's gonna love it. We drove a way home with intentions of stopping by one of their favorite bakeries, but it was closed, so we kept driving, and got home around 12:30 am. They walked the dogs a little more, and I spent a little time catching up on this blog. They are back in, Rachel and I need to clean up and pack up - a limo is coming to pick us up to take us to the airport at 10 am. My flight leaves at 11:25 am, Rachel's leaves at 11:38, so we timed the flights well. I miss my family so much, I'm really excited to come home. I will always appreciate the generousity of R&M to treat us to such a wonderful weekend away from reality. We loved it!!!!! Will remember: snowman with a sword, truck heads, and fabulous happy horses.

A conversational morning

The kids both slept in til 9 am this morning. For good reason, too. They were up too late because Dave and I were running errands getting things done last night. We made a trip to Home Depot, Sam's Club, and two book stores. We didn't get home til 9 pm and Violet didn't fall asleep until 10 or so. Violet came wandering into my room at 9 am and said "Mommy, where's daddy? I can't find him. I looked in the garage, and the van and the truck are still here, but I still can't find him." He had gone down to his office to jump on a conference call. She then climbed into bed with me and said "Aww, I love you mom." and gave me a hug and a cuddle. I went into our bathroom and Violet followed me like she always does with every single one of my morning steps. She caught a glimpse of a bar of soap next to the bath tub. She picked it up and said "Ooh! This is pretty! Its all sparkley. Why is this soap so sparkley?" I tried to explain to her that they were exfoliating beads, but she didn't really get it. She picked it up, smelled it, and said "Ooh! This smells like oatmeal and pancakes!" That was the end of the sweet funny conversation. She started whining about being hungry and whined about who opened the front door, it all sort of went down hill from there. She ended up in time out twice before she even got breakfast. At least the beginning of my day was sweet! Calvin is always excited to see me. When he wakes up, he makes so much noise that I can't help go right up there and see him. He jumps up and down in his crib like its a trampoline. He had an enormous appetite this morning, probably since he didn't eat supper the night before. His favorite breakfast is either pancakes or oatmeal with banana chunks in it. This weekend is going to be really fun! I am taking a trip to New York City with my sister Rachel to visit my aunt Ruth and uncle Michael. They live downtown Manhattan in Tribeca. I hope the time is relaxing. I'm really looking forward to spending more time with Rachel, because since getting married and having kids, we rarely get time to ourselves anymore. We'll both fly out on Thursday night and return on Monday afternoon. Calvin is going to spend the time at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Mason City from Thurs to Monday, and Dave is taking Violet with him to Minnesota because he's in a good friend's wedding on Sunday afternoon. He will be leaving on Friday for MN though, because the rehearsal dinner is Friday, the bachelor party is Saturday, and the wedding is Sunday.

Splash!

This morning Violet, Calvin and I took our customary walk in the morning. We take walks a lot, since she loves riding her trike long distances. Calvin is pretty good in the stroller, too, which is nice. He loves taking in his surroundings, and gets especially excited when we run across a dog. He always says "hi dah!" for "hi dog!" and waves. Violet has learned how to go up and down a large hill that leads from our neighborhood to Greenhill Road and connects to the trail system. She loves the challenge making it to the top, and has overcome her fear of going down by slowly controlling the pedals so she goes down slowly, not fast. I think if she let go with her feet and went full speed she would freak out. Anyway, we went up the hill and continued west on Greenhill Road for a long time. V noticed a large water feature across the street in front of a few businesses (right by Lockard Realty). I thought about it for a little while and then decided it would be ok. I made her leave her trike on the grass by the trail and hop in the double stroller so I could get the two of them across the road safely. We got to the little water pond and I took note that it was really shallow, maybe a foot or so deep. We sat by the edge and dangled our feet in the exceptionally cold water. She loved to splash her feet. Well, one second more of feet splashing turned into V jumping right in the water. I don't really know how it happened or what made her do that. I was already clutching Calvin close to me with one arm and with my other, grabbed V's arm to help her out. The water was up to her tummy. She was shocked by the cold water and started crying. She kept yelling "I'm wet! I'm wet!" But I had no choice but to wring her off as best I could and stick her back in the stroller and make her ride her trike back home sopping wet. She seemed to get over the initial shock and made it back home alright.

Landscaping

We took a stab at a little spot by the front of our yard and re-did the landscaping. The original look was bushes, bushes, more bushes and overgrown creepy crawling bushes, we both felt it looked really messy. There was even a dead rose bush. Sooo, Dave got a little impulsive, grabbed the hedge trimmer, and whacked off a huge part of the creeping bush thing that was covering the ground. He cut off enough to expose all the roots, and pulled out the rest of the root system by attaching a strong nylon strap to the truck, wrapping the other end around the base of the plant down near the roots. He pulled the truck forward a few inches and it easily ripped right out of the ground. Success! We replaced that spot with a white gardenia plant, and in front near the sidewalk, we planted a few flowers (white shasta daisy, another purple flower that I can't remember the name of that will grow tall and vertical, and yellow flower, lined with impatients on the edge). We also worked on the base of the two front yard trees. Weeded, dug up the pathetic daffodils that barely bloomed, and replaced the base of the tree with fresh cedar mulch. It all looks so much better, I am looking forward to seeing the flowers start blooming! Violet did her best to get in the way and try be a good helper (but she mostly got dirty and messy), and poor Calvin was in the pack and play outside with us, half of the time occupied with watching cars, playing with toys and oohing over airplanes, and half of the time hanging onto the edge screaming. We kept him in the shade and he eventually learned that our work day was not about him.