Dino attends a tea party

Glad it's the weekend

We had a tiring week. I can't say exactly why I'm tired, but it's most likely related to having a battle of words/opinions/emotions/etc. with my daughter more frequently than I'd care to. We went to dinner at Bennigan's with Tim and Sarah and the kids on Monday night, I went out to our usual joint (Don Pablo's) with Danielle and Hope on Tuesday night, and tonight we just got back from a delightful Fleet Farm trip for new tires for the Pilot/visit to The H House. Their basement is looking amazing. Ours soon will be too!

Oh! That's probably why I'm weary too- we tiled on Wednesday. Tomorrow morning is grout time, then Miller time, and Tuesday is carpet day! Our backsplash will be here from Canada in about 10 days. ECFE was fun today with B- he is really enjoying school, and doesn't want to leave the classroom slide when it's time to leave. Have a great weekend everyone! We hope to take the kids ice skating this weekend (just Annalise actually), Bennett can boot-skate. I'll let you know how that goes...

Boys are Fun!

B is in a throwing stage lately. The other day I was helping Annalise get into her snowsuit, and I heard a vague ruckus in the background but didn't pay too much attention because I was focused on the job at hand. When I looked up I saw a kitchen floor covered with dog food! Mealtime has been an adventure as well. We take his plate away if he throws food, but I always hope that he's gotten enough to eat. Then I reason that if he's on to food throwing, he can't still be that hungry. Bennett admiring his handiwork!

Ketchup

I had a nice birthday. Congrats to Dad on his retirement. Bridget, Steve, and Maren took off for FL in the early morning Tuesday, after attending Dad's retirement party on Monday. My darling husband and children surprised me with my very own Garmin (gps) for my birthday gift. I'm going to love it, although Mike and Danielle will probably miss the frantic and frequent phone calls asking if I should go east or west on 62!

Cute Annalise anecdote: today we were sitting at the dining room table, having an afternoon snack while B napped, and we were talking about her classmates. I asked if she was friends with all of them, and she told me that she wasn't really friends with one of the older girls, "but Jilly is really into me." Her wording cracked me up!

Our soapstone was installed this morning. It is so cool! Here is a sneak peak, but I took this picture before the backsplash was up, and the stone hasn't been caressed with mineral oil yet, so it will look much different. But you get the idea. Later.

34 and Fantastic!

Tomorrow is my birthday, and I just wanted to say how thankful I am for my amazing life. I am so happy to be blessed with a wonderful husband and children, health, great friends, a great job, and a great home. Yay! I think 2008 will be another splendid year!

52

That's the temperature in our house today. We came home from ordering our carpet last night, and the house was frigid. Our pilot light went out. We bundled the kids for bed, and had our first fire in the fireplace this season. We did okay through the night. Bennett and I are layered today, wearing hats and I'm wrapped up in a scarf. Centerpoint gave us a window of between 8 and 2, and sure enough someone just called saying that the tech would be here around 2:15.

On a happy note, our countertop and farmsink is in the works, and should be ready in about a week, we ordered our carpet, sconces, and chandelier last night, and Saturday is tiling day. This is the fun part-seeing everything finally come together!

Now I have to stop typing, because I can't feel my fingertips, and my nose is running away from me.....

I think...

one of our subcontractors is a little too concerned with fashion...

Home Stretch?

The cabinets will be totally installed today. We're ordering two windows, sconces, and the carpeting tonight. The countertop measurements will be taken tomorrow morning. It's really taking shape! We might even take our TV out of the cardboard box it's been living in, in our living room! No, that might be too drastic.

It has been nice to get back to a routine as far as school goes. We had a really long break! Annalise has been very tired, both in the mornings and after school as well. Bennett has class on Friday, and it will have been a LONG time since we've been at school, due to break and Bennett being out sick for the last class of December.

B and I went on a good grocery shopping trip this morning. I need to get back to my eating plan- Christmas was not too bad, but I'd like to be very conscious of my food choices. I also have to get the rest of the Christmas cookies out of the house, and get back in the groove of making almost all of our meals at home. I think that was key to our weight loss success this fall.

Things to do:

Check out Santa: http://familylarsenblog.blogspot.com/ Doesn't he look nice in glasses?

We had a racetrack in our basement this weekend, before the room gets too finished and filled up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhWVSWrKI4s

Off and Running

Yes, I'm still here- I hope I haven't lost any of my loyal readers. We had a wonderful Christmas! We spent the weekend visiting with Bridget, Steve, and Maren at Mom and Dad's, with some basement work mixed in for fun. We got the pro level (pre-tiling step) poured on Christmas Eve day, then headed to Grandpa and Grandma's for the Christmas festivities to begin! The kids had so much fun opening presents Christmas morning. Bennett got some neat truck books, trains, and trucks, and playdoh was a hit with Annalise. We celebrated Christmas in Okabena on Christmas evening, and the cousins had so much fun playing together, and with Grandpa. We headed home for a night in our own beds on Thursday, and then turned around and drove to Walnut Grove, for Darci's wedding activities.

Dustin and Darci's wedding was really nice, and Mike was the hardest working usher ever (since his nephew Cody was pretty shy, and only seated a select few). The kids stayed at the wedding dance until 11:30, and were the cutest participants in the dollar dance, dancing in their footy pajamas. The Wilder Inn in Tracy, MN (which proclaimed itself "very nice" right on the sign) was our home away from home for two nights. Bennett didn't do as great as I had hoped with sleeping on an air mattress, and ended up sleeping on me, and kicking Mike out of our bed, into Annalise's bed during the night.

New Year's Eve was celebrated with Chad, Karen, Katie, and Eric in Lakeville. We had a big sleepover party. The kids did a pretty good job going to bed, and then we were able to enjoy an amazing meal of ribs and accompaniments, followed by playing Battle of the Sexes, Apples to Apples, Spoons, Guitar Hero, and a little Wii. Annalise was ready to get the cinnamon rolls in the oven at 7:30, and after a quick breakfast and packing up, we headed to G and G's to pick up Shug, and have a short visit, before heading home to begin the mountains of laundry, and finding places for all of the new toys.

I forgot to mention that I was able to see Stokes and Andy while they were back to MN, and we went out to eat and have a few Morgan Cokes (except Stokes) with Danielle, Mark, Hope and Chad. Mike stayed home with the kids, and hopes to see Stokes on her next visit home (or we'll go visit Oregon instead).

Mike went back to work yesterday after what seems like an eternity, and it was hard having him gone. The cabinets were delivered to the garage this morning, and we'll get them into the house tomorrow hopefully, after the walls are painted. Bob, our cabinet installer will be here on Monday morning, and Shane, our countertop guy will be here on Wednesday morning to measure. So things are really coming together!

Pictures will be added shortly.