Monday, August 23, 2010
Catching Up
I've kind of let this little blog slide...it's been a busy busy time. So what are we up to?
We've moved. We're living in J&K's house (they're in Atlanta) and putting our house on the market TOMORROW! :) So, we've been cleaning and painting and moving furniture at the old house getting it ready to go. We've also fallen in love with a new house in our someday-future neighborhood. We're trying to be smart about it though and we're not doing anything until our house sells. We've definitely found the neighborhood we want to be in and the builder we want to use, so SOMEDAY we will call Fairfax home.
Eric's new-ish job. He's back to a job he was in a few years ago and actually said to me the other day, "I really like engineering again!" Hooray! He's much busier so his days are going more quickly too. My job has calmed down some but I'm gearing up for year end (end of Sept) and enjoying the downtime now.
Will is a 2nd grader! He started school again last Thursday. He's enjoying his class and his teacher this year, and hoping that the playground is finished soon. He's also loving being in the same neighborhood with some of his classmates and spent lots of time on their trampoline last night. He had his 8 year physical last week and is nearly a head taller than most of his classmates at 4' 6 3/4". He weighed in at 88 lbs making it nearly impossible to sit on my lap anymore - not that that is stopping him. He's over the 97% in both height and weight. Now I know why his clothes don't always fit from one week to the next.
Morgan started in her new 3 year old room last Monday. She'd been with her teachers in the 2's room for nearly 18 months and loved them dearly. However, she's doing wonderfully in her new room and seems to like her teachers there as well. She got her first "professional (read: NOT MOM)" haircut last week as well and loved Ms. Jodi after she warmed up. She continues to crack us up with the funny things that come out of her mouth. She seems like such a big girl now, not much baby left.
I'm going to try to update more often. We got a new camera as a wedding present and love taking pictures with it. I mentioned to Eric that I'm going to try to leave it out so I have a goal of taking at least a picture or two a day, of just daily life. I'm hoping to post them here as a bit of a digital scrapbook - and to keep everyone updated on the kiddos :).
We've moved. We're living in J&K's house (they're in Atlanta) and putting our house on the market TOMORROW! :) So, we've been cleaning and painting and moving furniture at the old house getting it ready to go. We've also fallen in love with a new house in our someday-future neighborhood. We're trying to be smart about it though and we're not doing anything until our house sells. We've definitely found the neighborhood we want to be in and the builder we want to use, so SOMEDAY we will call Fairfax home.
Eric's new-ish job. He's back to a job he was in a few years ago and actually said to me the other day, "I really like engineering again!" Hooray! He's much busier so his days are going more quickly too. My job has calmed down some but I'm gearing up for year end (end of Sept) and enjoying the downtime now.
Will is a 2nd grader! He started school again last Thursday. He's enjoying his class and his teacher this year, and hoping that the playground is finished soon. He's also loving being in the same neighborhood with some of his classmates and spent lots of time on their trampoline last night. He had his 8 year physical last week and is nearly a head taller than most of his classmates at 4' 6 3/4". He weighed in at 88 lbs making it nearly impossible to sit on my lap anymore - not that that is stopping him. He's over the 97% in both height and weight. Now I know why his clothes don't always fit from one week to the next.
Morgan started in her new 3 year old room last Monday. She'd been with her teachers in the 2's room for nearly 18 months and loved them dearly. However, she's doing wonderfully in her new room and seems to like her teachers there as well. She got her first "professional (read: NOT MOM)" haircut last week as well and loved Ms. Jodi after she warmed up. She continues to crack us up with the funny things that come out of her mouth. She seems like such a big girl now, not much baby left.
I'm going to try to update more often. We got a new camera as a wedding present and love taking pictures with it. I mentioned to Eric that I'm going to try to leave it out so I have a goal of taking at least a picture or two a day, of just daily life. I'm hoping to post them here as a bit of a digital scrapbook - and to keep everyone updated on the kiddos :).
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Heaven on earth
We had a great week in mid-July for our annual trek to Woman Lake. It was Eric's first time joining us and he's a convert to the joy of northern Minnesota now! 
We spent lots of time on the boats, fishing, skiing, or tubing 
and enjoyed the relatively warm temperature of the lake as well. 
Eric was our top fisherman of the week bringing home several bass and northern. 
EVERYONE caught a fish, even if some (cough,mine,cough) were too small to keep & eat. We had an incredible fish fry Thursday night and wonderful campfires the other nights. 
We spent most mornings at the Lodge for donuts and wished we could bring those yummy treats (steaming hot!) home with us. Oh, and Frosty's ice cream....how could I forget? I think we had an "ice-cream appetizer" 4 of the 6 days we were there. YUM! 
We spent lots of time on the boats, fishing, skiing, or tubing and enjoyed the relatively warm temperature of the lake as well. Eric was our top fisherman of the week bringing home several bass and northern. EVERYONE caught a fish, even if some (cough,mine,cough) were too small to keep & eat. We had an incredible fish fry Thursday night and wonderful campfires the other nights. We spent most mornings at the Lodge for donuts and wished we could bring those yummy treats (steaming hot!) home with us. Oh, and Frosty's ice cream....how could I forget? I think we had an "ice-cream appetizer" 4 of the 6 days we were there. YUM! It wasn't a totally injury free week though, as Will got knocked in the eye with a baseball (his first black eye), Eric got poison ivy, and Morgan several VERY infected mosquito bites. All better now though. 
All in all, we had a wonderful time and we're hoping to spend two weeks up north next year. We can't wait!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Hero
My hero was never a famous athlete or a movie star. I don't know that I'd call anyone in that category "heroic". My hero was a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a friend. He served his country. He was a baseball star in high school. He was a coach, a leader, an employee. He's my dad.
I have so many memories...mostly jumbled together. My new bike in the crawl space in the garage. Vacation in Colorado and a huge donut, the swimming pool and Dancing in the Dark, the CB radios and the Cave Car. Learning to shoot a basketball. Hours of catch in the front yard. Tucked under his arm at night as he read stories - I used to hold his hand and rub his thumbnail. The time he backed over a street sign in a UHaul truck and the time his car caught fire. Endless days of summer on the softball fields and hours in the gym during the winter shooting hoops. The underdogs on the tire swing at the lake. The 6 or 7 tow ropes he broke in front of the lodge one summer and how everyone cheered when the last one didn't break and we got him out of the water. Learning to snow ski and the moment we realized that you can really get sunburned up there in the mountains! He wanted to name our dog Casey "Fart Blossom" - it would have been appropriate! Kraft mac and cheese, chocolate covered peanuts, my mom's surprise party. He lost his job when I was 12 or 13 when the company he worked for closed in Des Moines and he was offered a chance to move to Tennessee to their new facility. At the time I just remember the huge relief when he and my mom told us that we wouldn't be moving. Now, twenty-some years later, I see that decision as an adult and think how hard it must have been. To be laid off and stay where we were for our sake. But he was always doing what was best for us. He coached so many of my basketball and softball teams. So many of my childhood friends have memories of my dad that they've shared with me, because he was there. He played with us, he read to us, he talked to us. He took us to church and taught us about Jesus and His sacrifice for us.
I don't want to say he was perfect. He wasn't. He was flawed. He was human. He had a temper (displayed on kitchen cabinet doors occasionally) :). But he was an incredible man and a wonderful father. I was so blessed. I had NO idea at the time of course, being 17 when he went Home. To this day, I struggle with guilt. Did he know that I loved him? Did he know I was that special brand of SELFISH reserved for snotty teenagers and that underneath, he was my rock? I'm so grateful for his faith. I'm so grateful that I KNOW where he is, that he's in the presence of our Heavenly Father. There is so much comfort in that.
I miss him every day. I miss the chances we didn't have. I tuck all of those "I wish"'s and "What if"'s in a tiny corner of my heart. A corner I don't open up very often - I can't if I'm to continue to move through life without my Daddy here on earth. It's that corner that brings me to my knees in tears. Those big crocodile, snotty, unladylike tears. The ones that seize my breathing and wrench my heart.
I miss you Daddy - it's been 18 years today. Sometimes it feels like 10 minutes and other times 100 years since I last saw you. I am blessed to be able to call you Daddy. I love you.
I have so many memories...mostly jumbled together. My new bike in the crawl space in the garage. Vacation in Colorado and a huge donut, the swimming pool and Dancing in the Dark, the CB radios and the Cave Car. Learning to shoot a basketball. Hours of catch in the front yard. Tucked under his arm at night as he read stories - I used to hold his hand and rub his thumbnail. The time he backed over a street sign in a UHaul truck and the time his car caught fire. Endless days of summer on the softball fields and hours in the gym during the winter shooting hoops. The underdogs on the tire swing at the lake. The 6 or 7 tow ropes he broke in front of the lodge one summer and how everyone cheered when the last one didn't break and we got him out of the water. Learning to snow ski and the moment we realized that you can really get sunburned up there in the mountains! He wanted to name our dog Casey "Fart Blossom" - it would have been appropriate! Kraft mac and cheese, chocolate covered peanuts, my mom's surprise party. He lost his job when I was 12 or 13 when the company he worked for closed in Des Moines and he was offered a chance to move to Tennessee to their new facility. At the time I just remember the huge relief when he and my mom told us that we wouldn't be moving. Now, twenty-some years later, I see that decision as an adult and think how hard it must have been. To be laid off and stay where we were for our sake. But he was always doing what was best for us. He coached so many of my basketball and softball teams. So many of my childhood friends have memories of my dad that they've shared with me, because he was there. He played with us, he read to us, he talked to us. He took us to church and taught us about Jesus and His sacrifice for us.
I don't want to say he was perfect. He wasn't. He was flawed. He was human. He had a temper (displayed on kitchen cabinet doors occasionally) :). But he was an incredible man and a wonderful father. I was so blessed. I had NO idea at the time of course, being 17 when he went Home. To this day, I struggle with guilt. Did he know that I loved him? Did he know I was that special brand of SELFISH reserved for snotty teenagers and that underneath, he was my rock? I'm so grateful for his faith. I'm so grateful that I KNOW where he is, that he's in the presence of our Heavenly Father. There is so much comfort in that.
I miss him every day. I miss the chances we didn't have. I tuck all of those "I wish"'s and "What if"'s in a tiny corner of my heart. A corner I don't open up very often - I can't if I'm to continue to move through life without my Daddy here on earth. It's that corner that brings me to my knees in tears. Those big crocodile, snotty, unladylike tears. The ones that seize my breathing and wrench my heart.
I miss you Daddy - it's been 18 years today. Sometimes it feels like 10 minutes and other times 100 years since I last saw you. I am blessed to be able to call you Daddy. I love you.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Morgan's Day Out
We've been trying hard to make sure that Miss Morgan isn't left out during Will's recovery from having his tonsils out. Eric and Grandma Karen had a special day with her on Saturday. They headed out to run errands, eat at Granite City (yes, the meatloaf is almost bigger than her head):
"play" at Home Depot 
and she even got to "drive" Uncle JM's truck into the garage. Quite a day out for a little one!Tonsils out...check!
Well, the tonsils are out but the recovery isn't complete. All along, I was far more concerned with Will's recovery than the actual surgery. One of the requirements of a tonsillectomy is that the patient drink a TON, in order to keep the throat hydrated (so it doesn't hurt so much) as well as reducing the risk of any bleeding complications. Well, Mr. Will is a stubborn one, taking after his mama and he's of the opinion that if it hurts, he shouldn't do it. So Eric & I have tried EVERYTHING to get this kid to drink! Finally, yesterday, while he was with Dad for Father's Day, he placed a call to Will's ENT. The verdict was more drinking, or he's going to the hospital to get an IV. Couple that with the fact that Nana's here staying with him Monday-Wednesday and watching every sip like a hawk and I'm hoping now that we're back on track. I can honestly say it's been incredibly frustrating for me. Another reminder that I'm really never in control (a fact my darling husband reminded me of last night at 3am when I couldn't sleep with a mind that wouldn't stop racing:)). If Will winds up with an IV, is it the end of the world? Nope, not at all. It's something I'd like to avoid but if it happens, it happens. I can't do it all. I need to remember that :).
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