Tackling Twins Trip 2006

I just returned from a long weekend trip to Phoenix, AZ. This is the fourth year that my online twin mom board has gathered for a "reunion" of sorts. It has certainly evolved from the first year that 18 of us descended upon Las Vegas. That was a fabulous trip, busy, hectic, hard to talk, but still a great experience for me, considering that I had joined the board at the beginning of the trip plans and really didn't "know" anyone. But, I'm an adventurer, so I figured, what the heck! It'll be a great way to "get to know" people!

Since then, we have met in Myrtle Beach, SC, Galveston, TX, and now this year in Phoenix, AZ. I've thoroughly enjoyed every moment of planning this trip each year. I really have fun with it, and no, it doesn't seem like work to me. I have fun imagining how this trip is going to evolve even more as we age, as our kid's get older, into school, and even out of school!

This year, unfortunately, I started coming down with a cold two days before the trip. I was so bummed and I really tried to head it off at the pass, but no luck and I was terribly sick the entire weekend. I seriously even thought about going home on Friday. I know I had a fever that morning. I was in a room with eight others and would find myself coughing as soon as I'd lay down, so I'd head downstairs each night to sleep on the couch. Not a lot of sleep going on! But I stuck it out, stayed up late (no drinks on my part though) and enjoyed myself, even though I was even quieter than normal. LOL!

We had 11 out of 22 newbies this year! I hope that the trip was all that they expected it to be. Of the 22, there were six (including myself) that have made all four trips. We rented a house the past two years and it's worked out better than I hoped it would. I can't wait for next year!

I love these women; those who have come on the trip and those who haven't; those who are a big part of the board and those who aren't around as much, if at all anymore. I love sharing about my girls with them and I love being part of their lives, their families. If they aren't around, I miss them. I wonder how they are doing, how big their kids are; will they ever come back?

With that, here's a tribute to our previous trips...

Phoenix 2006


Galveston 2005


Myrtle Beach 2004


Las Vegas 2003

Birthday pics!

I know this is late, but I wanted to share a few pictures from the girl's birthday party. It was a great day with family. We all had fun! We ate good too. Brian did a nice job grilling up the burgers and brats. We sort of did a Tinkerbell theme with balloons and decorations. The girls got lots of nice gifts, but are really enjoying their Leapsters and FP dollhouse!











WE'RE FOUR NOW!


Thank you everyone!

Passport to the World...

What a fun night! I went to an event last night with my mom, my grandma and my sister-in-law at the Cannon River Winery called "Passport to the World". It was an event to raise funds for 10 children's charities sponsored by the Children's Culture Connection. We received a "passport" when we arrived and we had it stamped at each country. Each country (charity) represented had a table full of items to bid on, plus information about that charity. You can read about the charities here.

We drank wine and wandered around looking at the all the items. They also had food represented from each country. It was very good and fun to try different things. We had a great time deciding what items to bid on and then checking our bids throughout the night.

After awhile, they had a fashion show with 10 models representing each country with designs by Dina Fesler. What unique clothing! Great music! The models were beautiful!

The silent auction closed at 8 p.m. and I won a few things. First, a Belly Dancing lesson and I get to bring three of my friends!

I'm really excited. My sister-in-law and I are each going to bring someone. Anyone want to join us?

I also won a Dina Fesler original handbag. It's beautiful!


I also got this beach bag with a mat and flip flops. This bag is stunning! It was also designed and made by Dina Fesler.

THEN...after the bidding was all done, we wandered back to the 4th Street Marketplace (a cute store that just opened by Connie Bickman, a local photographer and world traveller). We had dessert, coffee and tea to end the night.

It was such an enjoyable evening. I can't even began to tell you how much I enjoyed myself. The best part was sharing it with my family, who are also my friends!

BRRRRRR! It has turned COLD!

Well, at least for a day or two. Yesterday we even had snow flurries! Yikes! On October 11? So when the girls and I saw this...


we decided to do this!


Lindsey and Sydney were having a good time helping me.



We had a family birthday party last Sunday and had a great time. The girls got so many nice gifts. They love their Leapsters and their new doll house w/twins! Here are all the pics from their birthday. Birthday Pics

I've been busy working on decorating my kitchen/dining room. I ordered some Roman shades for my dining room and kitchen window and tab-top panels for our patio door (or a doorwall, as those in Detroit would call it!). My mom and I also hit a flea market last weekend and I picked up several things that I now have displayed on top of my cabinets. I can't wait until I have it all done so I can post pics! I'm also ordering the new flooring and countertops tomorrow, and it sounds like it will be installed the week of October 30th! YAY! I'm VERY excited!

Happy 4th Birthday baby girls!

Here I am…reflecting on another year gone by. I can’t believe that my precious miracles are four years old today. FOUR! How does the time pass so quickly?

Seems like just a few months ago that I was sitting in the hospital waiting to have a C-section, scared beyond belief, but yet calm, feeling confident that everything was going to work out exactly how it was supposed to. Where does that confident feeling come from? Well, for me, I know it comes from my faith. I’ve been through many trials over the years…divorce, infertility, miscarriage, and losing a baby. Through it all, I’ve learned many things about myself, my strength and about the support of my friends and family. I think that each heartache, in a way, prepared me for the next, almost like another coat of armor, so to speak. Not that that armor protects you from future events, but each situation, each tribulation, has shaped me into the person that I am today.

Four years ago, I remember thinking why? Why couldn’t I get pregnant on my own? Why did I have a miscarriage? Why did I lose our son, Seth? Why couldn’t I just have a normal pregnancy, not one with all the shots, the blood draws, the monitoring, the cerclage, the bedrest, the pre-eclampsia? I thought for sure that after 15 years of dealing with infertility, I'd be able to have a baby. And now THIS? Now I have to go through possibly losing two more babies, two precious girls who barely weigh a pound? But yet, I still felt certain that everything would be okay, even at my lowest moments, when Lindsey was fighting for her life on the oscillator or seeing one of my babies being bagged time and time again. It was a quiet assuredness that I felt, but really can’t explain. I knew that nothing was in my control or even the doctor’s control. We would all do the best we could with what we had, but in the end, how they fared wasn’t up to us.

I thank God every day for having this time with my daughters. I look at them even now, and say to myself…I can’t believe there are TWO! I can’t believe they are mine! I can’t believe these girls weighed only a pound. A pound! They bring me such joy and happiness (frustration too, but I’ll take that). I am so proud, so honored and so grateful to be their mother.

They are so alike, and yet so different. Lindsey, I've always called my girls of extremes. She is either one way or another, really sweet and loving or the opposite! LOL! Sydney is more even keeled, straight and steady. It's funny how this is exactly how they were pegged in the hospital too, and it's carried forward.

So, I leave you with a few pictures…documenting the past four years. Thank you all for sharing these years with me. I truly believe that we meet each other for a reason. We learn so much from each other. We take and we give. If you are interested in reading about Lindsey & Sydney's first days and months, it's all documented at their Caring Bridge page. Click on previous journals.

21 weeks - the only pregnancy picture I have
I delivered three short weeks later


Lindsey Faith - about 10 days old


Sydney Paige - about 10 days old


Kangaroo Care


Six months old


One Year Old


Sydney - Two Years old


Lindsey - Two Years old


Lindsey & Sydney - We're THREE now!


Stay tuned for our birthday pics! We're having a family party today and it's going to be a great day! I love you baby girls!

What a BEE-U-TEE-FUL day!

Gosh...it is absolutely gorgeous out today. Blue sky this morning, not a cloud in it. A few are starting to come around now, but it's been breezy and warm, about 72 degrees. This is my favorite time of year. The girls went to school this morning and I went out to the shop for a few hours. It has been so nice working in the family business one or two mornings a week. I didn't realize how much I missed getting out with other people, and not just socializing, but actual working, using some of those brain cells in a different capacity than I have been for the past four years. I definitely can't complain that I haven't gotten "ME" time in the past. I do plenty of things for me, but working in a way that uses your brain differently, where people ask you questions because you are the one with the answers, has felt really GOOD! I've NEVER gotten that excited about keeping a clean and organized house!

Anyway, after hanging at the shop for a few hours, I went back to town to pick up the girls from school, but I first made a stop at the building supply store where I've been shopping for flooring and countertops. Currently, I have three rings of countertop samples in my possession and six different flooring samples. I had seven flooring samples yesterday, but returned four today, and picked up three more. I think I'm making some progress on narrowing it down. IT IS SO HARD! I didn't think it would be that difficult picking out this flooring, but it looks so different throughout the day, in the morning and day light, versus the evening, versus night when I have the lights on. UGH! But, I think I'm down to four that I like (well, three), but I think I like two of them better than the third. The three that I like are:

Toasted Maple Plank

Blush Cherry Plank

and Carmel Walnut Plank

I can't find a photo of this though.

The first two are definitely my favorites and I'm leaning towards the maple.

My cabinets are on the darker side, sort of like this color:

Sierra Oak


They have quite a bit of grain to it. That's why I'm trying to go with a more subtle grain in my floors. I think if I went with the oak floors, it would just be too much. I have quite a large space and it's very open.

So, that's where I'm at with the floors. I was told that I maybe wanted to go lighter with the floors if my cabinets are darker, but I didn't really like how it looked. I don't like the really dark colors, but more along the same tone/color that I have in cabinets, just a different wood. Any thoughts? I could use some opinions.

As for the countertops, fortunately, I have a good idea what I want, so sifting through HUNDREDS of little chip samples hasn't been too bad, otherwise, I think I might have gone MAD!

These are the two that I've narrowed down to so far. I'm leaning towards the ButterRum Granite, as it's a stock color and would be the least expensive. I'm also planning on going back to a stainless steel sink. I really prefer stainless steel. It's a cast iron in here now and I don't like it. My appliances are all BLACK.

Butter Rum Granite

Mesa Sunrise

Which do you like?

That's what I've been pondering today. After I picked up the girls and went home, we had lunch and then went outside to play. They rode their bikes and we went on the "playground" in our backyard. I love the bench swing. I swing on that and the girls run around and slide a lot! LOL! Then we came inside and had some quiet time and they watched Zaboomafoo. HUGE hit around here. I keep a bunch of those DVR'd so we can watch anytime. Now, L & S are out with the next door neighbor girl, Lily. She is six and comes over to get the girls to play quite often. They have a good time together.

I've started not napping L & S again on certain days. So far, it's been going good. We had no nap yesterday and they went to bed at 8 p.m. and were out by 8:10 p.m. They slept like rocks until 6:30 - 7 a.m. VERY NICE! On the days they nap, we've been having issues with actually GOING to sleep, waking during the night, and getting up VERY early. I think they are definitely moving towards not requiring quite as much sleep as they did this summer.

Well, I best go make my Schwan's order up. I hate to be scrambling when he gets here. Brian arrived safely in Las Vegas. Not sure I mentioned it, but he is there for the week for work. I have a busy week on tap too, and THEN...(drum roll) I will be joining my honey for three days in Vegas without the kids. They are going to my brother & SIL's and the girls are ALREADY talking about it! They can't wait and I'm excited to get away with Brian too!

Life...is just happening...

I really need to carve out just a few minutes each day or so to just post a few things here. It seems like I just let it go and then I have so many things to say; some things get written about and others just get lost into my memories.

As I said, life is just happening; day to day things that are keeping me busy. I'm still trying to get settled. We're in somewhat of a routine, but I still have piles of boxes around to unpack and basically nothing on the walls yet. I think we may have a housewarming party in November and I'm hoping that will help me to really crack down and get things organized.

I am planning on having new laminate wood flooring put in the kitchen and dining room and also new countertops and a sink in the kitchen. I had someone come out last week to measure so I can start getting some quotes. I've somewhat narrowed down my countertop choices and I'm going to check out some bigger flooring samples to see how it will look. There is NO WAY that I can pick out stuff from a 2" X 2" sample! I'll have to find the samples and post a few of them. Maybe I can get to that today.

The girls are LOVING school. They look forward to it each week and I really like the consistency from going consecutive days. Last Friday wasn't our day, but we went on a field trip to the apple orchard. It was a cold, rainy, wet day, but we still had fun. The absolute BEST part is that I invited my grandma to go with us on the trip. I just can not portray to you enough, the joy and delight in my grandmother's face when I invited her along. And my girls were so excited that great-grandma Marcy was coming. We met at the school and we had to go inside so the girls could show her their classroom and meet their teacher. THIS is why I wanted to move here so badly. I think I would live in a shack and work in a barn to be able to give this opportunity to my girls and share their lives with my grandma, their grandparents and extended family. To me there is nothing more important than that. And now we are close enough to do those fun things, planned things, spur-of-the-moment things like popping by the high school to watch my nephew's flag football game or having a garage sale with my mom, aunt, grandma, SIL and niece...ALL things that we did this past weekend.

Anyhoo...I need to get some things done around here, but just wanted to give a short update. Like I said before...I have lots more to say, but today we are home and it's laundry day. I also have the Welcome Wagon person coming over this afternoon. They bring a basket and folder of stuff, coupons, gifts from the local retailers, etc. Isn't that the coolest? I'm sure there will be lots of things that we can use.

New House Pictures (finally)!

I finally got all my house pictures uploaded and updated the captions. It took awhile as I had quite a few pictures to go through and then I tried to put them in some sort of order. I decided just to upload them to Yahoo. Click HERE to check them out.

We have a little work to do, but for the most part, it's really been updated a lot! Especially the bathroom. It's so pretty. I absolutely love the tile. I love all the colors in the main rooms, so I have no painting to do, other than the girl's room (which used to be a boy's room). We have new carpet throughout the house, new tile, and all new appliances. I even have one of those new Maytag front loading washers (need the matching dryer though).

Oh, and I have to tell you a cute story. I guess Sydney likes the colors in the house too. At the breakfast table the other morning this was part of our conversation:

Sydney: Momma, WE'RE in a storybook!

Me: We are?

Sydney: Yes, momma. We're in the Land of the New House...with all the beautiful colors. We have beautiful colors in our new house, momma!

A few things that I DO intend on changing is having laminate wood floors put in the kitchen/dining area and new kitchen countertops. The downstairs bath needs some work, but we're not worrying about that at this time. They didn't have many window treatments, so I need to work on that too, especially the big window in the dining room. Ideas? Suggestions? I am open.

At some point, we will also be putting in a wet bar and cabinets in the family room. It's already plumbed for that. I think that will just finish off that family room area. I am so excited about the custom oak cabinets built in in the family room too.

There is also enough extra siding in the garage rafters that we are planning on adding a third stall to the garage at some point. Plenty of space and since we have the siding, it makes sense.

I just can't wait to get everything on the walls, out of boxes, and put away. Then I'll be able to post some after pics too! I'm really enjoying having all this extra storage. It's made quite a difference for us going from 5 people to 4 in the house and then going from 1800 sq. ft. to 2700 sq. ft.

We're home.

I need more time to blog!

I thought I would pop on here to give a quick update. No, I've not fallen off the face of the earth. I guess I've just been extra busy trying to get this new home in order and all that goes along with that! I have so many things that I want to write and update about that I've even wrote it down on my list of Things to Do!

Lindsey & Sydney started preschool last week and it went really well. Even the first day, we had NO tears! I was shocked, actually. I thought for sure I would have some separation issues with Lindsey, but I guess all the talking about it ahead of time for weeks, months, years...helped. They are going to a local church school that has classes for Preschool through Grade 8. My niece, Chelsea, also goes there and the girls are so excited that they get to see her. This school is very flexible. As of right now, they are attending T-W-Th from 8-12. They really want to stay for lunch, so I may change it up after awhile.

This is what I overheard on the monitor on the first day of school. It was so cute! Sydney woke up first. "Lindsey, Linnnndsey! Wake up. Wake UP! We get to go to SCHOOL today!" Here are a couple pics from their first day.




I still want to post some details on our vacation including some pictures. I also have house pictures. I hope I can get a few minutes to get those together as well. The pics I have are all of empty rooms before we moved in. The way it's going, I'll have all the after pictures ready too, by the time I get to this.

Oh, and Lindsey and Sydney have started a dance class called Just for Kix, so I wanted to update about that too. Keep watching for updates!

I just looked at my calendar and September and October are shaping up to be crazy busy months. We have AT LEAST one thing going every weekend, if not more, and now we're fitting in school and dance into the mix. I'm sure I'll look back on this someday and think how easy it was though.

One thing to look forward to during this hectic fall time though is a weekend away with my hubby! YAY! He will be gone to Vegas the last week of September for the SGIA show, and I am flying out on Friday for the weekend. We'll both come home on Monday. I'm VERY excited about this. We both love going to Vegas, especially hooking up with old friends.

But, even with all the stuff going on, we have made progress with unpacking and getting things in order. We finally got the girls' new twin beds (bunks, but not put up) together this weekend so they aren't sleeping on crib mattresses on the floor anymore. They LOVE them and haven't had any problem staying in them.

From Day 1 in our home, even with nothing unpacked, I've totally felt at home. It's a really good feeling. I can see us being here for a long time.

Too much to say...not enough time!

Honestly, I don't even know where to begin! We've been on vacation, and now since getting back on the 30th, we've been busy with our house closing and moving! I have so much to write and many pictures to share as well! I may have to do this in stages.

But first off, we had an AWESOME vacation! It was a little bit tiring, but we really enjoyed the time away, the friends we met and the things that we saw! Somehow we managed to travel 4,385 miles through 12 states in 11 days! WHEW! Now THAT'S a road trip! The girls are, well, frankly, they are the best travellers, probably better than me! LOL! Here is a little snapshot of the route that we took.



We stopped in the following cities: Cheyenne, WY, Salt Lake City, UT, Brian Head, UT, Las Vegas, NV, Albuquerque, NM, and Wichita, KS.

Here is a picture of Sydney & Lindsey on Sunday morning (8/20/06, 6 a.m.) when we took off. They were rarin' and ready to go! We travelled a little over 800 miles that day and about thirteen hours to get to Cheyenne.



I'm going to jump ahead and talk about our new home a little bit. We had a bit of anxiousness before the close, which happened on Friday, September 1. On Thursday, I contacted the mortgage processor to check in. I hadn't heard anything while we were gone, so assumed everything was fine. Our file was STILL in underwriting! It sounded at first like they might need to push back the closing a bit, but told us not to worry, everything was still going through. They just needed another underwriter to look at it.

During the afternoon, I received the call that everything was a go for the 10 a.m. close in the morning. I thought they had informed our attorney and sent the documents. The next morning, I got a call from the attorney saying they hadn't received any documents yet. So, I got on the phone again and they said no problem, they were sending them right over! So, the poor attorney's office was scrambling to get the HUD-1 statement done so that they could initiate the wire. We had our walk-thru at 9:30 a.m. and we told the sellers not to come until 10:45 a.m. We did get to go in at 10 a.m. and signed everything, but the funds weren't there for the seller. The wire finally did come through in the afternoon, though, and they were able to go pick up there check. It is officially OUR home (well, the banks, LOL).

Even though all I've done is clean (the sellers didn't clean anything) and we really haven't gotten much moved in yet, I'm loving it! I feel totally at home already. Yesterday I was able to vacuum and shampoo all the carpets and cleaned a bunch of windows and the woodwork. This morning I went back and vacuumed everything again. My mom and grandma came out and the three of us tackled the kitchen and bathrooms. The kitchen was a TON of work. My grandma was up on the counters vacuuming above the cabinets and mom jumped in and started working on the refrigerator. I began on the bathrooms. The girls played.

Brice came down and helped Brian for about three hours carrying all the heavy things into the house. We haven't really arranged anything, but most of it is in the house or the garage. There are just a handfull of things left in the container and some things in the extra storage unit. Hopefully, by Monday night, we will be fairly situated. We are staying at parent's one more night, but I think tomorrow we'll be able to sleep in the house.

The girls are loving the backyard and their playset. It's quite spacious, as we're on a half acre. Plenty big for us! I found out the house is actually bigger than I thought. The original plans were left there and it's 2656 sq. ft. We have two large decks and a patio. Here is the view of our back yard and one where you can see the one deck.





Well, that's all I have time for right now. I came back to my parents so the girls could nap. Brian has the van and is moving a few more things. Later, we're are running over to some friends house to make an appearance at a neighborhood party. Then it's back to it tomrrow, bright and early.

The girls are supposed to start school on Tuesday. I'll be REALLY glad when we are all settled!

Vacation delay and sick kids

We are surviving here at my parent's house. This living out of a suitcase is for the birds though. Actually, we wouldn't have to live out of a suitcase, but my mom's clothes have overrun her closet (including my dad's side of the closet) and into the second bedroom closet. I went to hang up our stuff and there was no room and no hangars! Good thing I brought my own hangars. Mom took some of the clothes out and put them in her front entry closet for now mumbling, "I know. I know. I HAVE to go through these clothes!" Pretty funny.

As for our vacation, we have postponed it for a couple days and cancelled the first leg. We had planned to spend three night in Red Lodge, MT and drive the Beartooth Highway, tour Yellowstone, and then head down to Salt Lake City. We were going to leave last night (Friday), but now we're re-evaluating our plans.

The girls have been sick and two nights ago, Sydney couldn't sleep and was complaining of her ear hurting. I gave her Tylenol throughout the night and yesterday I took her in to get it checked. Yep, infected, and her throat is red and tonsils enlarged. She's not good with medicine, so I had them giver her a shot, and now I just have three days of Zithromax to give her. She's feeling A LOT better! I can't believe that since they left the NICU, this is the FIRST time they've had any antibiotic and it's the FIRST ear infection. Pretty good, if you ask me. They are almost four! I just hope Lindsey's doesn't develop into anything else either. She is still coughing, but not complaining of anything hurting.

So, I think we will leave tomorrow morning (Sunday) with the intention of heading to Cheyenne, WY. We may stay there a couple nights or move on down then road. It's about 12-13 hours for us to Cheyenne, and then another 6 hours to SLC. We have reservations in SLC on Tuesday & Wednesday night.

The rest of our itinerary goes something like this:

8/24-8/26 Brian Head, UT at our timeshare (I'm looking foward to the spa Cedar Breaks Lodge & Spa) We may tour around Zion National Park & Bryce Canyon, too.

8/26-8/28 Las Vegas, NV, our timeshare was booked (and why we are spending two days in Brian Head), so we are staying at a local hotel. Our friends our celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. We're looking forward to visiting with all of our friends and for them to be able to see the girls. They did get to see them back in 2004 when we were out for a week, but the L & S were only 7 months old then.

8/28-8/31 Head home, no set plans, but we're fairly certain we're heading back the southern route this time via I-40. We're probably stopping in Albuquerque for the night, and then on through Oklahoma City where we'll pick up I-35 and head north home, making one more overnight stop around Kansas City. We need to be back by 8/31, but may try to get home on the 30th, just in case something comes up with our closing.

We are set to close on our new home on September 1 at 10 a.m. My mom is already mentioning to me about possibly having Thanksgiving at our house this year. We'll see.

I'm a little bummed that we had to cut out the Yellowstone part of our trip, as I was really looking forward to it. I think we'll make another trip out there sometimes and just stay in the area for a week. We have a timeshare in Big Sky which sounds VERY nice. Seems like a good plan for a future vacation.

In other news, it was Brian's 47th birthday yesterday! Happy Birthday Brian! We had a nice evening. My dad grilled some awesome steaks on the grill. Mom cooked garlic mashed potatoes and we also had fresh green beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers from my grandma's garden. We topped it off with cake from the local bakery which is well-known around here. People come from all over to our little hometown bakery. The girls sang Happy Birthday and he opened his cards. We love you, Brian!

We're Homeless!

It's done. We closed on our Wisconsin home yesterday at 10 a.m. It was pretty uneventful, only six pieces of paper to sign and then it was back to the house to load up some final things. The guy who bought our home just retired from the Navy after 23 years. He's been stationed in San Diego the whole time and is moving back from there.

We did have a little excitement and anxiousness in the morning though. The truck came to pick up the container and it broke down. The hydraulics sprung a leak and when he tried to load the container, the front end of the truck went up and it slid backwards toward the garage. We thought it was going to HIT it! Note on the picture how close it is to the garage. It was at least 3-4 feet away before.



The girls and I drove away from the house, sad, but excited. First a stop at the bank to deposit our check and then off to Grandma & Grandpa's (my parents), where we are staying for a few days before we leave on vacation. I can't believe I am moving home! Home to Minnesota! The girls are so cute. They recognize the water tower in town and were telling me that we live in Minnesota now!

Driving into town...



And let me tell you...moving the little bit of our stuff into my parents two bedroom, well, we've taken over! LOL!

After my mom got home from the office, then I left and headed back up to the house. Brian came there from work and we cleaned the place and loaded up our last load of stuff to take to the storage shed.

Oh, by the way, all of our stuff did NOT fit into the container. It wasn't even CLOSE! Their website states that a 2-3 bedroom home should fit. NO WAY! I'll be talking to them about that. We rented an additional 10x10 unit and it is totally full, floor to ceiling, and last night at 9:30 p.m. I was dropping a few more things into my grandma's garage that wouldn't fit! I think I need to make a list where everything is at. We have our third car and our riding lawn tractor at my brother's, some Little Tikes toys at the shop, the girls bikes & trikes and some miscellaneous things at my mom & dad's, and all our photographs, keepsakes, etc. at my grandma's, besides the storage unit and the 20 foot container that's in Minneapolis. Really, though, we don't have that much stuff!

The girls have been sick, but seem to be on the mend. Brian is starting to come down with something. I'm hoping he can stop it in it's tracks though. We're planning on leaving at midnight Friday night, and he's driving the night shift. More on our vacation later...

Oh, and on Saturday, we moved our freezer to our new house. The sellers graciously allowed us to move it in early (meat & all), so that we didn't have to move it twice and find a place to put it. It was neat to see the house again and got me excited to move in. I'm busy planning in my head where to put stuff and figuring out what to buy first (I'd like some new furniture). I also have a couple projects that I'd like to do in the kitchen. I'll keep you posted on that too.

Hearing phantom children...

My girls are staying overnight at their aunt & uncle's house tonight (my brother). They absolutely LOVE going there. They love them, their cousins, their pets, their swings...all the wonderful things that come along with family. I am so happy that we are moving to my hometown, so that my children can have the opportunity to really know their extended family, to have special relationships, not just visits. I had that as a child and my relationship with my family is VERY special.

See, there I go...off on a tangent again. The title to my entry is hearing phantom children. I'm wondering if anyone else thinks they hear their children laughing, crying, talking, whatever, when they are not there. It's been happening to me all evening, and more so now, that it's nighttime.

DH and I certainly got a lot accomplished today in regards to packing and loading (one of the reasons for the sleepover), but I sure do miss my girlies when they are gone! Actually, I know I'll miss them even more tomorrow morning when it's time for them to get up. It's my favorite part of the day, when they call for me, and I'll go in their room and hear, "Hi momma, it's morningtime!" or "Good morning, momma! I love you. You're the bestest momma EVER!" No wonder I have such great days! My cup runneth over even before the day has begun!

Look what they delivered TODAY!

It just seems so weird that in one week, we'll be homeless! The time has gone by so fast! I watched the neighbor kids for an hour this morning. We were all SAD! They are leaving on vacation today and won't be back until 8/16, and we will be GONE! They are TRULY the best neighbors that anyone could ever hope to have and I'm extremely heartbroken about it. The girls started crying when Angela came to pick up Morgan & Gabe this morning. Sydney was crying at the door as they walked away, "I'll miss you so much!" We're only an hour away, so we'll still be able to get together on occasion, but it definitely won't be the same.





I just finished calling all the utilites, etc. and cancelling our services. Now off to call the other ones to set up! Oh, and guess what? We are going with the local phone/dsl/dish network bundle AND we'll be moving into the 21st century getting DVR!! WAHOO!

Beginning of a new era for me...

and for L & S. I registered them for preschool yesterday. They will be attending St. Paul's Lutheran School (the same one that their 12 year old niece goes to) and they are excited. I signed them up for three days a week, T-W-Th, hours to be determined. I think I will start them off with the hours up until lunch and see how that goes, and maybe adjust it to longer later on. So, they'll attend from 8-12.

When we went to tour the school yesterday, I was nervous that L wouldn't want to go into the building or would be very apprehensive. She totally surprised me, staying with Sydney alone in the preschool room (playing, of course) while the principal showed the rest of the rooms to me. And then, after we were all done, she asked if they could stay longer! This makes me feel so much better! I think they are really going to enjoy the interaction with other children. They haven't had a lot of that so far, other than spending time with the two neighbor kids.

The next big thing that we're considering is...Dance Class! It's such a long commitment though, so I have to really think it through. Plus there isn't a studio in our town. We'll have to drive to the next town over, about 15 miles. I'll keep you posted on that decision!

Until next time...

We're MOVING!

Yep, that's the big news around here. Our house went on the market June 19 and sold in exactly three weeks! Unbelievable! It was a cash offer, neither of us had realtors, and my wonderful neighbor is an attorney offered to handle the closing for us as a "going away present". It all happened in less than 24 hours.

We had every intention on building. We've had lot picked out, a plan, a builder, and we totally did a 180 on it. We were very committed in moving forward with building, but then we ended up taking a look at a FSBO house. We had actually gone to look at some rentals, both would've been just fine, and then we did a driveby of a house that just came on the market that was only 5 years old. That house was really nice, but we didn't like the location. In the mean time, my brother had told me about this other house that was FSBO, so we drove out there. It's out in the country about 1.5 miles and on a half acre lot. Brian was very interested after driving by, so I called my brother to ask about it. He called the owner right then and there (he knows them, small town, you know), so they said come on over. We went over there and checked it out and it was VERY nice. It's not the layout I really wanted, but there were so many nice things about it, so many nice upgrades, add ons, etc. It was built in 1992, 4 bd/2 bath, about 2500 sq ft. That was Wed. 7/12. I won't go into all our back & forth thinking, but long story short, on that following Sunday, 7/16, we just layed it on the line, told them where we were at. We came up about $2500 where we wanted to be and they actually dropped about $12500 from their FSBO price.

I think the big thing that changed our minds is that we'd end up with about the same payment building, as with this house, but then we'd still have so much work to do on the new house (driveway, yard, deck, basement) and the built house wouldn't really be that much bigger, plus it would be in town. Also, even though with building we'd have a brand new house, it's still not the house I ultimately want or in the location I want, and after building, I'd feel like I'd need to stay there forever. Yes, it would be a very nice house, but I've BTDT a couple times with building and it's not big deal to me to do it again.

This house is all finished and there is really nothing to be done. Could something be redone? Certainly, but not necessary. It's been freshly painted, all new carpet, new tile, new appliances; they've done a great job of updating it, PLUS...the YARD is just so awesome with all the landscaping and trees, and the great playset and sandbox for the kids. And with this house, we have an opportunity to be out in the country a bit, which we really didn't think we'd be able to afford. It's gotten to be so expensive in my hometown, even with building, we would be settling.

I really wanted Brian to be comfortable since he his moving to my hometown and I think it will be an adjustment for him. He told my Dad before we had made the offer that he could already see himself mowing the lawn and planting a garden!

So, that's how it all happened! No realtors at all and everything just falling into place. I couldn't even make up a story so perfect!

We are closing on our current home on 8/15. We will stay with my parents for three nights and then we leave on vacation (already planned) for two weeks. We're coming back a day early, as we are closing on our new home on 9/1.

I don't have any inside pics, but I did manage to snap a picture of the outside. Here it is. I'm getting pretty excited!

I'm BACK!

Okay. I've spent some time updating this little ole blog, that I've only managed to crank out a couple entries per year on. I'm really going to give it a go this time. Beware though, it will probably make no sense, seeing that I am a woman of many interests. I tend to go off on tangents now and again.

I journaled quite a bit as a teenager and it really helped me organize my thoughts, and my life. I hope that by spending some time here regularly I will gain some new perspective on...well, things, life, in general.

Lots more to tell...but I'll save it for another post.

First Day of Summer!

Okay, so I'm not into this whole blogging thing yet, at least not regularly. I think it's a great idea and hopefully, I'll get with the program and get some thoughts written down. But for now, you'll just have to wait for these random thoughts to come along.

Another hot day in Wisconsin! Fine by me. It's much better than the 21 days of rain that we had out of 31 days in May!

Off to have some java...I'll be back.