The Beach

One of the things still on our "Summer Fun" list as of last week was going to the beach.  Braden and Olivia wanted to go down to Lake Michigan and play in the sand.

Braden was entranced by the rocks lining part of the shore.  He reminds me so much of myself when I was young...he can't help but climb on everything!  He was in his element navigating the small mountains and exploring the deep crevices.  

Olivia wasn't so sure but he was a GREAT big brother (as he always seems to be when it counts) and helped her climb around.  She is not as sure on her feet as he is!

Can you believe this cutie is starting preschool this year?  Ugh - I just want to eat her up at times and others... well, I try my darndest to keep my cool.  She is 3 with the sassiness of a teenager already. :)

  

This pumpkin had her first taste of sand - literally.  She liked the feel of it and was doing a great job not putting it into her mouth but as soon as I stepped away - in it went! Yuck!!  

  It is hard to believe that school starts this week. I will miss the long, leisurely days of summer where we can pick up and go at a moments notice.  I will miss full days with Braden and the interaction we have with all of our friends.  With that said I am really excited for school to start. I am anticipating the routine, the slowing down mixed with the busy schedule and the small break that the kids will have from each other with the hope that absence makes the heart grow fonder!    

My Readers!

Norah is just starting to like books!  We went downtown to Central Library last week and checked out some great new reads!  She likes to turn pages and touch anything that is puffy, bumpy or sticking out.

Olivia also loves to read... do you see a problem here?  Ha!  This was on our trip home from Duluth and she wanted to look at the magazine I was paging through. I couldn't help but catch this picture.  I think I'm in trouble with her. :)

Pretty Darn Proud!

So this was my first fix-it project of the summer and I have to say that I am pretty darn proud of myself. I bought this dresser off craigs list for Norah.  It's antique, solid wood and has been refinished.  I felt like I got a pretty good deal but got it home and decided the drawer glides weren't sturdy enough for a child to be using. After pulling the drawers out I saw why.  They were plastic and falling apart. I did some measuring, visited Lowes (quickly becoming my new favorite store!) and then ended up ordering some glides online due to the age of the dresser.  

The glides came in record time and I couldn't wait to get started.  The problem... the directions were written for someone in the construction business and I obviously am not that person.  I again had many conversations with my dad, Steve, friends and the kind people at Lowes.  Gathering all the materials that I needed I set to work and replaced each of the glides on the bottom of the drawers.  

I was sooo proud of myself that everything lined up and actually worked.  When we do some repainting upstairs I plan on painting it white and replacing the pulls to match Olivia's dresser.                                                                                   

As I was thinking about why I LOVE projects like this the conclusion I came to is that I have my dad to thank.  I have wonderful memories of helping to paint/build a fence in our backyard, I watched him build a treehouse, and helped him build a step stool that we still use in my house today.  He was busy with his hands and he included us.  I am really thankful that I have the confidence to try things and the patience to tinker through.  

The second project was fixing a light in our basement. It is above my washer/dryer and had a pull chain. Nothing fancy... but the chain pulled right out last week. Ugh - so frustrating.  I went to... yes you guessed it... Lowes!  I ended up buying a new light knowing that Steve would have NO interest in trying to rewire the light to add a new switch.  Unfortunately we found that to get the old light down we had to take it apart anyways.  After taking off the bottom piece we could see the switch.   My head started turning and I knew I just had to try to replace the switch.

As you can see from the picture, I was able to rewire a new switch and wa-la!  I have a new light!  Again...so proud. :)

Thanks Pa for involving me in all of your projects when I was young. There is such a sense of accomplishment when I am able to fix something on my own.  Oh yes... did I mention that I fixed the garage door last week! :)  Gotta love an old house paired with someone who likes fix-it projects because there are ALWAYS things to be done.

Hiking at Retzer Nature Center

Steve was gone last Sunday so I took the kids to Retzer Nature Center for a hike.  Besides being completely infested with mosquitos it was a wonderful trip. I plugged Norah into the backpack and we did a 1 mile loop through the woods, prairie and over a big hill.  

A few times in the beginning of the hike both kids asked if we were almost done but as soon as we started hunting down bugs, butterflies and birds they were entranced.  I LOVE being outdoors hiking, walking and enjoying the natural world we live in.  We are all happier during the trip and after.  It seems that being in nature and using all of our senses does something calming for our souls.

I look forward to going back sometime later this year when the mosquitos are better so we can linger longer in the woods, enjoy the small water falls and stop to truly smell the flowers!  

Sexy Ladies Book Club Family BBQ

Sara R. decided it was finally time to get our families together.  She did an awesome job planning and organizing.  There were fun games for the kids (including 100 water balloons!), and great eats for everyone.  

It was really nice to be able to visit and watch our children interact.  I absolutely love this group of ladies. I enjoy our conversations, the perspective I get from them all and the sheer time that we've been together.  It's fairly amazing to think that this core group has for the most part been together for the entire time.  

The entire way home, as well as the next morning, my children were asking to play with everyone again. I am hoping we can make a fall playdate to meet there some Saturday or Sunday for a short while.

Thanks ladies and spouses for a great gathering, thanks Sara for all of your time planning and organizing and I'll see you all in a few weeks to discuss our steamy book!

Snack Attack

We bought these great cinnamon alphabet cookies from Trader Joes last week.  I sure do wish we could shop there more often...if only it wasn't so far away.  This was the result! :)  Braden told me it was the best snack he had ever had!! Oh the little pleasures.

Just one of those great days...

The other day was just one of those great days where everything seems to fall into place and it's easy to see all the blessings that surround you.   

To start off Braden and Olivia tried making their own lunches!  I got the idea from a preschool calendar that I printed off a website.  It's got small ideas for many of the days each month. I thought I'd hang it up and pull from it when needed.  This was our first attempt.  

They decided on the menu: turkey sandwiches, melon, a nectarine and dessert.  They loaded on the butter (and I mean loaded-I did step in to remove some of it!), plopped some turkey in the middle and were pleased as punch at their creations.  They scooped some fruit into bowls and ate away.  

It was so cute to see them pleasure over something that I often labor through.  We'll definitely be doing that again sometime soon.  

Steve surprised us by coming home early - he finally finished jury duty after almost 2 1/2 weeks and a very intense trial.  He had been working so hard all day at jury duty, then coming home, playing with the kids, helping me out and eventually retreating to the red chair in the living room to get to his work-work.  He would work tirelessly into the wee hours to get caught up only to start over again the next day.  We thought we'd tell him how grateful we are that he works hard to take care of us by making cookie cutouts and decorating them.  He caught us in the middle of decorating!  Oops.  

For dinner we decided that we needed a little "adult" celebration and finally broke open the fancy bottle of wine that Steve has been saving for YEARS! We decided that it was time to enjoy it and think about all the things that we are blessed with.  

It was delicious... and we're still enjoying it...trying to savor every sip!

We are thankful... for days that are slow enough to remind us how lucky we are, for children who are open to fun, new activities, for a family who is healthy and vibrant, and for Steve, who works really hard to give us everything we have.  

Goodbye to T-ball

Braden had his last T-ball game on Monday night.  He had a great season, really learned a lot and most importantly had fun.  I love that so many of the young programs incorporate parents as the coaches.  I think its valuable beyond measure for children and their parents to learn skills together, challenge each other and laugh along the way.  I'm hoping that as T-ball ends and soccer starts up in about a month we have the same experiences.  

His last game was played against a team who happened to have a friend of ours on it, Nate Gendrich.  The Gendrichs were our old neighbors.  Jenny had become one of my very good friends and it saddens me that we aren't able to keep up as we used to.  We sat and visited during the game while Owen, her oldest, snuggled with Norah. It was absolutely adorable.  I am hoping that being home next year will allow me to reconnect with Jenny.  She is one of those people who make the world and everyone she meets better.  

Great job this season Braden! We're super proud of you. :)

The Family Farm

We went to The Family Farm this week with some good friends.  The kids had a blast, were able to see a baby llama born that morning, feed sheep and goats, see many other animals trying to keep cool, ride on a hay ride and best of all romp around on top of huge hay bales.

Family Laws

I am reading multiple books right now and one happens to be, "Three Steps to a Strong Family." I bought it during the school year with plans of reading it this summer when I had more time to reflect and implement useful ideas. I love it.  This book will lead us to the Family Home Evening I have written about a few times.

Step one was a family meeting to begin creating a set of laws or rules.  We sat down and talked about what rules/laws are.  Then we read a great story called, "The Kingdom with NO rules, NO laws and No king."  It was hard for Olivia to listen to because it didn't have pictures but Braden keyed right in.  Afterwards we listed any and all rules/laws we thought we should have at our house.  A few, "don't hurt flowers," or "don't kill animals," we lumped under, "No Violence."  They came up with a good number of them and Steve and I suggested what we thought was missing.

When we were done Braden went through them for us with a sparkle wand and knew each one from the small picture we drew along side.  The laws have come up quite a few times already in conversation which is the whole idea.  We want to keep them in the forefront of our minds until next week when we'll try to pair them down and lump others together so that our list isn't so long.  

I love our family and I love that I have a husband that is completely supportive of things like this.  I'm feeling very blessed right now.

We'd like you to meet the Alphabet Clone Master!

This summer we set out to master letter recognition with Braden.  We created some goals (5 letters at a time) and a progress chart.  He had a few prizes to earn along the way which provided some much needed motivation in the beginning when it was more difficult for him.  

I am so proud of his hard work.  Little by little he learned them and now knows all 26 upper case letters.  Next we'll concentrate on the lower case. The sounds for each letter were in place from the school year so now he's got a good base for learning to read.

YEAH Braden!  This Clone Trooper Helmet was his last prize so we've been graced with Darth Vader sounding requests for the last few days... delightful! :)

I told you that...

This conversation just took place at my house as I was pouring milk into my coffee...

Olivia - Don't pour all the milk in mama.
Mama - Olivia, we have more milk in the basement.
Olivia - Don't pour all the milk in mama.

Mama spilled some of her coffee because I had it so full.

Olivia - I told you that... I told you not to pour all the milk in.
Mama - Yes, Olivia, you did tell me not to pour all the milk in.

Oh dear...she already sounds like a mother hen!

Kindermusik

Saturday Norah and I volunteered for a "train the trainer" class for Kindermusik.  I was excited to have that one on one time with her.  My friend Meghan and her son Landon were there too.  Norah has her first ear infection and I think some of the movement hurt her but other than that she was a good girl and enjoyed listening to the singing and all the snuggles she got from mama.  

I'm trying to figure out how we can take advantage of the 1/2 off coupon we got for volunteering. I would love to either she or Olivia to be able to be part of this great learning experience.  Hmmmm... if only we had more hours in the day.

National Night Out

We went to Tosa's National Night Out last week.  Braden had a blast running around with a bunch of his buddies and seeing some familiar faces from school.  

The kids went on a few different bouncy rides and then we went on the yearly Flashlight Walk.  The mosquitos were horrendous but the camaraderie with friends made it all worth it.  I am bummed that we didn't get a family picture because we all had the same blue shirts on ... we'll do it next year when Norah will be walking!

Banana Bread Smoothie

I have to share this incredible treat!  I follow a blog called picky palate.  She posts incredible recipes - mostly desserts.  I altered her recipe for a Banana Bread Milkshake and the kids LOVED it!  I'll definitely be putting this on the after school snack list this fall.

Banana Bread Smoothie (recipe for 1)

1/2 banana
2 sprinkles of cinnamon - or as much as you'd like
1 tsp (approx... I might have been more generous!) brown sugar
3 scoops of vanilla yogurt
a handful of ice cubes

Blend and Enjoy!!!!!

Family Movie Night is Moving

This was our family movie night last Sunday.  Because it's been so hot and I am a fan of open windows our house was a little toasty so we decided to use the much neglected basement.  We had been at a birthday party earlier in the afternoon so weren't terribly hungry and just snacked on popcorn and smoothies.  Norah didn't last long but Braden and Olivia enjoyed watching "Princess and the Frog," until bedtime.  

Starting in about a month (that is my goal) we are going to be moving Family Movie Night to Friday nights.  In it's place on Sunday will begin a Family Home Evening.  I am borrowing this gathering from the Mormon faith and absolutely LOVE the idea.  I've been pondering on it for quite some time and think I'm ready to dive in.  It will consist of a lesson or discussion followed by some type of activity to reinforce (when applicable) or just time to enjoy each other.  We will have a quick meeting to discuss the upcoming week and then we'll have a special snack.  I think that is the order I am going to use but I am giving myself a month to make final decisions.  

I love the idea of learning together and setting aside another evening for tradition and bonding.  I can't imagine life without my children and husband and I want to make the most of it.  We also want to figure out ways to make room for one more baby in the future and without organization, fun, love and lots of hands on deck that isn't possible! :)

Braden and his Daddy

Braden loves his daddy... and rightly so!  Steve is the most amazing father.  

He is incredibly unconditional and gives his undivided attention when he is home.  I admire his ability to put all other things aside and just love them.  I appreciate how he helps whenever he can and that he works late into the night so our evenings can be spent as a family.  I feel very fortunate to have him as a partner in parenting our children.  It's a tough job and he's an amazing man to have by my side.

Room Swap

These are our new bunk beds which are in Braden's old room.  The amount of time that it took to get them up and set is ridiculous and I won't bore you with the details but they are finally in place and ready for full usage!  We got the kids each the most adorable mini-clip lights for reading and I have matching comforters waiting for winter.  They will eventually be for Olivia/Norah but right now are Braden/Olivia.

The plan is to move Braden into the other room and repaint blue/tan or blue/blue and then repaint this room the same colors I did Olivia's last year (pink/green). I am hoping that can happen this fall while we can still open windows.  We are holding out moving Norah in with Olivia until she sleeps through the night.  Not sure when that is going to happen but we'll let her figure that out on her own. :)  I am feeling much more patient and unbothered by it this time for some reason.

I love redecorating and once I start in one room I have a hard time stopping in the rest of the house so watch out honey... the changes have just begun!

Who does she look like?

Adorable I must say!  People are still really mixed on who Norah looks like so I am posting an 8mo picture of Braden and Olivia below!

Braden - 8 months

Olivia - 8 months

Dupee Family Clean Team - 2nd Weekend

We held the Dupee Family Clean Team once again last weekend with great success... well maybe not great but it was successful.  Olivia partnered with Daddy to do dusting around the house and Braden helped mommy vacuum.  We had to end up taking the vacuum apart to clean out the hose (there was literaly NO suction because it was clogged with dirty junk).  This was the highlight of Bradens morning.

Again I am thankful for their participation in our household.  I know that the job doesn't get done quite as well when they help but the ownership they are taking is amazing to me.  I did learn that the vacuum is pretty heavy for Braden so I don't know that I'll choose that again as a chore and the dusting was a BIG job so maybe we'll all do that one together next time.  Live and learn.

Steve is gone next weekend so I am trying to figure out how I can continue this with three kids and one adult. Hmmmmm.  I'll let you all know what I figure out next week. :)