Lake Erie

On Sunday afternoon, we decided to go for a drive we ended up at Lake Erie. Well, Lake Erie, is huge. After living in MN and seeing lots of really pretty smaller lakes (and some bigger in Northern MN) I wasn't quite prepared for what it would feel like or look like when we saw lake Erie. Now I know why it is called a "Great Lake."

Lake Erie is huge, it is like an ocean, and on Sunday afternoon, it was very gusty and the waves were probably 4-5 feet high. It was pretty fun, and it is so pretty, it took my breath away!
Will loved it. They don't have seashells, but they have lots of really cool rocks. Will was gathering to his heart's content, it was fun!


It was all fun and smiles until we set him down in the surf, he didn't like that. The waves washed right up onto our legs and he got a little scared. Poor kid, I think I've scarred him for life, but he better get used to it, because I'm sure we'll be spending lots of time at the lake in the next few years!

We can't wait to go back, see you soon lake!

ARRRRRRRR

This is the latest......

Captain Jack Sparrow, as he calls himself. A few years ago, I found this Pirates of the Caribbean set at GoodWill after Halloween for like 2$. It came with "Jack's" hair, sword, rings, and of course the trusty compass. Ever since I pulled it out of the box to put it away, it has been worn by my little captain. He won't take it off, he's worn it literally everywhere, people look at us and usually laugh and we get a lot of good pirate comments. Will loves it!

I'll let this cute pirate around anytime! Even though he takes my jewelry to put in his little pirate pouch for his treasure. We've found lots of interesting things in there that he calls his "treasure" it is an adventure!

my new dressers

Thanks to a hard working husband, we got our dressers done! These pictures don't do it justice, but they are beautiful! They went from being dark stained wood (which was also pretty, but needed some updating) to a great shade of turqoise blue. I decided to keep the original drawer pulls because they added just the right touch and exactly what I was looking for, a little modern vintage look.   I did spray paint the handles black with a metallic black paint and they really look great. Sorry, I'm not trying to brag, I just love the way they turned out. Scott did a great job sanding and painting, I'm so happy with them! Maybe once I get my bedroom all put together, I'll put a picture of the finished product up! 

These dressers mean a lot to me. They were my grandma's bedroom set, and have two bedside tables, a gorgeous mirror, and a bed that all goes together. I've loved having them and remember visiting my grandma and sleeping in her bed and playing with her dressers and mirror. I'm glad they were passed down to me and that I get to keep them forever. Now, I think they look even prettier!

the BIG move

Whew. We made it, the move has come and gone and I'm almost done un-packing boxes! Yay! It has been forever since I've updated the blog, so I thought I would do so. Let's start way back at the beginning of the move.

The night before we loaded our truck, we were packed up, air conditioner taken down, and pretty bored sitting in our boxed up house. So, we headed to the movies! We saw Night at the Museum, Smithsonian. It was great, we loved it, and Will really liked it too. About half way through, he very politely asked dad if he could just get a little bit of popcorn. It was funny, he takes after his mama!

Moving day. The enormous truck. Oh, the memories. 

On our way! The truck was loaded, our car was loaded and we were ready for our long drive east! What an adventure it was. I'll spare you the details, but it was nothing short of:

• horrible, awful, scary, extreme weather (that even got to some of our boxes)... I'm talking rain so hard we literally could not see a thing! Yikes, I did not like it.
• a slight, little, fender bender with the truck..... after 3 hours of awful weather, we pulled off to let the storm pass, and we got in a wreck. Lovely.
• getting pulled over, after fight our way through Chicago for an hour.
• stopping a 100 times for one little guy to go potty at numerous gas stations, out-houses, and weeds.
• a hotel that was disgusting
• and getting lost trying to find my new house.... even WITH the GPS. Great, I'm in for it!

Here's Will tucked in his car seat ready to hit the road, and the Penske behind us! Good-bye Minneapolis, we love you!

Our celebration dinner in our new house. What a great day it was when we arrived. It instantly felt like home. Like a much bigger home! :) Will was wandering around saying "where ARE you mom?!" He has loved running around the yard and up the street to talk to his new friends. The neighborhood has been great, kids everywhere, and very friendly neighbors. We love it. 

Cheers!

Overall, the move has gone smooth. Will is adjusting, slowly, but he's doing good.  Our first Sunday at church was busy, we were asked to be primary workers, asked to speak this week (tomorrow), and Scott offered the prayer in Sac. mtg. We were put to work! 

First and Last

Wow. Three years. It has flown by and almost feels like it never happened.  Yet, when I think back to all that has happened and the ways we have grown as individuals, as a couple, and as a family, it really has been an amazing three years.

Here's our family on our first Sunday in MN. Look at my baby! Only 4 mo. old.... where has the time gone?

Now look at our family, older, wiser, and at 3 yr. old, a little more stubborn. I even bribed him with a treat if he would just LOOK at the camera.... nice try, maybe next time.
Our last Sunday at church here in MN. So many mixed emotions right now, it is a little overwhelming. I just feel really lucky to have a companion who I can wholly trust, lean on for support, and most importantly one who loves me and makes me laugh everyday! 
And our little Will, stubborn as he may be, he sure is cute. He's going through a bit of transition right now too, I don't blame him, this is all a lot for a little mind.  We are hoping things will settle down and slow down a bit in the coming months.

Lots Going On...

My house is 99% packed.  It's also about 95% clean (as far as deep cleaning goes). My sweet hubby cleaned the oven for me! I was DREADING having to do it and because he loves me, he did it for me.  We cleaned side by side for over an hour, I the fridge/freezer, and him the stove and oven.  It was great, we actually had fun doing it.  Besides choking on oven-cleaner fumes.

We've had a lot going on these past few weeks and I haven't blogged much about it.  So, sorry for the picture overload and randomness to this post.... that is just kind of what my life is like these days.  Boy, are we ever excited and ready for our move! Sad, very, very, sad to be leaving such wonderful friends, but ready for the change and our HOUSE!

Okay, I know I've said like a billion times, but Scott is such a great dad/husband.  Having him out of school and at home so much this past month has been wonderful.  I know he's anxious to get back into work and such (and we are equally ready for a bit more routine), but we've had a lot of fun.  Will especially has loved every minute.  Loves to help dad with the tools, packing, and everything else he's doing.  This day, they decided to switch ties, at Will's request.

I think Will wore his tie for almost an hour, he thought it was great to be like dad! Especially when Dad tells him it's okay to jump on the bed! 

See? He even wants to pack himself up to make sure we don't forget him when we move! He didn't like getting wrapped up so much, but it was pretty funny to begin with.

In the midst of everything, we got to celebrate my birthday.  Here's us out to dinner, 

and Will asleep on my leg.

Will awake eating a macaroni and cheese ball. Yum.

We find lots of interesting things to entertain us while we pack, but this has been the latest favorite.  Cowboys and Indians. Does anyone remember these? You set them up and shoot them with rubber bands.  Unless your rubber bands are packed, then you just set them up, or throw other things at them to knock them down. Here's how I found my kitchen one afternoon while I had been busy packing.

These cowboys were having a "stake-out" right on my kitchen counter.  And Will did this all himself, it was pretty great, and we couldn't take them down for a long time!

We've been trying to soak up every last ounce of this beautiful state and beautiful weather.  I think the beautiful summer weather almost makes you forget about the nasty winter. A few days ago, we headed out with some friends to enjoy the sunshine and have a picnic.  They have a really great man-made "pond" that the kids loved and a really huge playground.


We've made some really great memories here and we are really going to miss it.  BUT, on to the next adventure! We are happy, healthy, and excited about life.

A recent favorite.....

If you haven't tried it, you should. We've been eating it on everything, salad, nachos, quesadillas, and with peppers.

W-O-W

Browsing around some of the blogs I frequent, I saw this post/photo about a month ago.  As soon as I saw it I thought "WOW!" If I ever own an older piano that needs a little updating, I would probably consider this.  I LOVE this color green and I'm constantly trying to find a way to use it our own house.  Isn't it gorgeous? I found it at designmom.com

Since being married, our lives have been more than busy.  When we were newly weds, we were both working, going to school, serving in our church callings, and "working" as landlords at our house.  We hardly ever saw each other and every weekend, one or both of us was up early to work.

Since I've had a baby, I've surprised myself at how NOW I feel like 8-9am is mid-morning when before it was early morning.  Will has always been a pretty good sleeper, but he's gone through phases where he goes to bed early and wakes up at the crack of dawn.... 6-6:30am.  Now, it's a little better, but our mornings usually start around 7am, and most mornings, I'm up at 6:30 to go running with some gal pals.

The reason for all this useless information? The only thing I wanted for my birthday was to SLEEP-IN.  I asked Scott if I could just sleep in, take a shower, and get ready without any interruptions.  It's those odd, selfish, simple things that you often miss the most when you become a mother! :) SO.... being the supportive hubby that he is, he agreed.  

The day of my birthday, I vaguely remember waking up at 8am to help Will out of bed, and then I remember smiling to myself and remembering that I could keep sleeping.  So, I laid back down in my comfy bed and kept sleeping..... and sleeping.... and sleeping.... until 10am.  That's right, 10am.  I can't remember that last time I've slept in so long.  Definitely not in the past three years, but probably not for many years before that either. It felt SO AMAZING! I got to sleep in, take a LONG, uninterrupted shower, and get ready, just like I wanted.  I was even pleasantly surprised by crepes, made by Scott, with fresh fruit, whip cream, and Nutella.  They were delicious! I spent the rest of the day enjoying being with my little family, out to an early dinner at Cheesecake Factory and cuddled up with a movie at home afterward.  It was nothing short of a perfect way to spend my birthday. 

**the "rest" of my birthday gift is coming, a GPS is in the mail! I am SO excited, I no longer have fears of getting completely lost while driving around Cleveland..... yipee! Thanks Scotty!**

Sorry no pictures..... you can just picture me a year older and wiser, Scott handsome as always, and Will as the crazy three year old that he is.

Take Me Out....

Yesterday, Scott took Will to the MN Twins VS. Cleveland Indian baseball game.  They had a blast and loved every minute of it. Will was super excited to wear his hat, just like dad, and ride the bus to the game.  Then when he got to the game he was super ecstatic about getting to have a hot dog with all the fixin's soda, and a slushy.  And chips! 

I love this picture.  It is so Will, and I can tell he's just loving every minute of being at the baseball game.  I had a wonderful time at home taking it easy and doing some packing.  I'm so glad I have such a wonderful, loving husband and father who enjoys spending time with Will and taking him to do fun things.  

Since this is my blog and I can post about whatever I want, I'm going to.  I love posting what we've been up to, the simple days of being a mom, the life of poor college students, and the many things I like to try to keep myself busy.  I've heard some people feel like they live their life for their blog, but to me, my blog is a journal of our day to day with pictures included.  I want to remember these little moments and be able to look back and read about our simple lives.

I had two exceptionally sweet experiences this weekend.  First.  I was sitting on the couch before church and Will came over and climbed up on my lap and simply said "Mom, you look pretty today!" and then hopped down and ran off to play with his cousins.  I thought my heart would melt.  Those are the moments that we live for, what is sweeter than your 3 year old little boy telling you something so nice.  I loved it and was left in a little bit of shock.

Second.  We spent the weekend with family.  In our three years here in MN, I can't count the number of wonderful weekends we've had with Scott's brother and sister in-law.  When we visit Wes and Lorinda, we laugh (A LOT, so much so that we cry a lot too), we talk, about everything and anything, we eat really good food, and most of all, we LOVE being together.  Not only are they our best friends, they are family. Forever. That is the greatest blessing we can have.  Wes and Lorinda know us inside and out, our faults, our strengths, our parenting style, our really random habits, and they "get us." We understand each other, love each other unconditionally, and truly enjoy every moment spent together. 

This weekend was no exception.  Will LOVES his cousins, and they spent almost the whole weekend outside playing with their "pet" toads they found in the yard.  They ran around the yard, got dirty, ate snacks, and laughed and played together.  Will cried and screamed when we had to go home.  The entire car ride home he kept saying "I just want to go back to Caleb and Ivie's house!" He's been asking when he gets to see them again.  This is really going to be heart-breaking when we move a thousand miles away and can't see them on a regular basis. Ugh, I don't even want to think about it.

Us adults? We do basically the same thing the kids do.  We run around, play, laugh, and eat snacks. :) Wes and Scott got to go golfing, Lorinda and I got to chat and go shopping. We watched a movie ( 7 pounds... which is a whole other post in itself!) and seriously laughed harder than I have in a very long time.  We LOVE you guys and I honestly can't even think about what is to come in the next few weeks.  I agree Rin, thank heavens we are family and KNOW we will see each other often!!