Live from Tormville!

Hello Monday!

In the summer, during the school year, or even after a really busy weekend - it doesn't matter. I still love Mondays. 

I woke up this morning and headed, again, to the gym. I got in 45 minutes of Sweating and Chiseling, came home, grabbed Brian and some protein and headed right back out again for his diving lessons. This photo was taken last Wednesday. If I were to share this morning's quick 5 second phone video you would see him finally getting out of his head and accomplishing a front somersault (flip? roll? <----- still learning the diving lingo) followed by a big grin on his face and a wooohooooo from me and a 'now was that really so hard?' from his coach. He usually has no fear, but for some reason that one had him stalling.  No more. 

We'll be back at it again tomorrow morning. 

As for the rest of the day - camping and hiking preparations, soccer camp for both Wendy and Mark, work for Wendy and an evening out for me as I work some more on hiking prep. More on that in another post...

be good. Happy Monday!

party boy

Brian - who will be 9 on Monday - was very careful to not accidentally blow out the candles before Happy Birthday was even sung. 

 

happy saturday!

(don't look grandma)

definitely

I told Brian, our in-house hoarder, that today he must combine his Easter candy with his Sunday School picnic candy and put them all in a bag that I can hang on a hook, so that I can (finally) put his Easter basket in the basement. We're cleaning today, after all. 

So he and Mark, one of our two in-house sweet tooths, are at the table consolidating several months of loot. 

Mark is helping, in hopes that he might get some cast-offs. 

Mark: And you want to still keep this one?
Brian: Definitely
Mark: And you want to keep this one too?
Brian: Definitely.
Mark: Do you just like to say definitely?
Brian: Definitely.

 

Happy Monday!

Guess who lost a tooth at our house yesterday! 

 

he made me squeeeeeee

rule of thirds - my favorite rule 

Brian came home from school today and ran upstairs with his backpack in hand.
He came down again very quickly with his hoodie zipped to the neck and a smirk on his face. Two seconds later he was opening the zipper with a 'ta-dah'
A new shirt. I love it!  I had NO idea.  
Brian's self drawn portrait is the one on the very left of the bottom row.

Squeeeeeeee!

Cutest shirt ever.  

________________

ETA:   Since there were so many that were interested, I dug around a bit and found out a little bit more about these shirts. 

They were created through j.j.jinkleheimer & co., the owner being a parent of one of Brian's classmates, but you don't have to be local to have these shirts made. I got this from Art (the parent and owner), which I'll just cut and paste here:

Basically we just need the kids to take a plain white piece of paper and with a thin Sharpie marker make their drawing and sign their name under it.  We then take all the drawings and scan them to resize them and add the appropriate text.  I would then email the client the final proof to approve.  You can choose the t-shirt color and the imprint color.  Prices do vary depending on the quantity ordered and how many pictures we need to scan.  Thank you, Art

Neato, right? 

Their contact information can be found here:  jjjink contact info

 

warning: wobbly kid on a two wheels

 

On Monday we got an email that next Monday is a biking thing for Cub Scouts.

Which finally pushes the need to get this kid on a bike to the top of our busy lives list. Where does time go?

He lost a year due to his femur break and spica cast
And then we didn't have a bike for him
And then we didn't have training wheels

And then last fall we got two bikes but no training wheels and man, it's not as easy to teach bike riding as it was 7 and 13 years ago.

Where does time go?

This spring we had two bikes,two pairs of training wheels, and two boys overdue for learning. The boys have been biking laps daily now with the added assistance.  

And then the notice about Cub Scout biking and a little pressure to not be the only kid on four wheels.  

We took the trainers off on Monday and he did just fine, went all the way around the block last night no problem but is struggling with starting. A few more days of practice and he should have it, with a few scabby knees and elbows. Just don't bike too close to him yet. 

We took Mark's training wheels off too - but he still needs a bit more practice or older sibling assistance.

******

Others stuffs

• It was too windy for ballooning last night
• We might have to retrain Tippy to be an outside dog. She was an outside dog for 13 years until she came to us, and even then - she was completely outside from July until the snow flew. These last two nights she has woken earlier than usual and tried to get outside - eating nearly all the doorwall blind slats in the process. My kitchen looks like a warzone. Either she goes back outside, or I hang bells from the door. 
• While I was laying in bed awake from 5-6:30 this morning with my husband snoring beside me - my husband was apparently oversleeping. He usually has a fluctuating schedule in the morning and as long as he works his time, it's okay.  Apparently today he had a meeting - and didn't even have time to make coffee because he woke up too late. Oops. 
• We're like ships passing in the night. 
• We did have time last night to discuss the purchase of a storage box for the van that I had found used online, and he did have time to go and see it. It's perfect, and purchased just in time for his and Allan's four wheeling camping trip coming up. If they put all their muddy gear in there instead of in my new van, it'll be worth it. 
• Mark only has 3 days of school left, and this morning I'll be helping in his class. I'm so glad that the 7am school cancellation call (due to no power) we got this morning wasn't for our elementary school.
• That was quite the wind that brewed up quickly last night. I thought someone was knocking on my door at 11:30 but it was my new watering can (Mother's Day gift) that the wind had slammed against it. 
• We've decided to try some diet elimination things with Wendy to see if we can help her bellyaches - so now we're working on menu plans and debating if we should do dairy first or wheat. They both seem daunting to me now and will require lists. Suggestions welcome.
• My knee is feeling a little better today - I actually took the stairs up normally. Taking the stairs up one at a time is so much more of a drag then taking them one a time coming down. 
• time to pack the kids backpacks.....
• be good

Day 24: A Smile

It's been a day. I'm hoping to sleep well tonight. 

full speed ahead

Life has been busier than usual lately. Our calendar is full. Add to that my husband's crazier than ever overtime and we're taking each day one little moment at a time, doing our best to make it from one day to the next while hoping we don't drop too many balls along the way. 

Last night we slotted for working on Brian's Pinewood Derby car. While the event is still ten days away, a glance at the calendar shared that there are actually only 2 or 3 nights left to work on it. 

Brian's 7th birthday is on Saturday, but we'll take him out to dinner tonight because it's simply not possible to squeeze it in over the weekend.  Brian wants Red Robin.  I can't even remember the last time (if ever) we went out to dinner at a restaurant as a whole family, so it should be a hoot. Brian's choosing Red Robin quite likely because it's the only sit-down restaurant that he's ever been to, he doesn't know his options. It's just not something that we do.  By chance, I took the youngest to the Asian Fusion Buffet last week and he held up the napkin by his plate and with big eyes said, "I get my own napkin?" 

Yep, tonight should be a hoot.

This morning I have to run for some cupcake ingredients and start on the cupcakes Brian will bring to school tomorrow. 

Tomorrow I'll share some scrappy things, the cupcakes I made - providing they turn out, and most likely some funny tidbits from dinner. 

Happy Thursday! 

 

 

hello weekend!

The boys were blowing bubbles in the backyard after school yesterday. I think that was a February first for us. We expect to be having snowball fights at Easter - of course, That one we've done before. 

Today?

Today I'm hoping to get some sewing done. I've pulled out the 6 foot folding table again and have a few projects lined up. What I seem to be lacking lately is motivation. I've noticed I'm not the only draggy one this week, so I blame the weather. 

After getting some sewing done, I'm also hoping to make a few cards, and I need to run a few errands and then sit down and really try and figure out what's the best possible way to run my Sunday in my husband's absence.  While we're making hay while the sun shines, and we're grateful that he's working - it goes without saying that some days will be trickier than others.  In the grand scheme of things, it's not something to get overly stressed about.  But it also goes witout saying that the planner in me will lay out all the possible scenarios, and then figure out if there are any that I haven't thought of yet. 

I fill my time.  *wink* 

eta:  within 2 minutes of me posting this blog, one kid slammed his knee into the table so hard, we had blood, and another one (the one I was going errand running with today) came downstairs announcing that she has diarrhea.  Happy Saturday!