February wrap up and into March

I'm a little behind, trying to catch up on February (just before March ends). 

A bunch of random updates coming up:

We spent the month cautiously starting to venture out more, while still keeping our distance and staying safe. As we nearly approached the year mark of the pandemic, the girls were still in distance learning, but thankfully enjoying their softball winter training. Ryan and I were still working from home and Lincoln had thankfully gone back to school full-time. 

Ben and Jon sent us this hilarious mask. We all took turns with it and the laughter was contagious! We needed this laugh! 

Regan, Lincoln and I went tubing at Buck Hill. Regan laid in this position and said "if you close your eyes and let the sun hit your face, it almost feels like you're in Hawaii". 

Almost kiddo. 
Almost. 

We busted out the Just Dance on the Wii and did some family dance offs. Regan is usually our winner but Lincoln and I are never far behind!  

Regan hit her first, and second home runs during dome ball. Fans weren't allowed at the fist game but I was lucky enough to be there to see the second one :) 
So excited for the summer! 
Photobomb courtesy of her BFF-Syd. 

We got to spend some extra time with our favorite 4 legged friend, Pepper while helping get her to a couple vet appointments. 
These kids adore Angie's dog(s) and we love our sleepovers and playdates. 

Thanks to vaccinations, Grandma Jan made a trek to visit one spring-like day. And lucky for us, she brought with her Regan's favorite: sauerkraut balls and ALL of our favorites: Happy Joe's taco pizza! YUM! 

Thanks mom :) 

We continued on with some house projects; this one a little more disruptive than we had planned. What started out as adding a couple of lights and changing out a light fixture turned into an all-day ordeal and a giant mess. 

Needless to say, I had to move my home "office" for the day as the mess developed. They did a great job and we are so happy to have it done. 

Sidney spends FAR too much time on screens, particularly Netflix. She's gotten into a show that is on regular TV and simply could not understand the single episode a week programming. She's so used to binge watching that it didn't make sense to wait 7 days between episodes!
But now, to watch her anticipation each week, it's so great to see her get excited for something!  

We purchased all new furniture back in November, and still anxiously awaiting it's arrival. 

However, we opted out of a new dining room table until Lincoln is a little older. Sadly, our chairs needed a facelift so I pulled up good old Pinterest and I got to work. 

Happy to say they look great! 

This girl wants a dog so so bad. She loves having a 4 legged friend to snuggle up with and keep her company. 

That's a wrap as we end winter 20-21. Ready for spring! 

 

Two months in: COVID19

Well, its been almost two months since we have sheltered in place and stayed home. The last time the kids were inside the walls of their school was Friday, March 13th. 

It's now May 9th.

We've cleaned and sorted, organized and discarded. 

We've played and discovered, walked and biked.

Oh, and watched a lot of screens: because, well, we're bored. 

Regan got so bored she asked if she could clean the grill. 

Here's some soap, water and rags-go for it. 

The girls have had their moments, but we're watching them bond a little more everyday. And sometimes, while on a walk, they purposely walk ahead or behind so we don't hear their top secret conversations. 

Lincoln still hates online learning. His teacher sent me a note to let me know that distant learning just isn't designed for kinders. And I whole-heartedly agree. He needs his friends. He's spent 6 years interacting with playmates/school buddies. And now we're asking him to learn from a tablet. 

The other day he laid upside down, half off the couch, kicking me with his flailing legs as he tried to get comfy. And did his homework in this position. 

Whatever. 

It got done before 8pm so I called it a win. 

We taught Regan how to ride Ryan's scooter in a nearby empty parking lot. She was hesitant at the start, and by the end was going "full-rottle" (as Lincoln would say) and giggling as she cruised past us. 

You can guess what she wants next year on her 15th birthday. 

Without our weekends filled with sports and tournaments, we have checked off the boxes on so many house projects. Last weekend, Ryan put on his brave pants for me and climbed on the roof to paint the shutters above the garage. 

Side note: he doesn't know how to paint. And really has never painted anything in our home.

 I was thankful not to climb on the roof and happy he made it down safely. 

Meanwhile, the kids and I got busy pulling back rock, adding dirt and pushing the rock back in place around the house. It was labor intensive and I was happy for their eager help. 

Sidney and I painted the entire main floor (thankful for curbside pick up at Sherwin Williams so I could easily order paint without going into the store). She painted her name on the wall; we made Ryan move his work station for the afternoon and he loved us for it (can you tell?!). For the record, this work from home is not easy for us!  

We ordered long boards for the girls which has proven to be super fun for them to learn and bring along on our walks. I managed to impress Ryan will my long board abilities as I zipped through the empty parking lot as well. I've had some good teachers. 

Ryan can barely stay on it while sitting, so when he races the kids, they have to all sit. HA! 

My mom bought Regan this bownet for her last birthday, and it might have been the best gift ever. Little did we know at the time just how much use we would be getting from it. We are constantly backing the cars out of the garage so she can hit into it doing tee-work. And after taking a hit directly to the face (I covered up but still took a hit), we now take it across the street regularly and hide behind it for hitting practice. 

This line drive whizzed directly past Ryan as he jumped behind the net. 

This isolation has not been easy on the kids. They miss their friends dearly, they see them on social media hanging out with other people, but ours know we need to take this seriously.

So when they ask us to do things like an impromptu fire in the back yard, we are quick to agree.

I continue to be so proud of them for holding strong and hanging in there. 

One of Lincoln's optional assignments this week was to head to the pond next to his school and explore. He needed a break one night after I finished work so I took him on a date night bike ride and we rode to the school. 

It was so peaceful and gorgeous. I had never been back there, and had no idea it was so big. 

We explored all sorts of things, but the best was seeing TEN turtles sunning themselves on a log. His teacher's video had told us we would see 'something' if we were very quite. I seriously thought those turtles were fake, they were so still! 

Lincoln decided to run up close and prove they were real, 8 of the 10 jumped right into the pond. He is such a boy :) 

Zoom in close and you can see some of the turtles on the logs behind him before he scared them away. 

Might as well take this opportunity and teach her how to drive a vehicle too! She (and the other two kiddos) have a bigger appreciation for how mom and dad drive now. 

The most memorable part was when she tried to park between the lines and was so eager to get out and see how she had done that she forgot to put it into park before getting out. YIKES! 

Needless to say, we need some more lessons :) 

We will get through this, I'm confident. We're holding onto hope that soon we will be able to loosen the reigns a little, see family and friends, and start to define a new normal. 

Until then, we will continue to explore and enjoy our time together. 

House update: renovations complete!

We are finally finished with our home renovations. This process started back in early spring 2015 when we made some financial decisions to take the plunge and do some upgrades to the house. Fast forward through summer and we had chosen a general contractor and signed a contract. EEK!

Our completely functional but TOTALLY outdated kitchen was due for a make over.

 

A little background on why we choose the main floor. It was definitely not our original plan. My dad had always told me that you should continually update your house every year. So we painted, added a pool heater, a new AC, finished the basement and updated our washer/dryer in the first several years of owning this home. But I had always wished we had one more bedroom upstairs. And I had come up with some glorious plans to add a master and then leave the existing bedrooms the way they were. So we got some estimates and realized that plan was about $100,000 over our budget. Yea, at that point we might as well just move.

So our contractor suggested we make some changes to the main level instead. Afterall, that is actually where we do most of our living.

Made total sense.

So we picked the least updated part of our home and started to make a new plan.



Yes, the (fake) hardwood floors and all of the appliances were very functional. So they didn't need to be changed. But they were dated. Very  dated!

And that white painted brick on the fire place was a huge eye sore!!

The kitchen/family room flooring was actually something I had wanted changed from the moment we moved in. But again, it was functional.

 



Finally one October day I received a message from our contractor that they would be over in 10 days to start the work. YIKES! I had exactly 10 days to pack up our main level and move out of the kitchen and family room (and in between that time I had to host Lincoln's birthday party!). Frazzled was a good word to describe how I felt.

With great effort, we made it happen and I came home from work one Monday to a construction zone. 

 

At the beginning of this project, I joked to Ryan that it would be a test of our marriage. I had seen enough HGTV to know that renovations are tough. Decisions need to be made, living spaces are disrupted and tension is high. And that's exactly how it felt to us.

The house was a complete disaster for a total of 4 weeks. And the poor girls were told they could not invite friends over until it was over. There was a time when the train table took over the middle of the toy room and we had to squeeze the refrigerator next to it. Our food was in totes stacked up against the dining room. We had 4 couches in the formal living room and Regan commented it was like a movie theater.

I'm thankful that the fall weather was incredibly mild so we could spend so much time outside.

 





 

After the demolition phase, decision time started. Finding the color for the new cabinets was a huge challenge. I knew what I wanted but the stain guys could not read my mind. After days of trial and error, I was finally asked to produce my inspiration for color. And just like that, they finally got it right.

Note: none of the options below were right.

                           

 

I stared at paint colors for longer than I would like to admit as well. Ryan cares about paint about as much as he cares about watching HGTV. So he was not any help. Shane was over one night and I tried to enlist his help until I remembered he's color blind and his input was useless to me. Regan finally helped me make this decision and I love it! 

 

                            

 

Lincoln and I spent many Fridays walking the aisles of Home Depot, Menard's and the Tile Shop searching for the right additions to the new kitchen. My phone is littered with pictures like this, so I could bring home ideas and ask Ryan his advice.

I'm so thankful that I have some amazing friends and coworkers who gave me their input so we could finally make some decisions! Slowly but surely, the house was coming back together.

 



    

And then....disaster. With the painting/staining complete, appliances were finally delivered and our kitchen was put back in order. For a little.

The refrigerator was too big but to fix the problem, would cost another $1000 and we were already well over budget. The microwave was FAR too big and had to go back for an exchange. Ryan called me during this debacle with heart palpitations. It had finally taken it's toll on him and he was stressing out. Unfortunately, that's not the end of the appliance disaster.

We managed to get everything in it's place and in working order, thanks to Grandpa Arnie! On Thanksgiving day, as we packed for a night away, I decided to run the dishwasher so we could come home to clean dishes. Lincoln was running through the house and promptly landed on his bottom after sliding through the kitchen. He was soaking wet! Did he just pee his pants and slip in it? Stand him up and give him a hug only to realize there was a giant puddle of water coming out of the dishwasher on our brand new hard wood floors!

After 16+ hours on the phone over 2 days with Best Buy, I have come to the notion that we will never ever purchase another product from Best Buy. Especially an appliance. Their sales team is top notch, but the warehouse and customer services teams leave a lot to be desired. Let's just say they showed up to exchange the dishwasher and had a flat screen TV in hand.....and then when they were expected to return with the correct item, they never showed up. And then they wanted us to wait another 10 days for rescheduling.

Worst customer service ever. 

                                    

                                  

Painting the ceilings did not fall into the budget either....to save a lot of money, we opted to do this work ourselves. Ryan's not eager to paint so I got started one afternoon during nap. Unfortunately, I climbed up on the counter top and grazed my head along the freshly painted ceiling and my hair turned a nice shade of grey. Sidney laughed and said it looked like a porcupine!

 





 

And then one day, 4 weeks after we had started, it was all finished. And we breathed a huge sigh of relief to have our home back again.

The layout didn't change, the Cambria counters are the same, but everything else is different. The 2 step down to the family room/eat in kitchen was completely reconfigured and made the top 2 items for Ryan (first is the fireplace of course). I'm completely in love with the new flooring and to have the same hardwood floor extend the entire main level is something I have always wanted.

It's gorgeous and yes, was totally worth it.

 



                                  

 

The fireplace is probably the biggest transformation. That old ugly white (err, grey!) brick was gross and embarrassing. We kept the existing mantel and put some effort in to getting it to match the kitchen cabinets (thanks to my  mom and Arnie!). Sadly we haven't been able to use the fireplace yet as it needs 30 days to cure or we run the risk of the new stone falling to the ground.



                                     

With furniture back in it's spots and toys spread out where they belong, we can actually say it probably wasn't as bad as it seemed. But I'm very happy the renovations are over and as I told people along the way: "this is the reason people just move!"

If you're looking for a good contractor, let us know!







House reno

We are in the midst of a bit of a renovation around here.....

Emotions are high and the stress is the same. Nothing is where it's supposed to be (fridge is in the dining room, tupperware in a random tote), and feeding this family of 5 has never been so difficult (it's microwave and grilling)!

  

There are so many decisions to be made and not a lot of time to do so. I think I stared at these options for 10 minutes without saying a word (until Lincoln took a flying leap off the counter height table nearby and got my attention quickly!).

All of our "stuff" is crammed into other parts of the house and hiding out in various boxes. It's a giant mess and we are doing our best to hold it together. There are nails and staples requiring shoes on when you need to walk into the kitchen or family room. There is dust everywhere and I'm trying to let it just be for now. We are forever thankful for this beautiful weather so we can get outside to play.

I can't tell you how long I looked at these two pieces of limestone...and Ryan wasn't much help with that decision "I like them both, you pick". Ugh. I had an easier time with the stacked stone than I did the limestone hearth. Only two options and I still couldn't make a decision! 

I commented to one of the workers this past week that doing a kitchen reno with 3 kids is not easy and all he could reply was "I cannot imagine". I know in the end it will look wonderful and we will be so happy to have it in our past, but living through a renovation takes a lot of patience!

Here's hoping to a smooth flooring install tomorrow and the remainder of this week. In a few short weeks we should have our lives back to normal :)

This n That

It's been a busy week. and a fairly stressful one too. 

Between work, home and activities, sometimes I'm not certain if I'm coming or going, up or down. 

I started painting the 'open concept' of our house which is the largest area to master. One room runs into another and it just feels like it goes on forever. But it had to be done, the previous paint was not washable and didn't handle four hand prints very well. About 7 walls down and 2 to go, I moved into a second gallon of paint only to realize the next morning it wasn't a perfect match and looked hideous. Lovely waste of time. 

We bought new dining room chairs (courtesy of the grandparents for my b-day). I put the first one together, looked great. Moved onto the second, was about to attach the last 'leg' and saw a rip in the material. Lovely waste of time. 

But each day, I'm reminded how blessed we are to have these two fabulous cuties in our lives, and it makes everything worth it. 

Regan came home with her report card this week. As I scanned it, searching for high marks ("3" is expected, "4" is exceeding expectations), I was pleasantly surprised to see quite a few 4's. I praised her over and over for such good marks in reading, comprehension, math and art. I then moved onto the 3's....let's just say they all circled around being a bit too chatty or not having a desire to participate in gym class. 

Ah well, you can't win them all.
On the bright side, she is in the top 94th percentile for flexibility. 

Atta girl, that should count for something in physical education! 

Oh sweet Sidney. This girl lights up our lives over and over again. She's the first of the two to be picked up after work, and boy does she brighten my day. On a particularly rough work-day this week, we drove along to collect Regan, and as I do everyday, I asked Sidney "what was the best part of your day?". 

Her reply: "when you came to pick me up mommy". 

melt. my. heart. 

Now I know she didn't spend the day longing for me, or crying all afternoon waiting for me. She loves school, and her friends, and her teachers. This much I know. She's happy to be there, so don't be sad that she was waiting all day for me to come. Her usual answer is "playing with (fill in the blank of a friend)". This girl just has a sense of what to say and when to say it. 

Lately, she will climb up on my lap, or ask to be held and then say "I just needed some love". Oh little one, I did too. On the flip side, she's also been calling me "you old man"...

just keeping it real :) 

Tree trimming

We are fortunate to have a family member who likes, no wait, LOVES power tools! Uncle Shane came over this afternoon to help trim a tree that causes a thorn in our side during summer. Like a kid in a candy store, that man is, loving the noise of his chain saw.

Here's the tree, before any work started. See the branches on the far left? They stretch over the pool, causing eager squirrels to sit upon them and grab acorns, dropping shells into the pool below. Ouch.

Once these two woke from nap, they immediately asked to sit outside and watch the boys work. Snackin' on "cocorn".

So long branches. Annoying squirrels will need to sit somewhere else this summer!

Bubbles kept us occupied for quite a long time, not to mention at a safe distance on the opposite side of the pool from the tree.

Ta-da!

And the best part,

no major injuries to report

(nothing a band aide or two couldn't fix).

Thanks again Shane for all of your work today! We really appreciate it.

Flashback Friday

It seems like forever ago that this picture was taken as friends/family helped frame and sheetrock our basement family room. Later today the room will be nearly complete as the furniture gets delivered! I am so giddy, it's like Christmas all over again!

October 2010

Basement progress

This post has little to do with the girls, but some people are asking about the basement progress, so this is how the weekend was spent. Thanks to some amazing helpers (Shane, Arnie and Dooley), the sheetrocking is nearly finished!

And today, while we scurried off to the office, Arnie finished installing the lights. I think we've decided to hire out the next step (mudding, sanding, smoothing, etc) for a faster finish. My goal is to be finished by Christmas! And to think it all started with my mom and I on a Monday afternoon starring at a wall thinking "how can we take this down?" before starting the demolition!