Busy weekend

It was a busy weekend for us. Despite the rain, we found a lot to keep us busy. Sidney's been asking to go on the potty seat recently so we take her up on this request and of course I had to take a picture :) Unfortunately, she's either just finished or gets stage fright while on the toilet, but the point is, we're making progress!

On Sunday, we ventured to New Ulm and had lunch at the golf course. It brought back memories for me, having worked there for 10 years, because of the annual invitational going on. Regan scored a ride on Grandma Jan's cart and was in her glory, she kept asking for "just 2 more minutes" of riding!

While in New Ulm, we made it out to Logan's high school graduation party (insert: sad I didn't get a pic of Logan with the girls) where both girls ran freely around the yard trying to get away from the gnats (knock on wood, we don't have a gnat problem like New Ulm!?)! We're so proud of Logan and super excited for her to join us in the cities this year as she ventures off to college!

We all thought Sidney would've been exhausted from such a busy weekend. Well, she was exhausted, but overnight at Grandma's house, she decided to wake from 1-4:30am. It was like she was 21 days old, not 21 months. Thankfully she snoozed in the car on our way home today; and if you look closely, you can see drool! She was that tired; poor kid!

Chutes and ladders

Today, I learned about a place nearby(unofficially) named Chutes and Ladders. I found pictures online, showed them to Ryan and his response was "Holy Schnikies!" You might think the same....

The girls had such a wonderful time getting lost in the sea of double nets dangling high above ground leading to super fun slides only to go back for some more.

And not to be outdone, Sidney followed Regan's lead by going down this slide while I took this picture of Ryan at the bottom, just to show how long this "chute" was! Thankfully it was so humid she didn't gain much speed and I quickly caught up to her.

Eventually, after many times following Sidney into the "ladders" (because there was no way I was leaving a 21 mo old fend for herself that high off the ground), I was exhausted and opted to take her down to the lake for a photo op.

Because she's just so darn adorable.

We promised the girls we'd be going back, and Regan made us promise

it wouldn't be too many sleeps before we go back again!

Silly fun on a rainy morning

The rain came down on us this morning, so while Mr. Comcast scurried around our house to hook up TV's, the girls and I had some creative play.

First, Sidney and I played with play-do and enjoyed making pizza and ice cream.

Then, Regan ran up to me saying she had a baby (ball) in her tummy!

We've all had too much rain lately....

Uncle Shane

Uncle Shane came over last night to help us empty out the attic above the garage. He's also really good at emptying out the snacks :)

Berta

The newest addition to our family arrived on Monday! Her name is Berta and she'll be cleaning for us :) Cleaning our pool that is! We tested out her abilities yesterday and she did an amazing job sweeping the bottom and sides of our pool while we watched from the deck, then inside the house, then went about our business until she finished. We really love Berta! Hopefully she'll be around for years to come!

And while Berta worked, Ryan opted to empty the skimmers (those white plastic squares on the pool deck that we all walk on not understanding their function). We inherited this pool when we bought the house. We knew it wasn't going to be all roses. Ryan found that out yesterday when he found a dead mouse floating in the skimmer. Keep in mind, 5 years ago, my husband would yell for me to come kill a spider or centipede. Not anymore. He knows the rules of this pool; those skimmers are HIS domain! We agreed early on, I clean the toilets, he cleans the skimmers. So after starring at his critter for a few seconds, he did the brave act by picking out the basket and tossing Mr Dead Mouse #1 in the garbage. We know there will be many more where that one came from! and snacks, frogs and squirrels too. Not to mention all the general bugs and tree debris.
But owning a pool is fun, right!

Keepin' busy

We're managing to stay incredibly busy these days. The first week in the new house has us all feeling like we're on vacation!

Regan enjoyed her snack in her new "spot" checking out the cars driving by and everyone jogging up/down the street.

Playdates with boys, but at least they'll dress up and put curlers in their hair!

And of course, no matter what the temp, when the sun comes out, we go in the pool!

Friends

Thomas, Natalie and William came to play with us today! We were soooo very happy they made the trek to see our new house and finally play freely with all of our toys in a non-staged house. The kids love spending time together. We have a 5, 4, 3, 1 and 7 mo old! Yes, we have our hands full.

Thankfully the sun came out this afternoon because these 3 (plus Sidney) were super excited to hop in for a swim. No one seems to care that the water is a bit chilly. They all swam like fish and enjoyed tossing in the dive sticks forcing me to dive in and retrieve them.

This girl melts my heart

Sidney is such a sweet girl :) She can hold her own in a playground fight but can melt your heart all in the same moment. The other morning, she woke up with some crazy hair; I don't think she wanted me to snap her picture with her wild 80's hair.

But I did anyway... oh I can't wait to put this one in the paper someday!

Our new house has a play room. Well, I've designated it a play room; Ryan would've preferred it to be "his" room. It's really an amazing sun room, just off the dining area overlooking the pool and back yard. Nice view for a playroom; sorry Ryan. But with toys in this room versus a basement (think our old house), the kids, I mean Sidney, actually play with toys! She dug into the dress up bin this morning and couldn't get enough of it!

Really, she can smile :)
This afternoon, while the rest of us played in the pool, this little cutie stuffed her face silly with cheese balls. Who doesn't love a nice snack of cheese balls every once in a while!? See that belly hanging out, it's simply adorable!

That's my girl!

We found a new park tonight :) The girls had a blast running around all the equipment, climbing higher than Grandma Jan would ever like them to and swinging like monkeys on the swings. Regan has mastered "pumping" and we are so relieved because she could swing for hours on end some days! She gave me a silly face for the camera, and opted to wear her Lucky Headband the entire time tonight :) What a nut!

This morning Regan noticed I wasn't wearing my work clothes and I told her I was staying home from work so that I could paint. She then told me "if we cut you in half, one of you could go to work and the other one could paint". Think of all the things I could get done if it worked that way!

Installation of pool light

Ryan asked to see a picture of the installation of the pool light; this is me holding him under water :) Not to fret, his mother was taking the picture and heard him say "hold my head under the water". We laughed so hard during this process, and I could never tell if he was pushing against my hand to let go or to stay under the water!

S-M-I-L-E-!

Sisterly love, poolside.

Hello new house

We did it! With a tremendous amount of help from a lot of family and friends, we moved this holiday weekend. Here's a re-cap...

Before we moved, we had to say goodbye to the old house

(it looks like a sad picture but she was just mad I made her come back to the old house!)

Regan gave us a hand in unpacking, and while she was at it, did some decorating.


Regan's new bunk beds, loved by both girls

We bought groceries with kid-sized carts

Regan helped Grandma Sheri plant flowers :)

while Sidney took a break from all the hard work!

I was busy organizing a new toy room, main floor, just off the kitchen! I might love it more than the girls!

And we've been here 4 days, which means 4 days of swimming! Ryan and I laughed hysterically while we installed the pool light this afternoon. That is NOT an easy job! After getting it started, my job was to hold Ryan under the water while he finished putting the screw in tight. It was quite the sight as you could imagine. But the payoff is definately worth the trouble....
Good night!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Daddy got one gigantic birthday present yesterday......we signed the papers for our new house (not to fret, we first signed the papers to sell the old one!). I don't think he'll ever get a bigger present than this :) We celebrated with dinner out and of course, yummy dessert (because who has a pan to bake a cake in during the middle of a move)!

Grandma Sheri ruined her diet last night; and she's been doing sooooo well! Well, I believe birthdays are just as much for the mom as they are for the person, so she had good reason to indulge the rest of that dessert!

Moving day #1

It's official, we're moving! Everyday I have packed up boxes, I worried something would fall through and I'd be unpacking them all in the same exact location. Thankfully that's not the case! Thanks to some AMAZING friends and family, day #1 went very smoothly.

The heaviest of items was the first out of the house, our sleeper sofa; took 4 strong guys.

Regan loved every second of loading the UHaul; she helped with everything she could lift (or push!)


Opps! Someone packed up the tote with our air mattress; that meant we slept on the floor. Ryan woke up and said "that floor was more uncomfortable than I thought it would be?" Apparently he thought a hard floor was gonna be comfy!?

All of the papers were signed this morning and we're hoping to get into the new place tonight or tomorrow. More pictures to come!

In full bloom

The peonies bloomed just in time!

Top 10

As a way to remind ourselves about this house in the future, I've opted to do the following...


Top 10 Reasons We Love(d) this house:

10. Hardwood floors are easy to clean and no need to lug out the vaccumm.

9. Every room is just the way we want it; paint, floors and light fixtures have been replaced.

8. Neighbors are great, for the most part! Gonna miss a few of them :)

7. Outdoor space; patio and driveway are perfect play areas for a family of 4. Add a play date and we've officially run out of room.

6. Watching airplanes fly overhead as they took off; we had lots of "pretend" dates to Europe, Hawaii, and anywhere we could think of.

5. Cozy kitchen (my college apartment kitchen was bigger) means everyone helps make meals.

4. Floor plan gave the girls the perfect area to chase each other around in circles on rainy and snowy days.

3. Landscaping, though not over the top, includes a lot of flowers and trees perfect for photo shoots (thankfully 2 of them are coming with us!).

2. Amazing bar in the basement, given to us as a wedding gift, has entertained countless thirsty mouths.

1. The memories, this was our first home together, where we started our family and poured our heart and sole into for over 6 years.

Here's to many more years....with much more space!

Cute jammies!

Though I'm not sure why I tried to take pics of the two together; should've took them separately and used photoshop....

I gave up....for tonight

Things we did during a very humid weekend

We wore very pretty summer outfits to keep us cool

Our hair got curly and wild but we loved it even more (and found more pretty dresses to wear)
We ran through the sprinkler and for the first time, actually went through!
We blew bubbles with all of our might and got excited to see the end result float away

And if it's this hot next weekend, we'll be swimming in our very own back yard pool!

Date morning

I took a break from packing this morning and took Regan on a date. We went to see Shrek and had a great time. She's such an inquisitive child and asks a lot of questions during movies which can be slightly disruptive to the rest of the theatre. I had to remind her a few times to just watch and we'd find out what happened next :)

What's a movie without popcorn and an Icee, even at 10am!

Flashback Friday

In exactly 1 week, we will be taking the contents of this house over to our new house! I thought it would be fun to think back to when we first bought this adorable green house! Ryan hated the color from day one, which explains why it took him only 1 year of constant complaining to convince me it needed a facelift!

It sure had a beautiful blooming white crab tree in the front yard! (not to fret, the new one has a blooming pink crab tree!)

This house wasn't our ideal when we first bought it. So we got to work! We painted....every room in the house, sometimes more than once.


We removed wallpaper from the kitchen/dining room, this might be one of the worst jobs in the world. Note to self, never use wallpaper



And we watched as the tiniest garage in the world came crumbling down in order to build something more appropriate for this generation. I have to admit, I started the process by backing into the side while trying to avoid hitting the house as someone (not so smart) built that tiny garage in a very bad spot!

We truly have loved this house, more on that later.....