Blacation

If you didn't notice, I kind of took a blog vacation this past week. A blacation if you will.

And it's not because we didn't have anything fun to share, because we did. It's just that my parents asked if they could watch the girls for the week, and after twisting our arms (not), we said yes. Mark and I debated for weeks on how best to spend our time, and ultimately decided to take a staycation and spend our time and money painting and updating our home a bit.

Here is part of our family room, before. A total hodgepode of old furniture and kids' toys. The mirror though -- that was my inspiration piece.



We painted two of the walls "wheat penny" and two of the walls the same color as our foyer, which is basically the color of wheat. I think that's what drew me to wheat penny. You can't go wrong with a name like that! Coincidentally, it's a complimentary color to my friends Kristine and Josh's kitchen color, pennywise, which I had originally considered for the room. I didn't know this until we had our wheatpenny paint color picked out!

Did you notice that Mark is DUSTING!? We oughta home improve more often.

Here is the finished room, minus a few wall hangings. We are having our pictures taken tomorrow, and will hopefully have some cool shots to put in the room.

The Taylor plaque above the office doors was a gift from my brother and my sister-in-law when they lived in Spain. It was another inspiration piece.

Our kitty Jordan seems happy with the new layout, don't you think? He spent alll day here.



This crazy quilt was made by hand by some sweet old ladies that I didn't know. I used to love to crawl under it on cold winter days. Now it rests proudly on this torn down playhouse ladder antique ladder that came from our neighbor's trash.



We only had one very squatty lamp in the room before. So we bought two new lamps, and the old one has made a new home in my office. The new lamps are from IKEA, and have super cool embroidered designs on them.





I painted this bowl a while back. And the little Mexican pitcher is from the 2nd half of our honeymoon which was spent in Cancun. And the little blue and white tea light holders were personally imported from Holland by my mom!



I have to share this next picture. Did you know that you don't have to suffer from Rusty Grate-itis (you know, where you can't open or close your vent grates because they're so gross and rusty)? OH MY GOSH! My neighbors came over and they all had to experience the ease of opening and closing this vent grate too. And it's pretty to boot!

We also updated our powder room. It was just AWFUL before. I didn't think to take a before picture, but it had cheap original everything, including this light fixture. If you need a bag full of giant globe light bulbs, let me know. I'll hook you up.

The bathroom color is Sea Salt. It's kind of a greyish greenish bluish color. And when it first went up I thought I was being enveloped by a giant hospital gown. But the fixtures went in (and not the broadway lights, thank you very much) and it warmed up into a beautiful color that we are very happy with.

I still have one more painting to hang - it's the sibling to the one you see here, both of which were painted by my Aunt Denise in Quebec and given to me as a gift when I was younger. Her paintings are actually scattered throughout our house. She has such talent!

We are so happy with our new rooms! We're not quite sure how shows like Trading Spaces get it all done in 2 days - ours took 4! But we also did our share of sleeping in till 8:00 -- I know! Can you believe it? -- and eating late dinners out at all the places we wouldn't dream of bringing the girls, and even going to see a movie (The Hangover - It was good! Although we never go to the movie theater anymore unless it's to see an animated flick, so anything rated higher than G probably would have been good to us).

We were teased for staying home instead of leaving for a full-fledged vacation, but we're so glad we stayed home. This souvenir will last longer than a lousy t-shirt anyway. :)

348

Sigh...

As I post these pictures, it makes me want to be back on the river. There is something so magical and peaceful about the water. I seriously think I was a fish in a former life. If I had fins (and gills. and my family also had fins and gills), I would live in or on the water. But for now, my in-laws' fishing boat will do splendidly.


As we started our traditional yet mini adventure (with Mark's dad and one of the girls' cousins) down the mighty Mississippi on our 4th of July weekend, we were not sure Sydney felt the same way about the water.


But eventually we learned that this is just the expression she has when she is taking it all in.



I think the rest of the family might feel the same way I do about the water. In fact, I would guess that a good majority of us feel that way. Maybe it goes back to us being in the womb, surrounded by fluid. All that sloshing (choice word, I know) around in there, being lulled to sleep by the waves and soothing noises as our moms moved around. Who knows. I'm just sayin'...

Anyway.

I wanted to point out here that our cute Elisabeth does in fact have a face behind those bangs, and she does in fact like to smile every now and then. She loooooooves the water. And her daddy loves her. And Sydney still keeps no expression on her face so she can soak it all in.



Even when it's REALLY windy from going so fast!!!


Ahhh. Back to calm water. Elisabeth, our budding photographer, took these next few pictures. This is the picture that really makes me want to stop what I'm doing and head for the nearest vacation spot on the water.





How many more days until the next 4th of July????

348.

Sigh.

Another summer delight

Oh, the ice cream truck.


As parents, we have such a love-hate relationship with the the ice cream man. While we love the yummy ice cream -- particularly the 'choco-taco' - I discovered these back in the day when I worked at the outdoor pool - you should try it if you haven't discovered this piece of heaven yet, -- we cringe at the fact that we could buy an entire box of the ice cream treats for the same price as one of those faded treats painted on the side of the truck.

And while we love seeing the same look of delight on our children's faces that we as kids had whenever we could hear the catchy music only an ice cream truck or music box could play, well, gosh that song gets old. I've always wondered if the guy behind the wheel wears ear plugs.

Nor do we appreciate the fact that he seems to come 15 minutes before any given meal. Or nap.

I will let you in on a secret - for the first few years of Elisabeth's life, we were the horrible parents that told her that the music meant they were out of ice cream. (Terrible, I KNOW! But I got the idea from the neighbors, so you can blame them.) But she now has a higher IQ than me so that trick has long since gone out the window.

And that's fine - it's become a nice treat this summer! Elisabeth and I have indulged on several of my Fridays home with the girls. Somehow Sydney always seems to be napping when the truck comes in the afternoon (the one non pre-meal time), but I think that's okay because she is currently not a fan of anything 'cohhhh' on a stick. Her time of discovery will come soon enough.

You make it easy

As easy as 1,2...1,2,3,4.


There's only one thing,


Two do,


Those three words,


Four you...


I love you... I...love...you.

*******

Just in case you want this great song stuck in your head too, I'm happy to oblige. I get all choked up every time I see the video. I'm crazy like that. Here's to great relationships with family and friends!

No longer Mr. Swiss Cheese!

Mark is done already, and there is NO HOLE! Thank goodness!

I mean, a hole in the heart that is easily fixable is a cakewalk in the grand scheme of things, but I'd kind of like to be done with the whole heart thing, you know? So anyway, I thank God for sparing us on this one, and giving us the strength to get through that freakishly long hour. And I thank God for the gas in my car that took me to Jimmy John's while Mark had his test. Prayer mixed with a Vito-with-peppers is always a good way to ease one's nerves.

All joking aside, I am so very thankful for good news. God is good!

Mr. Swiss Cheese

Mark is going in for a Bubble Echocardiogram today. He has been going in for ECHO's on a fairly routine basis and the last one showed no damage to his heart, but they do think he might have a hole in his heart!

They are going to insert a bubble of saline into his arm and then watch the bubble go into his heart -- if it passes from one ventricle to the other, then they know there is a hole there. If it doesn't, then no hole.

If you think like me, then you are probably wondering if his potential Swiss Cheese Heart was to blame for his heart attack in May. The answer at the moment is no, they are not related.

Word on the street is that a hole in the heart is actually fairly common and no big deal, they just go in and close it up. Still, I can't shake my nerves off. Maybe because we have had nothing but (new) normal in our house for the past 2 months?

So, pray for my sanity, pray that everything goes well with Mark's test, and that the doctors and technicians have the vision to see anything they need to see.

And pray for my sanity. Did I say that one yet???

Rockin' the Suburbs

There are oh-so many reasons that I love the suburban life we have created for our family. To name a few: Friday evenings with the neighbors, Saturdays at the pool, and lazy Sundays in the backyard.

Let's just focus on a lazy Sunday evening, shall we? I thought I would share a small sampling of our children's accessory choices and accompanying personalities:

Sydney kept this hat on all evening. It was so cute, I couldn't bear to remove it. So she went about her usual goofy ways, lovely chapeau and all.




Sydney is into everything. Competitive, very curious and 100% fearless, she knows what she wants and she goes for it. Nothing will ever get in this kid's way.

Here is Sydney saying "EEEEEEE!" Which is Sydney speak for "CHEEESE!". Which she does without any provoking, whenever she sees the camera pointed at her. Which I think is stinking adorable. And which I am certain will not last forever, so I will cherish the "cheeses" while I've got them.





(I just thought this next picture was funny. Another typical shot. My football playing toddler and my 5 year old reaching for the clouds.)


And then there is Miss Elisabeth. She is our emotional child. A total softie like her mom, she carries a heavy spectrum of emotion on her shoulder. She is very stubborn like her, well, if you know what's good for you you may not want to answer that. She tests us daily. She tests our patience and she tests our rules and limits to see how much she can get away with. She doesn't care to smile for pictures because that would be doing something that we wanted her to do, but would rather make goofy faces like this.


And like the baby sister that she adores, Miss Elisabeth also likes to make some interesting accessory choices. Today's choice seemed to have a slight 70's hippy / 80's rockstar quality to it. I couldn't quite place my finger on it, but I kept thinking about Axl Rose from Guns N' Roses as we ate our dinner outside.


Even if this Sweet Child O' Mine (snort snort. Get it?) does test our patience, I am not sure I would have it any other way. I mean, surely someday I will see the benefits of this strong personality trait in all its glory. (Right?)

Besides, who could resist this face?

Escape from to my hometown

Spending the day in my hometown this past weekend was so much fun. You already know about the fireworks 101 class that we were lucky enough to participate in, but that was only a fraction of our day.

Another part of the day was spent on many a shoulder:


And we spent a good chunk of the day frolicking at Lime Kiln Park. The name is exactly what it seems to be - there are three of five kilns still standing at this park that used to kiln lime. Or something like that.


I have always loved this park. I grew up playing here.

Even in high school, we would play on this weird, giant concrete slab next to the kilns. My dad says there is another one somewhere, so we think it was a sort of bridge for some kind of transportation that came to deliver or pick up the lime. I actually have no idea - it's a total guess.

What I DO know, is that the giant concrete slab was so much fun to climb up and hang out on.


So, I tried it again. Not quite as fearless as I once was, I needed a bit of help. And a paper bag to keep me from hyperventilating from fear of falling. Thank the lord for a chivalrous husband to help me up and down.

Funny, now that I look at the picture it doesn't look so skyscraper high. Hmph.


The kilns and weird concrete blob lead down to a beautiful, rambling portion of the Milwaukee river. In high school I took many photos down here for my photography class. You know, back in the old days when all they had was film for your SLR. It was fun to take some again, this time with a digital SLR!


On to the playground, which has been totally revamped. Not nearly as cool as the rickety old brightly painted metal playground we had, but still fun.

As evidenced by Sydney, demonstrating the sheer pleasure of going down a slide.


And if you look in the background of this picture, you can see a bridge. It's a bridge that has been moved to this park, and now resides over the smallest stream of water I have ever seen. It's a bit goofy, and the poor thing now gets ridiculed for where it stands, but I think they just didn't want to scrap the bridge -- most likely for my sake.


I used to walk over this bridge every day on my way home from school (uphill, both ways, and usually through a snowstorm), when it stood proudly over the rushing Milwaukee River!

After spending a good deal of time at the park we hurried home to catch the parade, which went right by my parents' house. All we had to do was pull the lawn chairs out of the garage and set 'em up!

Much to our excitement, a small handful of the University of Wisconsin Marching Band made an appearance in the parade. (Go Bucky!)


The band came to a halt right in front of us as they waited for the parade to move forward, so two band members decided to make themselves comfortable in our lawn chairs. Which luckily were the perfect team colors.

They actually sat for quite a while and watched their fellow band members perform.

I believe "dance monkeys, dance!" were the guy in the chair's exact words.

Seriously, one of the best parades that I've been to in a while. Mark and I hope that Elisabeth goes to UW-Madison someday so that we can park and tailgate at her apartment that she'll have just off of Regent Street on football Saturdays. Wishful thinking?

PHEW! Was this post as long for you as it was for me? If it was, I'm sorry! But it was such a great day.

It's nice to be able to go back to your hometown and not hate it there, you know? I didn't think that would ever happen. I overheard another Grafton escapee that was back in town for the weekend say "you know, all I wanted to do was get out of here when I was in school, and now I find myself driving through town with my kids in the backseat and thinking 'what a cute town this is!' "

Couldn't agree more fellow escapee, couldn't agree more.