School Conferences

We recently had Nolan's school conferences and we are so proud of how our little buddy is doing in school.  He mastered most of the 4K curriculum earlier this fall, but has been continuing to work on his letter sounds and has since learned to read.  He is reading Level 1 and some Level 2 books with ease and is reading a lot - sometimes up to 100 pages in a sitting!  His teacher is going to be providing him with some enrichment activities to do during centers because he is mastering concepts at lightning speed.  Best of all, Mrs. Powell said that Nolan is a great leader in the classroom and is a person she relies on when she needs help.  She said he is a good friend and is kind and considerate to his classmates.  He is good about sharing.  Hearing this about our son makes us so proud of the wonderful little guy that he is.  It is so exciting to see what his future will hold!  

Week 8: A Day in the Life

3:01am - Nolan wakes and comes to get me.  I need to sit with him until he falls back to sleep.
3:47am - Thankfully he went down easily, so I was able to get back to sleep relatively quickly.
4:57am - Nolan up and came in my room.  I tell him to crawl in bed with me to try to catch a little more sleep.
6:00am - Nolan up for good this time.  Dog is howling, so I let him out.
6:03am - Time for a quick shower
6:15am - The dog is barking, so time to let him back in.
6:17am - Get dressed.
6:29am - Livi wakes up.
6:31am - I make breakfast for the kids - peanut butter & honey sandwiches, strawberries, and yogurt for Livi
6:41am - The kids eat their breakfast while I make Nolan's lunch for school - cheese, turkey, crackers, pears, and a leftover valentine cookie.
6:52am - Get both kids dressed.
6:57am - Get both kids' teeth brushed.
6:59am - Give the dog his meds - he takes a probiotic and an anti-anxiety medication
7:00am - Gather garbage for garbage day.
7:02am - Get Nolan's crazy bedhead hair fixed
7:10am - Start the van and take garbage and recycling to curb. Realize that I should have dried my hair before going outside - it froze!
7:15am - Kids get their winter gear on.
7:20am - Drive down to the bus stop.
7:25am - Nolan gets on bus.
7:30am - We're back home and things are slightly less chaotic for a minute.  I turn on Mickey Mouse for Livi while I make breakfast for myself - scrambled eggs with zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, and cheddar cheese
7:45am - I eat breakfast.
8:00am - Finish getting ready - hair, makeup, brush teeth.
8:15am - Get Livi bundled up in her winter gear.
8:30am - Arrive at Dr Slette's office for Olivia's 2.5 year old check up.  She's pretty shy at first and was not excited to stand on the scale or get measured.  The nurse said she wanted to see how big she was and she promptly and angrily answered back, "I'M SMALLLL!" She's not wrong - measured in the 90 percentile for height, but the 12th percentile for weight.  Everything looks healthy!
9:15am - Head to Walmart to look for some new shoes for Nolan (size 1)
9:50am - Stop at Dollar Store for some storage bins
10:10am - Check out Hobby Lobby clearance
10:30am - A Coffee Beans treat for Livi and Mommy - white chocolate mocha for Mom and a chocolate cake donut for Liv
10:50am - Home, unload van, fill van with windshield washer fluid, put on Bubble Guppies for Livi. Get linen closet organized with Dollar Store bins for sheets.

11:05am - Feed and water Miles
11:10am - Make lunch for Livi - cheese, crackers, oranges, and applesauce
11:14am - Change her diaper.
11:20am - Lunchtime for Livi.
11:34am - Start unloading dishwasher.
11:37am - Livi's covered in applesauce - wipe her down and change her clothes.  Then it's time for her nap. I read her Little Blue Truck and That's Not My Reindeer which are two of her current favorites.
11:48am - Resume unloading dishwasher and reload with dirty dishes

11:58am - Start load of laundry
12:01pm  - Thaw out fish for dinner
12:02pm - It's lunchtime for me - leftover chicken taco soup
12:15pm - Quick wipe down of main bathroom. Sweep kitchen and dining room.
12:30pm - Start next load of laundry.
12:32pm - Time to sit for a few minutes - Lego Star Wars has been my favorite treat lately!
1:30pm - Livi wakes up from her nap
1:45pm - Eric calls - he's in Oregon this week for a logging show.
1:58pm - Finished Olivia's 800th book in her 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program!
2:00pm - Fold laundry.
2:15pm - Clean master bathroom.
2:50pm - Dust upper and lower levels.
3:20pm - Get Livi bundled up and head to the bus stop.
3:29pm - Nolan gets off the bus.
3:40pm - Sort through school paperwork and make snacks for the kids.
4:00pm - Sort through master bedroom clutter and put clothes away.
4:30pm - The kids have been interested in cooking lately and Nolan especially likes to help make dinner.  We decide to tackle the oven fries recipe in his new cookbook.  Livi helps, too.

5:00pm - Make fish and peas.
5:30pm - Livi leads our prayers and we eat supper.
6:00pm - Olivia's bath.  Nolan really wanted to help and got her hair wet and everything.
6:20pm - Nolan's bath
6:30pm - All screens off for reading time. We read Press Here, What a Wonderful World, Steam Train Dream Train Colors, And the Cow Said, and Are you Ready to Play Outside. Nolan read Pete the Cat Plays Ball, too.
7:05pm -  Time for Livi to go to bed. I read her Moo Baa La La La and Mouse's Valentine.
7:10pm - Nolan's bedtime - we read Mix it Up and he listens to Okee Dokee brothers until he falls asleep.
7:25pm - He's asleep so I call Mom and Dad to check in.
8:30pm - Time to relax! Sit down and watch ER - I've been re-watching the series lately.
9:00pm - Patti calls to check in.
9:45pm - Let the dog out and get ready for bed.
10:00pm - My bedtime - watch Friends until I drift off.
5:02am - Nolan wakes with croup - phone call to Nurse direct and doctor's appointment scheduled - I'm guessing today is going to be a LOOONNG day!

Week 7: My Funny Valentine

This year Valentine's Day fell on a school day for Nolan, but my littlest valentine and I made sugar cookie cutouts while he was at school.  This was really Livi's first baking "helper" role and she loved the opportunity to watch the mixer, dump in the ingredients, cut out the cookies, and of course, lick the spatula.  

Nolan got to pass out valentines for the first time ever, and I was proud of him for writing his classmates' names all on his own.  He made a Valentine box at school out of an old cereal box and was really excited because he got not one, but two ringpops!

Eric and I didn't get to celebrate much on the actual holiday because I had to play for church, but we were able to get away for an awesome date night on the weekend at Brown St 151.  Valentine's Day isn't really that important of a holiday to me, but I  do enjoy the opportunity to show my sweeties how much I love them!

Week 6: Cold

Today we spent the afternoon out at the cabin.  Although it was cold, I love that we have a place to go enjoy the beautiful Northwoods!

Week 5: Friendship

In the fall of 2002, I was a scared but determined college freshman entering St. Mary's University in Winona.  I really viewed my new venture as a fresh start and had challenged myself to get out and meet people and make friends.  High school was good, but I was very shy, and seldom put myself out there for fear of not fitting in or worse, being teased.  My goal at that time was just to blend in.  But a new phase of life meant the opportunity to redefine myself, so I decided I was going to take risks and act much, much braver than I felt.

I met Liam in my first few days on campus, through our mutual interest in music.  He was a sophomore, and he invited me to watch South Park the Movie in the basement of Yon's Hall with a bunch of music folks.  I remember a couple things about that night; First, I recall laughing a ton and second, I felt like I had found the people who would be my family throughout my next four years.  Our group was always together - we ate meals together, made music together, and hung out most nights until the wee hours of the morning.  We traveled to Ireland and France, led music at church, and went to fraternity dances.  We got to know each other's families.  And we made many, many, many midnight trips to Perkins.

Brigid and I have been fortunate to stay close in touch over the past several years.  Right now Brig lives in Madison and visits every couple months.  But Liam moved to Texas about ten years ago for his work, and aside from his wedding and mine, we haven't seen each other since graduation.  The other day, out of the blue, I got a message from him saying that he was in Minneapolis for the week and was wondering if we could meet up.  Brig and I quickly got to work on the plans so we could maximize our time with our long-lost friend.

We were able to meet him and our good friend, Bob, bright and early in the morning for a delicious breakfast at Jensen's Café.  Despite not seeing each other in nearly seven years, it was like we hadn't spent a day apart. We were soon laughing and reminiscing and a couple of hours flew by in a flash.  After breakfast Brig, Liam, and I headed on to Stillwater to see the Ice Castles.  They were gorgeous and really impressive, with a whole maze of icy walls, caves, and slides to explore. After an hour or so we needed to warm up, so we headed across the street for a coffee and some good conversation.  We spent the next few hours realizing that though time and distance has prevented us from seeing each other, our friendship is still as alive and strong as ever.

Our last stop was Applebee's, where we met up with Patrick and Lindsy for dinner.  I had a really hard time during dinner and uncharacteristically kept breaking into tears.  Part of it was being really, really happy to be part of such a beautiful friendship.  The other part was being really, really sad that we have no idea when our paths may cross again.  This time with these dear friends made me see how perfectly our friendship would fit into my current life, if distance weren't such an obstacle.  It made me wish that somehow things were a little different, so I could spend more time with these special people.  Most of all, it made me thankful for the beautiful and amazing blessing these precious friends have been in my life.  So to these wonderful people: thank you for the memories and I can't wait to make more!

Grandparents' Day

Nolan's school recently hosted Grandparent's Day.  My kids are so blessed to have amazing relationships with each of their grandparents (and most of their great-grandparents!), so Nolan was thrilled for the opportunity to get to show his grandmas and grandpas his school, classmates, and teacher.  He was also really excited to get to eat hot lunch.  What a lucky kid to be surrounded by so much love!

Taste of Chocolate

For the past several years, we've gotten a group of ladies together to head downtown for Rhinelander's Taste of Chocolate.  This year, my Mom happened to be in town and we were able to get a nice sized group of awesome women together.  Because we're Taste Of Chocolate veterans, we knew our VIP stops - the new Oak Tree Boutique, Tricia's Treasures, Latitudes, and CT's Deli.  Tricia's had the best chocolates, by far, but we enjoyed perusing some of the awesome items in all the shops.  

We finished up our evening with a dinner at The Brick, which was delicious and lots of fun.  I love how much this group laughed!  I feel so very lucky to have these ladies in my life and am grateful that my friends and family can intermix so effortlessly.  Cheers for chocolate, laughter, and great friendship!

Brianne, Sara, Mom, Patti, me, Macie, Katie, Allison

Tea Parties

Lately, Olivia has been really in to tea parties - specifically, Frozen tea parties.  She lays out her Frozen blanket on the floor, collects her Anna and Elsa dolls, and uses her Frozen tea set to pour them tea and feed them with a spoon.  If I ask for tea, she squawks at me.  It is only for Anna and Elsa.  The other morning, Nolan decided to join her.  He got his Pokémon blanket out and invited his superhero action figures to the party.  I couldn't help but notice their different styles; Olivia carefully and methodically pours the tea into each cup and feeds her babies.  Nolan enjoyed knocking his "guests" over and pouring tea on them, which upset his sister immensely.  I love watching their imaginations at work!

HUGS!

There's not much better than a big bear hug from this little sweetie.