New Year's Eve 2016

Disclaimer: This was in my drafts folder!! I thought I had published this about 2 weeks ago! Arg!


*****


We spent New Year's Eve at Grammie and Papa's house this year. It seemed like the happenin' place to be since Jamie, Jordan, Aaliyah, and Jill (and fam) had all come home for the holiday.

We feasted on homemade Jimmy John's sandwiches. I am usually not a sandwich person, but give me some bread from Jimmy John's and a boring sandwich can be instantly transformed into good eats.

The festivities started off at 7pm. I had an activity bag to ring in each hour, little did I know that we wouldn't get to half of it. The 7pm bag contained crafts...make your own party hat, make your own noise maker, word search, and some coloring pages. And for the adults: pipe cleaner glasses contest. I couldn't believe that they actually took part in this one! Here are some pics to prove I'm not making this up:

He said he hated this, but I secretly think he liked it ;)

Jason had to run home to grab the pop I forgot sitting in the garage, so I modeled his creation.

I'm not sure who used the most pipe cleaners...Grammie or Papa...

The 8pm activities were Minute to Win It games.

9pm rolled around and we decided it was time to eat. I put together a charcuterie board. What is that you ask? It's a fancy French word for meats, cheeses, nuts, dried and fresh fruits, olives, hummus, artichokes, etc. Pretty much anything you would like to nosh on.

Dance Party!! The 10pm activity was the biggest hit of the night. It was complete with laser lights, glow sticks, and some rocking music. The kids went wild and would have danced the rest of the night away if we would have let them. The adults were a little more subdued and had retreated to the basement for some games.

11pm came and you could tell everyone was getting tuckered out. Everyone became a little more calm, a little more quiet, and the adults were trying to convince the kids we could just turn the clock forward and pretend midnight was here. Unfortunately, they were having none of it. Hattie however, as much as she tried to convince us she wasn't at all tired, layed down on my lap and promptly fell asleep...like in about 2 seconds. She was quickly transferred to a bedroom.

The magic hour of midnight!! We watched the final 45 seconds of the ball dropping, popped our hanging balloon filled with confetti, and wished everyone a happy new year. Upon completion of the cheering, we promptly cleaned up, loaded the van, and hauled 5 very, very tired children home.

I'm happy to report that all children slept in a little the next morning. Lily was the first up (no surprise here) at 9:30am and the rest rolled out of bed shortly after. For as tired as we still were, the kids all agreed it was the best New Year's Eve party. So I guess there's that. :)

Here are a few pics from earlier in the day. All the boy cousins/fam came over and got a game of boot hockey going on the ultra slippery ice. It was a beautiful day weather wise...almost 24 degrees so the guys had a ton of fun.

Five on Friday (except it's Monday...January 16, 2017)

The highlights of last week were:

1. Jason has worked a ton. It seems as though there's never an end in sight as his to-do list is constantly getting added to. With all the extra hours being put in during the beginning of the week, it allowed for him to work from home on Friday...which also meant a family outing for lunch to meet Nana and Paul.

2. Last week proved to be very challenging in regards to Hattie's tummy. We have been in a valley as of late and this week was no exception. Probably some of the hardest nights we have had in a while. The pain was enough to wake her up out of dead sleep multiple times a night causing her to cry out and crunch up into the fetal position. As a parent, this is hard to see. It's difficult when you know you have no idea how to fix it and yet have all the desire in the world to do so.

3. West started back up for Ella and as much as she is enjoying it there, it's always hard to get back into routine. (insert: nagging from mom)

4. Busy schedule from last week: I volunteered at the Concessions at Pact so I can get my volunteer hours in for the month. My shift was from 4-8:30...that means a lot of requests for hot dogs, power-aids, and popcorn. And a lot of standing for me. I have one more shift yet this month. I signed myself up for a pile of spots so I can make up for the lack of volunteering at the beginning of the school year (since I was busy getting our own school going). Mom and I went to the convention center in Mpls to the Hardware Hank Convention. Julie and Gary showed us around and it was fun to be a part of their world for an afternoon. It came complete with a massage. Afterwards we went out for supper at Dino's. I forget what a nice break it is to eat without having to remind people to stay in their seats or cut food up into bite size pieces. Awana and Kids Choir started back up for the second half of the year.

5. Nana and Paul took us all out to the theater to see Sing on Friday. It was utterly and absolutely adorable. I plan to purchase this one when it comes out on dvd. 

Happy Friday....hmmmm...or Monday!

Preschool Days with Ella

Another school day for Hattie. Today she was learning about the letter "I"...so Ella made some gloop...because it felt "icky". I'm not sure Hattie agrees as I think she thinks it's great now that she's gotten to play around with it. :)

At least Ella had the idea of using a plastic "glove" so it wouldn't turn her hand purple. :)

"Ick"

I can see we have a little work to do on how she holds that marker.

Preschool Days with Ella

A few more pics of things that Ella has done with Hattie.

I'm thinking that next year she can teach her baby sister to read. ;)

 Practicing her letters

Book making (She loves making books!!) 

Learning about the Pioneers

Learning how big the world is.

Snapshot: January

Considering . . . volunteering to help with the children's spring musical at church. Watching the Christmas one just made me want to get in there and join the fun.

Reading . . . some are still on the request list at the library as I am in a long line of "holds"!

• Night by Elie Wiesel - I had a recommendation for this one. I picked it up from the library and after reading the summary, put it back down. I can tell it's not for the faint of heart and I'm not ready to start my year off with a book of that magnitude.
• The Power of One Thing: How to Intentionally Change Your Life by Randy Carlson.
• Falling Free: Rescued from the Life I Always Wanted by Shannan Martin - I have heard good things about this book so I hope it lives up to the hype.
• The Expats by Chris Pavone - meh
• Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
• Hands Free Mama by Rachel Macy Stafford- I read this a while back, but only made it through half the book. What I read was very good so I want to finish it up.
• Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple - supposed to be quirky and I could use a light, feel-good read
• The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo - maybe 2017 will be the year I get a handle on my house? Hey...stranger things have happened!
• Notes from a Blue Bike by Tsh Oxenreider - another one I started, gleaned good things from, and never finished...I'm on a mission to see this one through this time.

Looking Forward To . . . Getting the tree and Christmas décor put away tonight. I'm so sick of the extra clutter. I wanted to take it down a few days after Christmas, but Jason told me that I would be too "grinchy" if I did that.

On The Watch List . . . The Life of Pi. I got this on blu-ray for Jason for Christmas and I'm itching to see it. Here's to hoping we get the kids down for bed early one night and we can set up camp in front of the projector downstairs. We watched the new Jungle Book over the holiday break and I thought the movie was excellent, although quite intense at times!

Admitting . . . I'm feeling beaten and battered in regards to dealing with my headaches. They seem to be an almost-constant companion and I'm not really liking the company. I'm not sure if they have gotten worse or if after 30+ years of chronic pain, I'm really feeling the toll they take on me. Either way, staying positive seems to be elusive to me these days.

Anticipating . . . Hattie's appointment at Children's Milwaukee to see the CVS specialist on January 24. This appointment is 7 months in the making. Her tummy has been ramping up again and daily tummy pain is the norm. Praying that they have something for us that might help. It about kills me to see her in chronic pain as I know what that can do to a person over time.

Thankful . . . for car pool in the afternoons for Ben (I have the morning shift which gets it done and out of the way for the rest of the day).

Drinking . . . warm rooiboos tea...cause I'm constantly freezing and ain't nobody got time for that. (insert: I'm sooooo sick of winter)

Out my Window . . .it must have rained a bit over night before the 7 degree weather made it's appearance because it literally looks like a skating rink outside right now. The sidewalk, driveway, cul-de-sac...pure ice. I'm glad to be home today.

Countdown . . . to our family trip to Florida in March. Flight tickets have been purchased and rental has been secured. Now just to figure out lodging, activities, menu (since we will most likely cook most of our meals there), and packing lists. Good thing I still have some time. ;)

Snapshot #6

Okay...so I just discovered this in my drafts folder, barely started. It's from October 2016...

...So I'm gonna publish it anyway...completely out of sequence...because of 2 reasons:

1. It's a testament to how crazy life can get at times and things get pushed to the wayside.

2. I don't want to lose a single memory just because it's out of order.






Snapshot #6

Outside my window: darkness. It's 11:25pm and I finally have a few quiet moments to think. Prime-time blog writing time...that's what they say...isn't it?!? The seasons are changing and fall has been ushered in. It's starting to get dark so early and I noticed last night that by around 7pm it was completely, utterly dark out there. Only a few more weeks until day light savings time and the clocks get rolled back.

I am thankful for: Tuesday Art lessons. Ella, Lily, and Cora have grown so much in their art abilities. I'm amazed at how much they have learned. I'm also amazed at how much angst and tears it has brought too. Ella doesn't feel like she can measure up to Lily and Cora and I'm constantly telling her not to compare herself to those two...who clearly have been given an artistic gift and can easily outdraw anyone I know. With that gift, comes a perfectionistic quality from Lily. She is a true artist who doesn't like to be told what she should draw and finds it difficult (and I would venture to guess "uninspiring") to have something specific to sketch. Everything needs to be perfect or she's in a pile of tears and frustration.

Future plans I'm looking forward to: Ella and Ben are headed up north with Grammie to Fertile on Thursday and Friday (over MEA) to visit their friends. While they are off galavanting, Lily, Cora, Hattie, and I are off to Duluth to visit Jill and Jory. We are super excited and I'm excited to only have 3 kids to put to bed that night! (Why did I ever complain that 3 kids were a lot of work?!?)

Project: Table Refinishing

My friend had a table she had planned on refinishing, but realized that she was just never going to get around to doing...and the purging bug was biting at her heels...so a call was made.

To me.

And yes, I took it.

Much to my husband's disdain.

But I...I was very excited. I could see the diamond in the ruff. I could see the beauty that was hidden inside. It only needed some work (okay...a lot of work), a little love, and some chalk paint.

Did I mention that it would seat all of us comfortably and that an extra leaf added in could make it seat 10?!?

Oh...and it was FREE!!

Easy decision right?!? Now you know why I was jumpin' around and smiling like a silly school girl.

The previous owner has a son who thought that the table would make a great fort...so he took the largest nails available on the market and nailed boards all around the table splintering and damaging it.

First on my list: wood putty...and lots of it.

Since I love the vintage, chabby chic, French look, I knew I would be distressing the piece anyway so I chose to embrace it's character...the good, bad, and the even the ugly. To be honest, now that it's done, each bump, bang, and hammer mark lend to it's charm.

 

Squeeeeeeal...look at how big it is!!

   

 4 coats of chalk paint and 3 coats of poly later, the table is finished. Whew, there's quite a learning curve to poly, I love it...I hate it!! I love it....oh, I hate it!! AARRGG! I hate this stuff, I hate this stuff, I hate this stuff. But by the 3rd coat, I had become a quick learner. Now I could say I'm a pro at the it.

Mom and I went to Ikea and bought new white chairs to match. Jason and Ben spent an afternoon putting all 8 of them together. We had to let the last coat of poly dry for 72 hours to ensure it had cured perfectly. It was three long days of waiting on my part.

I'm so happy with the end result. To say I love this table is an understatement. And to not hear my kids yelling "you're too close", "you're in my space", "mom, make her move OVER!" is music to my ears. And to think...we still have an extra leaf in the basement!! For company...not more children. ;) In case you were wondering...