A Garden Rake and no Heat

We don't have our heat hooked up yet. Almost, but no cigar. (Where did that "saying" originate from, anyway?) It's been down in the low 40's at night. This morning, it was 58 in our house, when I woke up (46 outside)! My hands are freezing. It actually felt warmer to me when I was outside walking Nikayda to the bus stop! I kid you not. The sun was shining - made all the difference in the world.

I've never felt the urge to get outside in the mornings when it was in the 50's but I sure felt like it today. Come to think of it, I wasn't up, much, in the mornings until now. But we're all adjusting just fine to this earlier schedule and it actually feels really nice. The boys are even getting up a little earlier too.

This morning, I took a few pictures in the entry but I'm going to wait and take more once I get a few things up {for texture. Flowers, linens etc...} I started to decorate in there, last week. Anyone know of a good place where I can find real-looking artificial flowers? I was thinking Joann's or Michaels'... I haven't looked at either place in ages. But I was wondering if there were others. I'm hoping to plug-away some more today - but probably in the kitchen and living room.

The wedding was beautiful. I can hardly believe they're married. {That's an I-can-hardly-believe in a good way.} :) It's a first for me (a brother getting married). It feels so strange to me that I have a brother married. It's so nice to see him happy and married to a Christian wife. Out of the 14 of us only Sara, Emily, and I were married until now. Family weddings are so fun! I only took a couple of pictures. I was waiting until my mom posted before putting any up... We only went for the day. We left late-morning Saturday and got home around 2 in the morning (Sunday).

In the end, I'm so glad we didn't stay the night. Mark and I visited the whole way home - which was nice. The kids slept because it was already after 10 when we left. A part of me really wishes we would've been at rehearsal but I know it was the right thing to not go for overnight. If it was feeling that stressful for me, it was better not to. It's just that I have no idea where half our stuff is right now. Everything's in boxes scattered throughout the house. I'm hoping by the time Ginger & Lars get married (Nov.), things will be a little more in order and we'll make it for Friday night! :)

Brad & Larissa's Wedding

I'll be back on Sunday or Monday. My brother Brad and Larissa are getting married on Saturday, in the cities. In Medina actually...so-close-but-so-far-away from the Junkmarket Bonanza! We're only planning to go for the day. We'll head back after the wedding. It'll be a late one but it's less stressful for me than trying to stay overnight.

I get really worked-up trying to pack, even for one night. I never used to be like that - it's the anxiety. I can't explain it. {Mark is always trying to tell me not to get worked-up about the little things. But it's something I can't help.} I'm only hoping that it'll be better once we get settled-in here. I'm really hoping that will help. I can't see why not... Things are just a little upside down right now {and will be, for awhile} with the move.

I'm a neat-freak by nature, and I haven't had a neat house in years with all of the moving we've done. (I'm not complaining, I've enjoyed the moving. Well, not the moving-moving, but the relocation. I love change. It's just starting to get-to-me that I haven't been able to have an organized house...until now. :) And our last place, although I really liked it, was so very small and there were boxes everywhere. Literally.

But I'm so excited to see everyone at the wedding! And excited *for* the wedding! :)

Anyhow, I may post later today...I'm going garage sailing. I haven't been for FAR too long. Ok. I really have no idea what I just said in this post. I'm tired. :)

I don't like Salad

It's bliss. Pure bliss!

It was 66 degrees when I woke up this morning! I LOVE it. Love it. Love it!

I was like a wilted piece of lettuce for the past two days in this heat {low 90's} and humidity! I swear my body doesn't move when it gets above 80, if there is any humidity involved. You can only take off so many pieces of clothing. {I mean, I guess you could take it all off, but that would be...I don't know, weird}. That's why I'm not a huge fan of summer. I like to wear clothes.

My sister Amanda's the opposite. She loves summer! I love cool weather. You can always bundle up if you get chilly. We were just talking about it recently. And I was saying how I love fall and she was sad it was getting cooler. And that all the leaves were changing because pretty soon they'd all be dead. And it'd be dreary and lifeless and cold and yucky and mucky and brown and...well cold.

And I thought, what's wrong with that?! ;)

Really, I don't think she said all of that, but pretty much she did when she said she didn't like that it was getting cooler.

{And, as for the title, I really don't like salad. Very much.}

Company

eta: I did a little photo-shoot with the canning jars and got a couple of pictures that I'm much happier with... It didn't take much, those other ones were so blurry.

Pete & Mary H. stopped by Tuesday night. They're our new neighbors. They just stopped in quick to see our place. {I felt bad, we didn't visit real long, I was getting supper together. Another time}... :)

And I got company Wednesday afternoon too. :) Vanessa and Stephanie and their kids stopped by and brought treats! Canned peaches and pears. Such a nice house-warming gift. They're always so thoughtful. Thank you both so much! They're delicious! (Truthfully, I haven't quite opened them yet. ;) But I know they are because we've had the pears at Steph's before. I love homemade canned fruits!

It was awesome that they stopped-in. I feel like we haven't seen each other in AGES because we've been so busy with this house. At least, now we're here and we'll be able to get together more often. Because, they're our neighbors too! I can hardly believe that we live so close to each other and my sister Sara too. We live nearby a bunch of our friends now. (Not that 7-10 minutes was far before but now it's less than 5!) Lol! :)

(I love how they did these lids. They're so cute. I'm having a hard time opening them because I just want to keep looking at 'em.)

Grant's Birthday

I've been making my own history...of neglecting to remember weekend birthdays.

Happy (belated) Birthday to Grant!!
The big 2!
(Not 2-0. That's 2. And 2 is a big deal when you're 2.) :)



(Keith & Joan's).

They're GR-R-REAT!

This little guy showed up for breakfast at Shell's!

Max

Ok. So they aren't Frosted Flakes but the picture is Gr-r-reat! just the same. ;)

Photo courtesy of Shelley P.

Life is a Lullaby

I go from a post where I tell you I am anxious to one of serenity. Or at the very least, I'm feeling a minimal amount of serenity. :) It is 20 to nine and the boys are fast asleep. My daughter is whimpering near the kitchen table because she doesn't want to use the same bowl that Aapo had used for applesauce moments ago. (Before he hit the hay). I only had her share a bowl because the dishes are piled up and it was the last disposable bowl in the house. (Tomorrow, we have grocery shopping on the agenda).

I know. I'm a mean mom. ;) lol! She will get over it and by tomorrow she will have forgotten all about it. She's very tired out. We've had many a late night at the house in the past week so this night we're staying home and getting to bed at a reasonable hour. And I'm looking forward to a few hours of peace and quiet, trying to avoid the mess that this house has become and looking forward to tackling it in the morning. It's going to be hot and humid. A good day to stay inside and get some much needed cleaning done around here.

Aaaand she's down! Woo-hoo! They're all tucked in their beds. Time to relax.

But first, we saw Peggy and her kids today at Suzy & Jason's. Suzy made pizza for supper. Yum! And we got to visit. It was so fun to see her and the kids. And, of course, Suzy and Jason & kids. I feel like we never see anyone anymore. This has been a busy summer but at least we'll be able to try to do some more visiting, this fall, once things settle down a little! I'm looking forward to reconnecting with all of our long lost friends. :) Because that's what it feels like. It feels like we're so disconnected from everyone right now. I wonder if it's just us or if most people feel like that when they're building and moving... No matter. Even if it is just us, that's the way it goes... Looking forward to fall and hanging out with people again!

And looking forward to the weddings. Brad and Larissa's in the cities - Sept. 8 And Ginger and Lars' in the cities - Nov. 3! :) Family weddings are so much fun! And it's so funny because I keep thinking Brad & Riss's wedding is Sept. 6, but last I checked, I was pretty sure that they were getting married on a *Saturday* and not a Thursday. :)

Camping

I can't do it.

You ever get that feeling? Picture putting a wild animal in a cage and then corner it. Well I feel like that animal. There's a name for this particular wild animal. It's anxiety.

I promise, I'm not about to write a big ol' serious post here. :) We were thinking about going camping with my family (Bob & Lorraine T.'s family), this weekend. Camping? Now you're wondering why we'd even consider such a crazy thing. We're in the middle of building, packing, cleaning up, packing, more cleaning and moving in. And we were thinking of going camping?!

We thought it'd be a nice break. A brief weekend to revive ourselves. A refreshment from the daily grind of late.

Ain't gonna happen.

I sat down to write a packing list.

I couldn't breathe.

My left arm started to tingle.

I wrote a bunch of stuff down but I couldn't think of anything else.

The list wasn't done.

I knew it wasn't done.

Mark came home. I looked at him and said,"I can't do this".

"Ok". That's all he said.

I know he was looking forward to a little reprieve too.

But truthfully, I saw that look in his eyes. The one that says,"You're right. This was a crazy idea. What were we thinking?!" It only flickered for a second. But I saw it.

He was relieved. (And he was the one who suggested that we try to go). :)

And I'm trying to be. Once I get worked up into a little dither. That cloak of anxiety takes a few moments to lift itself off again. Funny how that is. It comes on in a matter of seconds. But takes so much longer to leave.

Edited to add: It's much better today. :) I'm so disappointed that we'll be missing out though but relieved that I don't have to pack for camping on top of moving. It would've been so fun to see everyone! Especially so many relatives that we haven't seen for so long. :) And a note on the house - we'll be painting the interiors next week but there is so much to do before then. Including...more packing. Once it's painted, we can start moving our stuff!

Exciting News!!

Ginger and Lars are engaged!! :)

They're getting married Nov. 3 in the cities.

Congratulations! (We're so excited). :)

(Mark's sister and Lars J. ;) - not sure if I should use last names...)

Happy Birthday #4 Kirsten!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday Dear Kirsten!

Happy Birthday to you!

(Picture stolen from my sister Amanda's blog)

Love,
Nikayda, Aapo, and Carter

(Mark and Jen too.) :)

(*for anyone who may not know, she's Emily and Matt's oldest. And note: this is unfair treatment. I haven't had pictures that I could steal of my nephews on their recent birthdays so their birthday greetings were without pictures.) ;)

Two Cute Little Boys

Danny

Will

I'm dedicating this post to my baby brother, Danny, and my nephew, Will. Danny's not much of a "baby" anymore at 11! I can hardly believe he's that old. He was born the winter after I graduated from high school. In fact, he was the baby when I moved away from home and he was, by far, the most difficult to leave behind. He was and is such a ray of sunshine. I used to love taking him with me when I'd run to the store or other errands. Even on trips home while I was single, it was so fun to take him out with me.

Little did we know when we were younger, that we were to be blessed with such a special little guy. (Make that two). :) His birth made such an impact on all of us. It was life changing, really. Something that you can't explain to those who aren't blessed with such a special child. He was the most adorable little baby ever. He has warmed our hearts a million times over with his crazy ways and silly antics. He does everything "Danny-style" as many of you have seen first-hand and on posts on my mom's blog, and you can't help but laugh. Most of the time, that's just what he wants. He loves to make people laugh.

And he loves to tell people that he loves them. He loves everyone. And sometimes, I think he truly means it. He tells his bus driver, the librarian, his teacher, the man walking by on the street, the cashier at the grocery store... Pretty much anyone he meets. At home, he has a habit of telling you that he loves you about 100 times a day. :) Although, sometimes that can drive you crazy, (Lol. ;) you gotta love a kid who's so full of love for everyone. We could all learn from that. ;)

I'm not exaggerating either. I brought him to the store one time and as he was getting his treat from the cashier, he turned around and said,"I love you," as he was saying goodbye. They didn't understand him and I quickly ushered him away. Lol. But he really says that to everyone. :)

I have so many cute pictures of him. Makes me really wish I had a scanner so I could post a bunch of them. The reason I wrote this post is because I was just on a craft blog and discovered there is a whole set of Down Syndrome pictures on Flickr! It was so fun to see so many beautiful little faces. I have such a weak spot for babies in general, but that doesn't even compare to little Down's babies. They're so beautiful!

The kids and I recently met a little boy with Down Syndrome named Phil. He's just gorgeous. I wish I had a picture of him! We met him at the beach, last summer. He didn't remember us but I remembered him because he's so cute. :) We ran into him again at Wal-Mart a couple of months ago. He's so handsome with dark hair and stylish little glasses. And he's really well mannered. He was so cute talking to the kids while I chatted with his mom. She's a school teacher in a nearby town. I sure hope we'll run into them again...maybe at the beach or school. He goes to the same school that Nikayda will, so I'm sure we'll see him again. :)

My original intent was to dedicate this post to Danny but I couldn't do a post about Danny without mentioning Will (5 yrs. old). :) We've been truly blessed with two very special and amazing little boys in our lives! Jon and (my sister) Sara's little Will has Williams Syndrome. It's a similar syndrome to Down's - only different. I'm not really sure how to begin to describe the difference. Either way, a description of the syndrome does not make the boy. They are each their own beautiful person with their own beautiful personalities. I've linked both syndromes to Wikipedia. I don't know which site would be the best as far as descriptions, so I went with that. But at the bottom of each Wikipedia page is a list of sites. :)

I love to see the two of them together. I know mom and dad have some cute pictures of them. (Mom, I wish you'd post one). :) I know there is at least one that I absolutely love. I wish I had a copy. I think it was from when Sar was home one time. From last year...or the year before...?

We never talk much about the fact that Danny has Down Syndrome or that Will has Williams Syndrome. They're just Danny and Will. Just two cute little boys.

So special.

So different.

So the same.

So happy.

So...normal.


Danny and Will. :)

Oh Danny Boy...

The last lines of this song by Conway Twitty are often sung when Dan's around. Sometimes it drives him nuts. ;) Sometimes he loves it. ;)

Nifty, Nifty Look Who's Fifty!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Love ~ Mark & Jennifer

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!

Love ~ Nikayda, Aapo, and Carter

Make sure you stop by and wish my dear mom a Happy BIG 5-0!!!! :)

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Happy 19th Birthday Beatle!!!!

Love ~ Mark, Jennifer, Nikayda, Aapo, & Carter

Happy Birthday Riss!!!

Riss I didn't know it was your birthday...or I would've posted this first thing! But I just saw it on my mom's blog. :)

Happy Birthday Larissa!!!!!!

***************

Happy Birthday Auntie Larissa!!!
Love,
~Nikayda, Aapo, and Carter

Congrats (K & J)

Life is a little more laid back, a little more slow in the northern woods of Minnesota and communication should be no exception. ;)

My sister in law Joan & Keith (Mark's brother) had a baby boy last Tuesday, July 10. Henry (not sure of the middle name). 7 lbs. something and Mark thought 19 inches. (I forgot to clarify the stats with Suzy when we were there last night). He joins big brother Grant!

Everything went well and she had a successful vbac!!

Congratulations Keith and Joan!!! :)

Fearless Aapo

Aapo's going to give me a heart-attack. I swear. That kid is far too fearless for his own good! And I mean that all with love. :)

With all the kids hanging around after the parade (see below), it was obviously a little hard to keep track of who was who, where was where, or what was what! We all were suppose to be in the backyard. Suppose, being the key word here.

Well, I looked around for the hundredth time and realized that my two oldest were missing. No big deal, I just figured they were in the front yard with the other missing kids. As I rounded the corner of the house, my heart shot straight for my throat!

There were some of the kids. On.the.other.side.of.the.road. And our road is really busy on a big weekend like this! Not normally. But when we're having a festival, it is. At this point, I only saw Ellie and Lela*, but at about four and three yrs. old respectively, they were far too young to be on the other side of the road. As I went rushing for the road, shouting STOP at the top of my voice, I spotted Aapo standing next to them. And I could see his wheels turning as he was watching the cars go by.

STOOOOOOOOOPPPP!!!!!!!!!!! I screamed but sure enough, he made a run for it! I never ran so fast in my entire life as I tore in front of those cars, which THANK HEAVEN had seen the kids and were slowing down!!

Everyone was safe and sound in the end but my heart is still thumping!

My worst fear!

The thing is, when I rounded that corner, Nikayda was about to join the others. She had stopped when she heard me.

I'm still shook up!

*Ellie is Joe & Christi's and Lela is Al & Maggie's

Random Parade Pictures

Our little town had a parade today for the summer festival. It was so incredibly hot! Our thermometer read 99 today. It's usually very close to the one in town! And it was humid. Just a super-awful-uncomfortable type day. But that didn't stop the town from coming out and enjoying the parade. Although, I'm pretty sure there were fewer people sitting out here than there were last year. We have a small patch of shade in our front yard that was much welcomed, needless to say! Edited to add: Lindsay, Laura and Heather were all in the parade. They were holding signs for a local business. I didn't get a picture of them though! I didn't have my camera out during most of the parade!

Mark's sister Christi with Will.

Nikayda waiting for more candy.

Does she need anymore?! Her bag looks pretty heavy. These kids get so much candy during this parade, it's unreal! Al & Maggie's Mitch was holding a bag that weighed well over five pounds! If I had to take a guess, I'd say it was closer to ten. (The loot that he and his buddies had swiped up during the parade). Almost every float throws candy. Ice Pops are handed out like crazy too. (I don't know what we're going to do when we don't live here anymore. It's been so awesome to have the parade go right past our front door! Literally.)

Aapo counting his treasure!

Lily (Jason & Suzy's) and Michael (Joe & Christi's)

Some of the kids, anxiously awaiting more candy!

L to R: Nikayda, Carter, Bradley (Joe & Christi's), Aapo, and Michael

Doing the candy-dive!

L to R: Nikayda, Brad, Tamiika (Jason & Suzy's), Abram M. (Jason & Suzy's - right behind Tamiika), Michael (red shirt) and Lily.

Christi & Joe's Will

In this picture, he was so sweet - just concentrating on Christi who wasn't even looking at him.

And then she did!

Will

Joe & Christi's sweet little baby. I didn't get a clear shot. The lighting again...I need to find the manual to figure out if I can change the ISO's on here. I'll try for another one later.