Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Some of the random things you will hear while talking to our three-year-old wonder boy, Colin:

"Please pretty?!" (instead of 'pretty please'!).

"I left my good boy in the woods, so I'm just going to be naughty today."

"Kami, can you get the crusty blood out of my ears?" (this is referring to when there is earwax in his ears!).

"Chicka now now Chicka now now" (our dear, sweet three-year-old sings this and it sounds a LOT like low-budget porn music).

(At breakfast) "I'm not hungry for oatmeal, I'm hungry for dinner." I ask him, "well what's for dinner?" He responds with, "a treat!"

We've told him countless times that we have too many toys at home, so before we get new toys, we're going to donate some of our toys to kids who don't have as many. While walking through Target the other day he insisted, "Kami, we NEED to go home so that I can give all the little kids ALL of my toys - then we can come back and buy ALL of these toys!"

"I don't think it's time for bed because the sky is still blue."

While sitting in waiting room at the auto shop, Colin overheard people talking about the president. He turns to me and asks, "Kami, is John Wayne the president?"

These are just a few of the things I hear every single day out of the mouth of our dear, sweet Colin! There is never EVER a day that goes by that I can call boring :)


Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Today is a lazy day. I'm sitting in my sweats, Monte's sweatshirt, my hair pinned up all goofy like, no makeup on my face - a tear-stained face as I just finished reading an incredible book that made me cry - and my house is silent (Colin is sleeping)! I love my off day - though I would never EVER be caught in public in this attire!!


Please do me a favor and ignore the smeared finger prints on my mirror! I believe that is the work of my three-year-old! :)

Monday, April 20, 2009

I can't believe how much has changed in the past few weeks, but somehow all of these changes have helped me to put my personal touch on our home - and I finally feel like I have just that: my very own home. After our water damage in the basement, we had to put in new carpet. Somehow, this carpet has caused me to fall in love with our family room and I spend MUCH of my free time down there (whereas I previously would avoid the room, as it just didn't feel comfortable to me). We had to replace our desk, as the old desk had mold growing on and in it from the water damage. We replaced it with a BEAUTIFUL cherry wood desk - which once again feels more like me. Now I'm anticipating the arrival of our final piece of our kitchen set (our table arrived, but the sideboard won't be in until the beginning of May) so that I can hang artwork and put the finishing touches on my home. It's so wonderful to me that I truly feel this way, as when I first moved in, it truly felt like I was living in a stranger's home. Monte's late wife, Kelley, had a very modern taste in her decorating, which works wonderfully for some, but I don't have any of that taste - so it was hard for me to live in a home surrounded completely by incredibly bright colors and lots of modern artwork and furniture. Little by little we have changed paint colors, area rugs, and some artwork .. and I truly feel at home. I came to this realization this morning when I was thinking that nothing would make me want to move from here, not even living closer to my sister which is something I've been wanting ever since I moved here (sorry Tanya!). I love my home and I love that my husband has been so wonderful about allowing me to make the changes necessary so I feel at home. My dear, sweet Monte, thank you for all of your understanding of my need to change. I love you so very much!

To view some of these changes, visit my Facebook photo album (and no, you don't have to have a Facebook account to view it) by visiting this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=66676&id=501824489&l=9b4c5ad16b

I don't have pictures of the new carpet up there yet, but hopefully I will soon!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Here's a quick "catcher upper" on my life for the past two weeks:

I've had a three-year-old throwing screaming fits in stores and banks because he doesn't get treats. Because of this, I had stopped taking him anywhere. A week later, the fits have stopped and we can shop together again!

I travelled to Perham (my hometown) and back in less than 48 hours to celebrate Easter with my dad's side of the family. I brought my step-son, Ellis, who was bored out of his mind. I must note, though, that it was his decision to come along and he was forewarned about the boredom!

We spent Easter Sunday at church and then with Kelley's family at Dan and Debbie's house. We had a wonderful feast, great company, and the kiddos enjoyed the egg hunt. All-in-all it made for a very fabulous day!

Our new table has arrived and almost all of my redecorating is complete! It's so wonderful to have a home that truly feels like ME.

I'm taking a weekend "get away" a week from Friday. Granted, I'm just staying at a hotel in Maple Grove for the weekend, but it is going to be get away enough for me! My mom is going to stay with me all weekend and my sister and sister-in-law are staying with us on Friday night. It's going to be a blast! I get to treat my mom to her first pedicure EVER -- I can't wait!!

My husband continues to be my hero and the one person that I love more than life itself! I thrive on the fact that I know he's coming home in the afternoon and usually don't stray far from his side all evening long. I am truly a blessed woman to have received such an amazing man for a husband. Thank You, God!!!

I've been putting off cleaning my house (I'm talking deep cleaning) for a few days now, but I think I've run out of excuses and I actually have to do it today. I want to clean my truck first, though. Is that bad?! ;)

Monte and I leave for Orlando the first week of May. He is going for a business conference, I am flying out a few days later for vacation :) It's going to be so wonderful!

Iain is now in baseball and Ellis is in soccer. These sports keep us extremely busy during the week. On the weekends, Claire is riding horse. It's just a crazy busy schedule to follow!

This gorgeous weather has me encouraged that it's time to take my Colin on a bike ride today. Maybe it's time I finally toured the city of Mound and found out where I can truthfully GO with a bike around here!! :)

My brother and his family were recently evacuated from their home in Jamestown, ND due to the potential of flooding. There's absolutely nothing I can do for them besides the one thing that I know I can always do, which is pray. Will you please pray, too? Their names are Tory and Lisa. Lisa is currently six months pregnant with their second child - I can't imagine being put out of your home on top of already being pregnant. Pray for miracles for them - for the water to disappear and not destroy their home and for God to give them incredible peace through this circumstance.

Beyond that, not much else is new. So, how are you?! :)