Joy, Joy, Joy

I am so sorry for my lack of posting! I have a bad habit of getting overwhelmed when there is too much to write about, so I just don't write at all. These past two months have been nothing but a long string of events I could write about, with no time to write! So I will try to give a quick synopsis of our Advent and Christmas seasons before the details escape my brain. 

We kept Advent pretty simple- by choice and by necessity. The kids were battling colds on and off throughout the entire season, keeping us homebound more often than I planned, but leaving plenty of time for snuggles and story time. We did our annual Jesse tree, watched lots of seasonal movies, baked Christmas goodies, and even managed to squeeze in a handful of fun outings between bouts of sickness. We visited the Christmas Trolley at Lake Harriet, saw a production of A Charlie Brown Christmas, went on a self-guided Christmas light tour, and delivered doughnuts to some of our neighbors for the Feast of St. Lucy. 

Then the fun ramped up even more when Grandma and Grandpa Yantes, Patrick and Liam rolled into town on their way to Wisconsin. They stayed with us a couple days and gave the kids their presents. The highlight was a set of Snap Circuits, a genius invention! The kids (and adults!) spent hours creating working electrical circuits, including a light-activated alarm and an AM radio. So cool.

The Yanteses traveled on to Wisconsin for Christmas while we stayed to celebrate with my side of the family. We hosted Christmas Eve at our house after Mass, and my younger brother even admitted that I pulled it off... although we still required that my mom make her traditional Clam Chowder. There are some things I'm just not ready to take on yet. 

Christmas morning came reeeeeeally early when Max woke me up at 3:30 am, too excited to sleep. Thankfully, after an hour and a half of not being able to relax, visiting our room every ten minutes, and finally being allowed to check his stocking, he fell asleep in our bed until a more reasonable hour when we all got up and opened presents, ate cinnamon rolls, and got dressed to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house. There we celebrated Max's birthday and had a yummy brunch. So far he loves having his birthday on Christmas! The Radecki cousins came in the afternoon and the celebrations continued! There were legos built, stormtrooper helmets decorated, cookies devoured, and stories read. It was a great day! 

Saturday we woke up and spent the morning relaxing while the kids had a chance to play with all of their new toys. Then Paul and I packed up the car for our second annual overnight at the Horse and Hunt Club Lodge with my mom's side of the family. It's such a cozy spot, it just oozes Christmas spirit! We played pictionary and sang carols around the fireplace, and the kids stayed up way too late. Usually I'm in a hurry to get them to bed so I can relax and really enjoy myself, but they were so snuggly and fun to be around, I found that I couldn't motivate myself to do bedtime until after 10:00!

In the morning, we went to the little country church for Mass, had doughnuts for breakfast, and then hit the road for our trip to Wisconsin for the final leg of our Christmas adventure. Are you tired yet? I am, just from writing about it! But it was so worth it. It took about five hours to get to Monica and Glenn's house, which is nothing compared to the road trips we are accustomed to. We pulled in before dinner and were greeted by the whole Yantes clan. We had a little celebration for Kelley's birthday and, per her request, watched "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" while the menfolk played cards upstairs. 

Poor Paul got hit with an awful bug the next day and was down for the count most of the remainder of the trip. We still managed to have a great time playing in the snow, having a candy cane hunt, visiting the local children's museum, and sitting in front of the fireplace. Lucian was our firemaster, closely monitoring Uncle Glenn every time he built a fire, and every day when it would be lit. Audrey and Nathaniel were simultaneously best buddies and worst rivals, but in spite of the many pokes and screams and stolen toys between them, they came out on the other side as great little friends. 

As if we were worried that any grass might grow under our feet, we drove home on New Years Eve day almost directly to a New Years party at my friend Jess's house. I dropped Paul and the girls off at home- he was still sick and they were exhausted- and the boys and I went to ring in the new year among piles of friends. The countdown to 2016 took place at 8:00 pm, complete with noisemakers and party hats, and then the families cleared out fairly shortly after that to put kids to bed and ring in the actual new year at home. 

Paul and I tucked in the boys, sat down with some chocolate and watched a show until 11:58 (I may or may not have slept through the majority of it). When it was over, he asked, "So do you think we'll make it to midnight?" We watched the clock for two minutes, toasted the New Year, and went straight to bed. Oh the thrilling life of a parent of young kids!

And now to relax for a week until we pack our bags and hit the road again, this time to Mexico for the trip of a lifetime... 5 nights, 8 couples, no children. I'll be telling you all about that when I return. But for now I'll say Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and blessings on all of you!

Inside the Christmas Trolley

Christmas Trolley

St. Lucy

Making Christmas Bark with Grandma

Lightsaber battle with Grandpa

Edith's favorite gift: a toothbrush

Birthday presents too!

Christmas carols at the lodge

60 Years Young

I am blessed beyond measure by my family-in-law. All of those connotations that go along with the phrase "in-law" do not apply in my case. My mother-in-law and I have spoken on several occasions about the shock and surprise we both encounter when we tell people about how well we get along. Really, sometimes I get along with her better than I get along with her son! (I love you, honey. All in fun, all in fun)

This October, Maureen was set to celebrate her 60th birthday, and her daughters hatched a plan to surprise her. Not just any old surprise, but a surprise that would bring the entire family home from all corners of the country at the same time! No small feat, but miraculously everyone was able to make the timing work. Even more miraculously, she never had a clue until we were sitting on her back deck on a Thursday evening. There's no way we could have pulled it off without Paul- he played it straight even as he was cooking food for the surprise party the following night, and even up to the moment he called her downstairs to look at something on the computer as we all crept through the alley and up the back steps to the deck. The timing was great. She was shocked. It was absolutely perfect. 

We had all arranged to stay in the hotel near the house, so besides the fact that Maureen didn't have to host us all out of the blue, she even got to enjoy the hotel pool and complimentary breakfasts with us every morning! Every night we were there, we put the grandkids (seven now!) to bed in our rooms and hooked up baby monitors down to the lobby so we could gather to play games after bedtime. Worked like a charm! (Don't worry, it was a small hotel... we weren't too far away)

On Friday, the surprises continued with the appearance of Maureen's two sisters and a party in the evening. Then Saturday we got up and prepared for Maureen's birthday gift from everyone: a family picture! She had been trying desperately to make sure we would all be around at Christmas so we could snap a picture of everyone together, and I think she may have been getting a bit frustrated with how nonchalant we all were about our arrival times. Little did she know that we already had a photo shoot scheduled with a great photographer and friend of the family, Daniel Photography and Design. They did an absolutely beautiful job! Bonus: we were all smiling at the end. I think that's the sign of a truly successful photo shoot. Later on Saturday, the Halloween preparations took over. Pumpkins were carved, costumes were donned, and off we went to collect some candy! 

The rest of the long weekend was a bit of a whirlwind, visiting all the old haunts (Dinosaur Park, the YMCA pool, various parks and playgrounds) and even managing to snag an adults-only lunch, thanks to Maureen's incredible friends who babysat all seven grandkids and made it look easy! Too soon it was time to say goodbye, but parting was made a little easier by the fact that we will all be together again for Christmas... just around the corner! 

When I first met Paul, I have to say that my future family-in-law was about the furthest thing from my mind. When we fell in love, I would have married him regardless of who else came along in the package deal. But oh man did I hit the jackpot! I married into a family that gained me not one but three amazing sisters, and two new brothers who aren't half bad (just kidding, they're wonderful too!) a father-in-law who is an amazing spiritual leader of his family, and a mother-in-law who gets her own whole paragraph:

I am an intensely sensitive person. I take things personally, I worry about what people think of me, and I want to please everyone. If I even get the slightest whiff that someone doesn't approve of what I'm doing, it eats away at me and shuts me down. In the nearly ten years that I have been married to her son, not once have I ever felt judged, put down, or disapproved of by my mother-in-law. We have an open and honest relationship, and she speaks her mind, but I know that every word comes from a place of love and caring. She is supportive, kind, and just plain fun! I can't say it enough, she is one-of-a-kind. 

Happy birthday, Maureen. Many, many more!

All photos by Daniel Photography and Design (besides the Halloween ones, of course)

One Room Schoolhouse

When I first stepped foot into what would become our new home, I immediately fell in love with the huge, bright, wide-open room behind the garage. I instantly dubbed it the "school room" before we even knew if we would put an offer on the property. An entire wall of windows opposite a full blank wall just bursting with possibilities, four built-in bookshelves and an opening directly into the kitchen... the purpose of the room was so clear to me it was almost humorous!

Flash forward a few months, and we are now settled into that house and are slowly making it our own. The room I claimed for our school room is becoming what I envisioned that very first day. We set up our computer in one corner, a perfect central location for use by everyone in the family. We found a perfect table to put in the middle of the room: used and slightly battered, with a shiny lacquered top for easy cleaning. The speckled carpet hides everything. The bookshelves are bursting with all of our children's books, so many of which were packed away or inaccessibly high in our old house due to lack of shelf space. I even have shelves left for display! I bought an old globe for $5 at Goodwill (I have a total soft spot for globes) and added it to a shelf with my ancient dictionary and some binoculars. The saint dolls even have two shelves just the right size for them. In the back of the room, between the bookshelves, is a small bathroom and a closet. Moving from our old house (with one small bathroom upstairs and no closets) to this space, I can't help but feel a bit spoiled.

And just last weekend, my dear husband broke out the chalkboard paint to officially turn it into my dream room. We painted an entire wall and made a gigantic chalk board! In the few days we have been able to use it, it has already transformed our school time. Instead of scrambling for scraps of paper to write on, or constantly erasing our small white board, we can fit an entire day's worth of learning on our wall! I love looking back at the end of the day to see the amalgamation of scribbles, artwork, and schoolwork... it is a great reminder that we really did learn something that day, even if I felt like nothing happened.

I still want to put the finishing touches on the room; I want to add art to the walls, maybe change the paint color (the current tan/peach color is my personal definition of drab), and add something comfy to sit on for read-alouds, but we are well on our way to completion! My goal for educating my children is to inspire them to develop a love of learning. In our new space, we have an inspiring space to spread out and explore while still remaining in the heart of our home. That's exactly where I want to be. 

Generation Gap

Audrey and her great grandpa have a tradition every time he comes to visit. He pulls out his camera and says, "Audrey, let's take a selfie!" She climbs up next to him and they put their heads together and smile. People talk about the older generation learning all of their tech skills from the younger, but my grandpa can proudly claim to be the one who taught his three-year-old great-granddaughter the meaning of the word "selfie". 

Sure, she's taken thousands of self-portraits on my phone over the last couple of years, but now she has a word for it... and most often these days, she doesn't turn the camera on herself unless Great Grandpa is around. Sometimes her brothers hop in on the photo as well, but I can tell it's really just a special thing between Grandpa and Audrey. I hope they take a selfie together at her high school graduation! 

Say What?

Edith said her first phrase today, "Mo nana" (more banana). I'm sure that doesn't surprise anyone, since her love of food is a well-known fact. It got me thinking about the first phrases of each of my children, and I realized that they are all perfect little capsules of their personalities. Now, I'm not saying that Edith is defined by her love of food, but it sure is central to her life right now! Here are the others, to the best of my knowledge. But remember, I'm a mother of four... if these aren't accurate, I claim Mommy Brain.

Max: "Macky wanna run!" My former little-ball-of-energy has turned into a big-ball-of-energy! He has learned how to channel his constant motion a little bit, and as he learns to read he is spending more and more time with his nose in a book. But even when at rest, he seems to nearly vibrate with excess energy!

Lucian: "I did it!" Results-oriented from the beginning, the older he gets the more I see how driven and focused my second-born is. He wants to be given tasks, and he will not rest until the tasks are complete. Part of our daily routine is a checklist of things to do, such as "make bed" and "do something creative". He jumps out of bed each day and completes his list before his older brother has even thought about his.

Audrey: "Audrey do it!" I'm not certain that this was her very first phrase, but it was definitely an early one. Unlike her older brother who enjoyed proclaiming his success, Audrey was more interested in demanding to be allowed to do things on her own. Whether she was able to complete the task or not was irrelevant. She did NOT want any help! This trait has faded a little bit lately; I think she realized that it's nice to have people do things for you sometimes. But her independence and refusal to be told what to do is staying strong. Look out world!

Time will tell what Edith's first phrase really says about her. Maybe it is an early indicator of a love of cooking, or maybe she'll study monkeys in their original habitats. Who knows? But I can't wait to see how her little personality develops!

A Bushel and a Peck

Traditions, traditions! What is there to write about the apple orchard that I haven't already written? With our whirlwind summer and fall, we still made it a priority to visit our orchard, and this time even Uncle Tony and cousin Isaac could join us! Sadly, Alexander wasn't well so the rest of the family stayed home. But our kids loved being able to share the fun with their cousin this year! Apple cider donuts, a wagon ride, lots of picking and tasting and examining to find the best apples to fill our bag. My dad built his apple towers again, and the kids got a huge kick out of his "pine-apple" tree. Then they wandered the rows and ate a bite or two of a countless number of apples. They know well by now that the orchard is the one place I won't lecture them about wasting food. 

We rode the wagon back to the lodge, and the kids got a quick ride on the kiddie wagon. The sunflower maze was a sad sight this year, but that didn't stop the kids from running and hiding amidst the tall, dead stalks for a good half hour! Lunch was followed by a visit to the animals, and then we left to make our traditional stop at the Big Yellow Barn for a candy treat. This building... there is pretty much nothing I like about it, but the kids think it's heaven! Row after crowded row of candy treats, and each year- only once a year- they get to enter and pick a treat from Grandma and Grandpa. It's a ridiculous place, and the contrast between its chaos and the peace of the orchard struck me especially hard this year. Oh the things we do for our children!

Surprisingly I only made one apple pie and one apple crisp with our take this year. The rest were munched down as snacks before I could blink an eye! I guess four kids who love apples will burn through a peck pretty darn quick. Maybe we'll spring for two next year? 

All in all, it was a fun, successful, exhausting day... I wouldn't change a thing!

 I love these two photos next to each other!

Cousins, and good buddies

The Move, conclusion

Our last walk to the coffee shop down the street from our old house

What goes up must come down; our stairway was too narrow for the boxspring

Living room, dining room... empty! What a feeling!

 After all of the chaos, I awoke the first morning in our new house ready to sit around and do nothing for the rest of my life. But the kids were still out of town and I had limited time to get anything done so I had my mom come over and help me with some unpacking while her friend Deb came to paint our walls. Oh. My. Word. What a Godsend! Paul and I both strongly dislike painting, but we also strongly disliked almost every color of paint that the previous owners had chosen for our walls... so Deb offered to paint whatever we wanted painted! All we had to do was buy the paint! Below are before-and-after shots of the girls' bedroom, but she also painted the boys room, our room, and the upstairs hallway. She's like a fairy godmother!

Thursday I spent decompressing with two good friends while Deb painted away upstairs. I had a hard time not working while someone else was working in my house, but I forced myself to sit and drink a cup of coffee to restore some physical, mental, and emotional balance.

Then Friday came, and we drove back to North Dakota to pick up the kids and to watch Paul and Ryan run their second half-marathon, this time with Patrick joining them! The kids got to run a 'mini-marathon' the night before, and they got t-shirts and medals for their efforts. Then we were able to watch the race from a beautiful park where the kids could run and play until they saw the runners start to pass. They then lined themselves up for high-fives and cheered for everyone they saw.

We did some exploring of Mandan the rest of the day, and then said goodbye to the Norrells, Grandma, and Patrick on Sunday. The kids were finally coming home! We pulled into our house early in the evening, and we were greeted by more grandparents! They had come and set up the kids bedrooms after the painting was all done. Thanks Mom and Dad!

The kids were super excited to see the whole house, and they settled in right away. They explored every nook and cranny and then claimed their beds and made themselves at home. Audrey got a beautiful new big-girl bed, and she demonstrated how to climb in and out of it as long as someone would watch her. The boys are no longer sharing a twin bed... and it's about time. Max takes up three-fourths of the bed himself! Bedtime was quick and easy for the first time in months!

We started school the next morning and life picked right up where it left off, in our new home. And boy do we feel at home.