2013 - Week 37

This week was...well, pretty boring! And, I am most definitely OK with that!

Monday was a hot, hot, HOT day. We were all off to work and school as usual. When I picked the girls up from school it was just scorching out...they had just been outside for a bit and were sweating like crazy. We decided that it was not worth dealing with the heat at soccer practice, so we decided to stay home (this is big deal for me...I do NOT take lightly to people who don't show up to things/cancel/quit, but it was just way too hot, especially after watching them suffer at Saturday's game). So, we took this as our last opportunity to fill up the pool and have a water night. The girls had a blast and I kicked up my feet watching over them. After some play time, we had dinner, watched a little TV and it was bedtime before we knew it. Today was pretty exciting though, in that my new glasses came in! YES! Roughly 4 years ago, a 9 month old Olivia got a hold of my (fairly new) glasses, and ripped one of the arms off. Christian fixed then, as well as he could, and that held for a few months. I spent the next year or two taping them together (yes, I wore glasses, that were taped together), until the tape would not hold anymore, and I finally resorted to wearing them with one arm missing. I wear my contacts 95% of the time, and just never had the money to spend on new glasses, that I hardly wear (even though they were significantly broken, and several prescriptions outdated). Well, with my drastic prescription change this last appointment, I decided to bite the bullet and order some new ones. I had a few people recommend zenni.com to me, and I found some SUPER cheap ones (like, $15 for the complete pair cheap) and ordered them. I cannot believe how well I can see in them...it's crazy! Yes, it's very exciting to have sight again, and have an option when my eyes aren't handling contacts well. YAHOO!

Dawn posted another one of our family pics today! YAY!

My new glasses!

Tuesday was just a regular old day. I have to admit, I've been HORRIBLE at taking pictures lately. I think I'm getting so depressed with not having a nice, fancy, fantastic camera yet, that I'm boycotting ours. LOL. In reality, we've been busy, but nothing super picture worthy. Work has been going well. Christian hasn't been working as much overtime for a while, but he should start working Saturday's again pretty soon with the holiday's approaching. My work continues to be crazy, chaotic and often overwhelming. But, as hard as it could be, I couldn't imagine it any other way. The days fly by, and we know how important what we do is, and that's comforting. School has been going well. Amelia is really coming into her personality in class, and is LOVING her teacher, Miss Jenn. She has learned how to write an "A", and is SUPER excited about that. Miss Jenn, like all of Amelia's previous teachers, just loves her and can't get enough of her goody personality, which still warms my heart to hear. Olivia is loving Pre-K and learning all kinds of new stuff. She's been talking a lot about Kindergarten, especially with Bella starting last week, and about how excited she is to start next year. I hope she keeps that spirit!

Wednesday was another pretty standard day. Monday was the last of our latest heat wave, so we've cooled down pretty significantly. We may get an Indian Summer or two yet this year, but overall, I'd say fall is setting in. It's sad how quickly time passes, but I'm excited for fall and all that it brings, like usual. Changing colors and trolling the neighborhood with the girls, the apple orchard, sever's, all of the Halloween activities, pumpkin EVERYTHING, sweaters, new clothes for the girls, thanksgiving. I just LOVE it! Of course, I would be remiss not to acknowledge that today was the anniversary of 9/11. 12 years later and I can still remember everything about that day like it was yesterday. It is definitely engraved in my mind for life. And I still just hope every day that our children never have to live through, or God forbid experience, anything like that in their lifetime. Definitely ALWAYS REMEMBERING!

Made our first batch of salsa from the garden (well, tomatoes and jalapenos from the garden, fresh onion and garlic from the farmers market)

Well, yet again, Thursday just proved to be a pretty standard, boring day. Well, work was kind of hell for me. My supervisor is out of town and I was roped into a horrible meeting. It's not worth explaining to anybody that doesn't actually work there and know what I'm talking about, but the meeting ended up consisting of 3 very frustrating, irritating topics and I was very annoyed that I had to deal with it on my own. Ugh, just one of those days when having a job really sucks. ONE MORE DAY this week. The evening went well. I picked up the girls and we spent a little time playing outside before Christian got home. Then, of course, dinner, baths and bedtime. The usual!

The picture Olivia drew for school. Melts my heart, I love that girl! I asked her what we were doing, playing with maracas? And she said "No, Mom, we're eating popsicles". LOL. And, apparently the purply thing on the left is her and sissy, swimming. 

Friday could not have come soon enough this week! I plowed through the work day and cleaned everything up for the week and was very excited to clock out. I wasn't feeling too well today, so that just added fuel to the fire. But, since I get off a little earlier on my Friday, I picked up the girls and we took a walk/bike ride down to the park for a while. We spent quite a while there, and they continued playing in the backyard while I made dinner once we got home. Christian worked pretty late, per his usual Friday, so we had a late dinner and played with the girls for a while. Once they were off to bed, we settled in for a movie night..."This is 40" and "Mama". This is 40 was actually really funny, way better than I was expecting. Mama was good...I thought it could've been a little better and they went just a tad over the top on the supernatural side, but it was still pretty suspenseful. The biggest success was that I actually made it through TWO movies! Whoa.

Heading to the Park

Saturday was a pretty low key day. I did a little cleaning right away in the morning, and then we were off to Olivia's soccer game. My father in law came to watch again, and it was pretty entertaining as always. Olivia was getting herself right in the mix, doing me proud. After last weeks game I talked to her and told her "you just keep going for that ball, don't let those boys push you around!" I think she took it a little too literal because she was getting pretty into it with the little all-star boy on our team. She gave him a couple little pushes and maybe a body check or two when he would take the ball away from her. THAT'S MY GIRL! (I did have a chat with her after the game though, LOL). We got a little play time in after the game, and then it was time for naps. It started raining in the late afternoon and rained all through the night, which was much needed. And, I LOVE rainy days/nights - it's just so relaxing and calming. We babysat Bella for a little bit while her parents were at work, so the girls watched some movies and did some arts and crafts. Once she headed home, we had some dinner and hung out for a bit. Christian was off to watch the Boxing match with Lorenzo tonight, so once the girls were in bed, I had the house all to myself. I finished Dexter Season 7, and caught up on some Hulu. Perfect night!

A little backyard playtime.

Sunday started off as usual...CHORES! I got the upstairs picked up, did the dishes, some laundry and swept the house. Always a busy start to the day, but man it feels good when it's done! We ended up meeting Bella and her dad at Edinborough to play for a while and burn off some energy. The girls had a blast, and were pretty exhausted by the time we got home. Amelia complained a few times (including on the way there) saying that her head hurt. Christian said she's told him that a few times, so we're getting a little worried about it. I'm going to be SO upset if she ends up with my migraines (well, if any of our kids do). I wouldn't wish that on anyone, and I sure don't want to watch my babies suffer with them. Hopefully it's just a fluke thing. After some playtime, w made our way home. We had a late lunch, and let the girls skip their naps. We relaxed and played some games, watched some videos and watched football the rest of the day. We got the girls in the bath a little earlier than usual and Amelia went to bed fairly early. One bonus to no nap. Olivia wasn't too far behind, and with that our weekend came to an end.

BFF playtime!

So, there went another week. Next week is our big anniversary week (well, it's not actually until Sunday), so I'm excited to finally let Christian in on my big surprise trip to Chicago for the weekend! I will be frantically making sure everything is ready and in place for that and I just can't wait!

2013 - Week 36

Here we are, Week 36! Can you believe it, the year is flying by!

Monday was Labor Day, so no school and Christian and I were both home. We all spent the morning relaxing and being lazy around the house. Christian eventually started on some yard work while I watered the gardens and picked up a little around the house. My mother in law is in Canada visiting her other son right now, so my father in law offered to make some ribs and bring them over for dinner. So, we grilled some chicken and sides and we all hung out for a while. Sara and Bella stopped over to visit for a while, but Bella was a little crabby, so they didn't stay long. Plus, she starts Kindergarten tomorrow, so she has a BIG day ahead of her! After dinner, we cleaned up and rested for a bit, our long weekend came to an end.

Spent the morning cuddled with my boy and by baby.

Practicing Headstands. LOL

Tuesday kicked off a busy week at work. With the holiday yesterday, and my day off this Friday, I'll have a hectic 3-days trying to keep up on everything. DEFINITELY not complaining though. It was fun watching all of my friends and family posting their "back to school" pictures today. I can't believe that will be US next year, and my biggest baby is going to be starting Kindergarten. It's sure going to sneak up on us fast, I know that. After work, I picked up the girls, we had a snack and were off to soccer...it was moved to tonight because of the holiday yesterday. Olivia has pretty much destroyed her tennis shoes (she's been wearing them to soccer), so we ran to the shoe store after practice because she needs them for school. Of course, our Payless was closed. We stopped at Famous Footwear, but there was NO WAY I was spending that kind of money on kids' shoes. So, Walmart it was. She picked out a new pair and they should last a while. It will be winter before we know it, and she'll only be wearing them IN school, so they won't get as much wear. Finally, we made it home for a quick dinner, a quick bath and bedtime.

Trying to steal my BFF - it's never gonna happen though!

A pretty funny "discount" fail I spotted at Famous Footwear

Wednesday was not a good day. I don't know why - I was feeling overwhelmed in general. At work, at home, on facebook...just one of those days I guess. It felt like everything I did at work was turning into a problem, everything I touched has some issue attached to it, everybody was just rubbing me the wrong way. I couldn't wait to get home, that's for sure. We had a pretty relaxing night at home, watching some TV and playing with the girls. And, let me tell you, those girls DRIVE ME UP THE WALL some days, and make me nuts, but when I'm feeling down or having a bad day, they sure know how to put a smile on my face. They are so funny and say the most amazing, entertaining, hilarious things sometimes. Tonight was one of those nights where I honestly don't know what I would do without them in my life. Kids, truly an amazing creature.

The pumpkin patch, update. Still looking great, and getting some new growth. I don't think anything will come of the new vines though, it's getting pretty late.

Thursday, I was definitely happy it was my Friday, that's for sure. It was a short week, but they always seem to go sooooooooooo slow for some reason. I kept myself busy though. Christian and I have officially decided we're going to try to get the girls into one of our District Magnet Schools, the STEM school. Our Middle School is actually a STEM school, so it would be a great stepping stone for them. And, I'm all about whatever gives them the best opportunities. Plus, it's one of the schools our daycare buses to, so that's an added bonus. So, today I decided to start looking into the application process and prepare for that. Turns out, the application process opens on September 23rd, with tours of the schools on October 1st! What, I can't believe I have to actually starts on this stuff already! I was not prepared for that shock.

My friend Dawn posted one of our family pictures today!

The girls were playing "school" under the stools today. They were so funny.

Friday was AMAZING! House to myself, all day long. Christian was off to work, I dropped the girls off at school and commenced my day alone. I balanced the checkbooks and paid bills. I went shopping...Old Navy for clothes, Sports Authority for soccer shoes and Target for a birthday present. I went home, ate some lunch, and spent some time going through the 3T clothes. I had high hopes that Amelia would finally fit in some of it...but after looking at it, there's NO WAY. It's all definitely too big for her. Boo! Next up, I FINALLY cleaned the basement. Between our houseguests' visit last month, and the girls' general playing down there, it's a disaster (the toys - not like dirty or anything, LOL). So, I got everything picked up and put away, did a little dusting and vacuumed. YES! Finally, I picked the girls up and got them fed. THEN, they were off to Sara's house for the evening while Christian and I went out for our friend Gini's birthday. We met them and some other friends at Chatterbox for dinner, drinks and some catching up. It was great, and after being stressed out this week, it was nice to relax with a few adult beverages! We left around 10:00 to rescue Sara from the kid chaos, and made our way home. The girls were off to bed, we watched a little TV and ended up passing out, of course. What party animals we are!

The girls at the "slumber party"

Saturday was a pretty busy day. I did some quick cleaning up around the house, and then we were off to Olivia's very first soccer game! She was so excited, and did so good. They don't keep score yet (there isn't even a goalie or anything like that - still learning the basics), but I think it was a close one! Olivia was actually keeping up with the kids and getting her foot on the ball quite a bit, she seemed really excited. We were so proud! My mom and father in-law came to watch. It was SUPER, SUPER hot out, so after the game, we stopped home to cool off and get Olivia changed. Then, the girls and I were off with my mom to lunch at Noodles & Company. After lunch, we headed to Wisconsin for my cousin's little family picnic/housewarming party. It was fun hanging out with the family for a while and catching up. The house was beautiful, and SWARMING with hummingbirds, which was really cool. While we were gone, Christian babysat Bella for a bit while her parents were working, and Lorenzo stopped over to hang out. We had dinner and hung out for a while after Bella went home, before the girls went to bed and Lorenzo headed out. Christian and I watched "Guilt Trip" and PASSED OUT. Seriously, we're losers.

First Soccer Game!

Party Pics - Awesome Hummingbird Shots!

Sunday was another busy day, what's new! I spent the morning finished up my weekly chores - cleaned the upstairs, did laundry, dishes...the usual. We had breakfast and Christian kept the girls entertained. Finally, it was time for naps and football. Dang Vikings lost - it's not looking like a very promising year. At halftime we showered and started getting ready, and had to leave a little before the end of the game for my friend Kelly's sons, Finley, birthday party. It was at their new house in Woodbury, so we got to take a little new home tour while the girls jumped in the bounce house and played with the kids. We played, ate some food and cake, watched the presents (I still LOVE how excited kids get to watch each other open birthday presents, it's so fun!) and made our way home. The girls were pretty exhausted. Amelia went to bed not long after, and Olivia was barely holding on. She finally fell asleep watching her videos. LOL

With that, another week came to an end. Definitely NOT looking forward to a full 5-day week, that's for sure!

2013 - Week 35

This week was hot, hot, hot! Summer has arrived very late for us this year, but it's definitely leaving it's mark. This week brought us a much more relaxed week than usual - which was definitely welcomed. And, this week brought the start of a new month. Crazy!

Monday was the hottest day we've had yet. It ended up being record setting temps...with a "feels like" temp of 113! The last week of August, that's pretty crazy. Even crazier, Amelia's birthday/party was one month ago, and we were battling record low temps. Mother Nature has been on one heck of a kick this year, that's for sure. The heat gets pretty hard to take, but considering it feels like we just got out of the winter that wouldn't end, I won't complain too much. Except, when I'm stuck in my car, with no working AC, after it's been sitting in the hot sun all day at work. OUCH, that's painful. Soccer ended up getting canceled tonight. I left work a tad early and got some stuff done. I did our Target shopping...and, I FINALLY opened myself a Target Debit Card...with all of the perks that come with it, and considering that I do all of our shopping there, it makes sense to finally have one. I got home, put everything away and did some picking up. I did a little laundry, got a workout in (getting back into it...slowly, but surely) and made dinner. Christian picked the girls up on his way home...we ate and spent some time outside before settling in for the night. It ended up being a pretty productive night!

Tuesday was a little more of the same. More heat. Work and school - the usual. We grilled dinner tonight to avoid heating up the house. The girls aren't allowed to go outside at work this week with the heat advisory in place, so I sure feel for those teachers! The kids are going to be bouncing off the walls all week, that's for sure. But, once home, they just hop right in their swimsuits and head out to the pool. At least we can get some of their energy burned off!

Our coach decided to cancel soccer again on Wednesday. It was still hot out, but not quite as bad as it bad been, so I was slightly annoyed by it. But, she contacted us again later in the day because she didn't realize we had a scrimmage tonight, and we couldn't really just NOT show up, unless it was officially canceled by the association. So, we were back on! I picked the girls up after work, went through the usual routine and we were off. Olivia did SO great this week. She not only played with everybody, she was doing awesome! I was so proud of her, and excited to see her actually participating and having a good time. Hopefully that sticks!

Thursday was a pretty typical day. The girls were off to school and we were off to work. Mid-morning I got an e-mail from the center director. She said Amelia had built a tower and was so proud of herself, she asked them to take a picture of it. So, they did...and, they wanted to share it with me. It just made me smile, it was a perfect way to start the day. I was also pretty impressed with some customer service I received today. We bought our Minnesota Renaissance Festival tickets a few weeks ago through a StarTribune Steal (they were basically buy one get one free). They tickets expire this weekend, and we're just really NOT in the mood to go this year. It's hot, it's expensive, it's busy, it's dirty and, quite frankly, it's just not really fun enough to keep us coming back year after year. The excitement of it has definitely worn off, and it's a tradition I'm just ready to say goodbye to. So, I contacted the Steal site to see if there was any way I could get a refund. Without hesitation or question, they agreed and provided the refund. So awesome, wonderful customer service - and, that's how you keep my business! The rest of the day was pretty standard. I mentioned last week our cucumbers appear to be coming in..and, sure enough, it's growing away. So, I finally pulled our monster week tonight. No world record for us...

Here's the infamous tower!

And, the monster week...goodbye friend!

Friday was a looooooong, quiet day at work. I pulled into the lot at work, and it was E-M-P-T-Y! Apparently, I didn't get the memo that nobody was coming in today. BUT, those days are pretty welcomed sometimes. It makes it a lot easier to focus and really plow through the inbox when there aren't so many interruptions, that's for sure. I took a nice long lunch break and did some Target clearance shopping. I found some good scores at our Target on Monday - stocking up on some summer clothes for Olivia while everything is on sale. I found some more shorts for her, and some thick tights for both of the, so it was another successful trip. I picked up the girls after work and we made our way home. Christian was off to the fair with Lorenzo tonight, so the girls played in the water for a bit, I watered the gardens, we had some dinner, watched a few videos and they girls were off to bed. We discovered some more excitement when watering tonight...somehow, the tomatillos appear to be coming to live now too! Wowza, gardening sure keeps you on your toes! Once the girls were in bed, I cuddled up with Dexter for the night. Awesome way to wind down for the night. Christian came home at a pretty decent time..AND, he brought me the one thing I just didn't have room for when we went to the fair last week...some Australian Potatoes. SO good, and, it's official, he's a keeper!

Where did these tomatillos come from?!? So exciting!

The pumpkins, getting big, big, big! And, I discovered a 4th one coming in pretty good now. There are a few new vines growing, looking pretty great, so who knows, we may get a few more!

We get a couple strawberries pretty much ever day. They usually look like this, so not too big or impressive. Even these aren't quite ready, but they seem to die off pretty fast if I don't pick them a little early. The girls just eat them right away, and seem to love them. I'm hoping the plant will produce more impressive berries next summer.

Look, the cucumber plant is growing away, and flowering!

LOTS of tomatoes getting red.

Tonights harvest. LOL

Saturday was the start of our "no-plans" weekend, and I was so looking forward to it. We started the morning off pretty slow, lounging around the house and playing with the girls. After some breakfast, we finally started getting ready for the day. First up, we decided to stop into Cost Cutters so Christian and Amelia could get haircuts. I was finally ready to REALLY chop off Amelia's hair, and I'm so glad we did because she looks SUPER cute. Short hair is definitely better on her. Next up, we made our way to the beach for a few hours. We packed a picnic, grabbed the girls' beach baskets and life jackets and got to it. They had a blast being able to swim around and go crazy - I'm SO glad we finally got those jackets! We spent a little time in the backyard once we got home, then finally settled in for some dinner and relaxing in the house. Amelia was practically falling asleep at the table she was so exhausted. Once the girls were in bed, Christian and I settled in with some popcorn for a movie night. Tonight was "The Call" and "The Departed". Both were great! It was WAY past my bedtime by the time I got to bed, that's for sure!

Sunday was the perfect, relaxing ending to the weekend. I woke up with a bit of a headache, so Christian kept the girls occupied, and picked up some breakfast from McDonald's for us. We spent most of the morning playing outside...playground, sandbox, bike riding and Jeep driving for the girls. Watering the gardens, picking up and supervising for the adults. We ate some lunch and the girls went down for their naps. Christian rested on the couch while I caught up on some Hulu and rested for a while. I have to say, at this point, I FINALLY passed a level on Candy Crush that I've been stuck on for quite some time...I can't even tell you how many times I played this level, but, Level 350, I owned you today! That was seriously my excitement for the day. After naps, we played outside for a bit longer. Things cooled WAY down today, almost chilly this evening, but it felt good to finally have the windows open again. I got some laundry done, cleaned up the kitchen and we had some dinner. Tomorrow is Labor Day, so it's not REALLY Sunday, which is fantastic. Once the girls were in bed, Christian left to grab a couple beers with his friend Lorenzo. I caught up on some more Dexter and just kicked back for the night. This was the wonderful, laid back weekend we've been needing. Even better, we're off work tomorrow, and this upcoming Friday is my Friday off, so I'm looking at a 3-day workweek coming up. I can handle that!

The girls needed to wear their Hello Kitty shirts today. They thought it was quite hilarious. Love these goofy girls!

With that, another week came to an end. A very non-exciting, low-key, perfect week! The weather is supposed to stay pretty mild, and it's officially September now. I CANNOT believe it's September already. This year is just flying by!

Until next week!!