Loss of a brother at Christmas

This has been one of the hardest Christmas's for our family in years. On Christmas Eve, I got a call from my niece, who was in tears. She had come home from college to spend Christmas with her Dad, when she discovered his body. My brother Rick was a great guy. He loved to joke and tease, and would tilt his head back when he was laughing especially hard. We had seen him this fall at a bbq at another brother's house. He was in good spirits. The Friday after Thanksgiving, he had several of my brothers to his house in Grand Rapids to have pizza and play pool. They all talked about how they just hung out and had a nice time. It is just hard to take in that he is gone. My thoughts are there especially for my niece Andrea, who had to go through such a tragic event. My poor nephew Kevin was here in the Cities, and due to weather, it took him a while to get home. Please keep them both in your thoughts and prayers. We are waiting on final confirmation as to the cause of death, but it appears to have been a heart attack. He would have turned 55 on January 16th. We will be heading to my hometown of Hibbing on Saturday for Rick's memorial service.

Attached is a picture of Libby with her cousin Andrea from when Andrea was here this fall.



I will be updating my post with more Libby pics and stories in the next week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Libby loves Merfi very much. She is almost gentle with her. I think she honestly tries, but sometimes forgets. Merfi has gotten much more tolerant, and even Eric would say, fond of, Libby. It is so sweet to see.


This is taken in our "gasp" mudroom. We are facing two closets. One will be our coat closet and the other will be a utility closet which will also someday house our laundry. Laundry on the main floor-wow!


Taken looking at our garage from our new beautiful deck. Our old deck was on three levels, and I really prefer having one big one like this instead.


Looking at the back of the house. The window to the right is in what will be Libby's new bedroom.


Our "oh, so cool girls" after the performance of Cinderella. I think the Mama's enjoyed the play as much, if not more, than the girls. I really love shows at the Children's Theatre and am debating about getting a ticket package for next season. There will be a performance of Mulan this spring that I would love to bring Libby to.

This past week, Libby received her first letter from a boy. She had been upset earlier in the week and had called Tenzing to speak with him, but was too teary to be understood. He told his Mama that he wanted to send something to Libby to make her feel better, so a short letter, along with some Twizzlers were sent her way-how sweet is that? And Eric wonders why we are busy planning their wedding? :)

Eric and Libby were out walking near the river one day when they spotted a bunch of wild turkeys. Daddy asked Libby if she saw the turkeys and she said "yes, and cheese and bread, too". Then she laughed and laughed.

We are off to Pat and Becki's for Thanksgiving dinner. What fool volunteered to bake pies in the middle of a house remodel? Yep, me! Thankfully, our neighbor Ellie was home from college and she came over to visit and took Libby back to her house to play. I was able to get crusts made and apples peel and cored. The pies turned out very nicely and anxious to try the pumpkin one as I tried a new recipe with pecans and ginger snaps crushed and sprinkled on the crust.

We are thankful for many things. A big thank you to friend Rena for being a great all round friend, but then taking an extra step of giving us a coffee maker as soon as she heard ours had broke. How kind, especially for two caffeine hounds like the Rollers. This act is just one example of how fortunate we are to have so many sharing and caring friends and family out there. A warm and heartfelt Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Eek, where did November go?

Is Thanksgiving really this Thursday? We are spending the day with our friends Pat and Becki and their kids. Even thought my kitchen is a mess, I have volunteered to make the pies because I need some normalacy in my life.

I have not been good in keeping up the blog because it is usually so loud here during the day with hammering, that I try not to be home. In the afternoon, Miss Libby, who does not like to nap, keeps me occupied.

In Libby news, she is loving, loving pre-school. We had our first conference with her teacher and she confirmed what we knew. She also said that Libby joins in on everything, follows and understands directions, and plays well with other kids. She was having a few issues with grabbing at first, but the teacher assured me it was very "3 year old" and that it has gotten much better.

The other morning, Eric said "Mamma Mia" and Libby grabbed me and said "she's not a mia, she's my Mommy" Aaahhhh

I told her the yesterday morning that she needed to have a bath because she was dirty. She unzipped her pj's, looked at her belly, and said, "I not a dirty girl".

The house is coming along so well that I do not want to whine, but will you let me for a minute? My dishes are in boxes, as are my pots and pans. It is hard for someone who loves to cook to feel so stymied. I was a trooper the first few weeks, but it's getting old. Enough whining, here is the good news. They are sheet rocking this week and it should be close to done by Wednesday. Can we say "Woo Hoo?" Next week, the taper, mudder person will be here to get that part done. Our contractor thinks we should be able to paint the weekend of the 11th. The following week should be all the trim and final touches. Our deck is huge. I love it. Crossing fingers that we will be able to make it into a screened porch come spring.

My friend Leeanne informed me that November is some blog posting thing where you are supposed to post every day. Uhm, not happening. However, I do have other stories and remodel pics that I will try to share in the next day or so.

Halloween is Upon Us

Libby had her first Halloween party on Saturday. Our friends Mike and Brenda have their annual party and do a great job. I also got to bring home a pumpkin that weighs more than Libby! We had a fun time and it gave Daddy time to work on demolishing stuff to get ready for the addition. We were supposed to work on Sunday, but I talked Eric into doing the Grand Avenue Halloween event. Libby had such a great time seeing all the kids out and all the costumes. We walked almost the whole thing! Drove to the other end to then see the petting zoo. Their were fainting goats (want one) and the cutest baby alpaca. All in all, a nice weekend.

Our contractor surprised us Monday by saying the foundation could now be laid this week-eek! Poor Eric had to rush out to get a jackhammer to get the concrete out (really, he may have whined, but he was like an 8 year old boy with a new toy). Everything is starting to fall into place, and now I am getting nervous :)



On a minor rant, poor Libby gets called Lily almost every day somewhere. We loved the name Libby, thought it was easy enough to say, and although not hugely popular, was at least known. Did not realize Lily would be one of the hot names around at the same time, and now she will have to suffer like her Mama. "It's Janice. Uh, nope, not Janet, Janice. Not Denise, it's Janice." Really had thought she would not have to go through that-sigh. Wonder how they would slay "Lisbeth"? :) I am not mad about it, just...chagrined.

We are going to a Halloween party on Saturday night. Our neighbor Gail has volunteered to watch Libby. Since it has been so long since we have celebrated it, we are pulling out our
Viking costumes from years ago. Looking forward to a big party which will include many of my former co-workers.

Happy Halloween to everyone! Have fun, and be safe.

Yeah, it's a beautiful day!

Finally, we have the gorgeous fall day we have been waiting for! Nope, not the picture above, that is from last weekend. I am doubly happy on this beautiful day, as our friends Natasha and David are getting married today. They did have to settle on an indoor wedding earlier this week, but it will be a great day for pictures and it does make the wedding day so much more festive. Congrats, Natasha and David!

We have had a rough couple of weeks. We had a very nice dinner at a friends house a few weeks ago and stayed longer than we should have. Libby had a tough time falling asleep, and then woke us with night terrors. It was an awful hour as we struggled trying to keep her safe, while not waking her. She wondered around and flailed and cried and screamed. At one point, an exhausted Eric went to the freezer to get a popcycle, and Libby trailed behind him. She then looked at him, as wide awake and sweet as can be, and asked if she could have a pop pop. When they came back to bed, she smiled at me and said "hi, mama" and the went peacefully back to sleep. We have generally been very good about keeping her on her schedule, but this showed us that we need to adhere to it.



This past Sunday, we went to the pumpkin farm with friends Heather, Chris and Tenzing. It was a very cute place and the kids had a blast. There was a big stack of hay to play on, a tower to climb, a play area with a track for kids to ride trikes around, petting zoo, and, of course, pumpkins. It was also an apple farm, so we had to buy some of the Haralson's, some cider, and yes, strangely enough, peanut butter they make right there.



Libby now "reads" her "It's time for Bed" book to us each night. It is so dang cute. She has the whole book memorized. Eric has tried to capture it on video, but once she sees the camera, she either clams up, or acts goofy.

I can hear Eric with the electric tools as I type. He is at his very favorite part of renovation, destruction. He is taking off the back deck and will then do the sad little mudroom thing that is there. It's going to be a long fall! Wish us well, as we actually start down the path of home remodeling...

Rainy, snuggle in kind of day

Brrrzzzzz, I am tired of this rain and cold! The talk of possible snow this weekend just bums me out. We have a friend's outdoor wedding on the 17th and will pray that a beautiful autumn day will appear for them. Libby does not like wearing her raincoat or rain boots in the car, so she shucks both of them. It is a pain to put them on and take them off between stops, and she whines, like a...well, toddler, until they come off. Going to be a long winter.

We had a lovely party at Rena's for the fall Moon Festival this past Saturday. There was a great turnout of adults and children and we all had such a nice time. The food was overflowing and delicious. Unfortunately, I completely forgot to bring my camera, so no pictures, but next year...

We watched Lexa for a few hours yesterday while Rena attended a funeral. The girls were so good together. They both were a little tired, so I put them on my bed and told them they could watch Kai Lan for a little bit. I then came in and turned it off and Lexa asked me to lie down with them. Once I did, she was out in a flash, with Libby close behind. The picture attached is of them napping together. Too cute or what?

Fall is in the air

We had a very nice weekend, for the most part. My niece Andrea, and her boyfriend and their friends were down in the Cities from Grand Forks to see the Vikings game. We had them over to the house on Saturday night for a bbq. I have no idea what got into Libby, but she was wacky, silly, over the top crazy. I swear she took a swig of someone's beer! She was very funny, and thankfully, they all took it in stride.

Sunday morning, we headed to the MN Zoo for the morning. We took the long way around to the farm. All of us love the goats and had fun feeding them. I would love my very own goat (legal to have one in the city), but someone is against my brilliant idea. Note Libby is wearing her "Ranger tux" for our farm visit.

Would have been a perfect weekend if I had not come down with the stomach flu on Sunday night. Eric had to stay home from work to watch Libby on Monday. At the end of the day, I asked him how it went. "It's so hard getting anything done with her around. She just keeps interrupting and wants all the attention". Really? I had never noticed :)

We had a full bed last night as Merfi as decided to come in in the evening and sleep with us. She still has claws, and liked to stretch out on me...ouch!

My cleaning schedule seems to be working out well. The house will never be perfect, but I am feeling less stressed and things seem to be getting done.

Transitions

I realize transitions are going on all the time with all of us, but sometimes they are so acute, they are breathtaking. We started ECFE again this past Wednesday night. I think back to the little girl a year ago, who cried and did not want us to leave the room. By the end of the year she was fine. It was a great thing to be involved in before starting pre-school as she now smiles from ear to ear when we get to the school, gives me a quick hug and kiss, and runs into the classroom to play. OK, it would be nice if she would at least look back! :) This summer was witness to some major changes, both with Libby and many of her little friends. They now converse with each other, which is beyond cute. The other day Tenzing was over, and Libby asked him if he wanted a Popsicle. When he said yes, she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the back door, saying "come in, then, come in and I will get you one". Our neighbors on both sides have been smiling a lot this summer as they heard some very funny and sweet conversations. Not only has her vocabulary grown, but her self-confidence has also seen a leap. I really think our tumbling class with Miss Amy was a help in that department.

Aaaah, and then there is pre-school. I have to say she has taken to it like a duck to water. She is so happy to go there each day, and today wanted to stay. Youch! I was worried because she is the youngest in her class, but she does not seem to notice or mind a bit.

Trying to note every few months favorite things that Libby enjoys. Right now, her favorite books are "Brown Bear, Brown Bear", and thinks it's so funny to say "I see a pizza looking at me". She also loves "Motherbridge of Love". Her favorite song is still "ABC", which cracks us up. If she could wear jeans and her monkey shirt every day, she would. Aside from the usual childhood favorite foods, she also loves salmon, steak, and potstickers. Her favorite song to sing with Dada is "Mockingbird". Eric says "Mock" and Libby says "Yea" Eric, "ing" Libby, "yea", Eric "bird" Libby, "yea". However, she now wants to do the Mockingbird part, and not be back up singer. I joined in the other day, and she laughed and laughed. I am sure it was because she was happy, not because she was laughing at my singing...

Our other big transition, has been the transition out of napping. Libby has stated very firmly that she does not like falling asleep-too scary, and will no longer be napping. She has actually held pretty firmly to this. She did not nap once last week, but finally on Saturday, had to give in. When she makes up her mind about something, it is pretty much a done deal.

As for me, I am busy meeting with contractors. Hopefully, we will make a decision either way very soon as to whether we remodel or move. I have also decided to go back in time, and resurrect the old "wash on Monday" routine, tweaking it for a today's time, mostly because there is no chance I will be ironing on Tuesdays! I kind of randomly, willy nilly get things done around the house, and now I want to do better than that.

The weather here has been gorgeous and we are going to spend much of our coming weekend outdoors with friends.

MN State Fair Part 2

Eric had thought that he was going to work both Sunday and Monday, but they found the parking situation was under control, and even a bit slow, so he decided to join us for the day. We were to meet Leeanne and Ellie there, and were sad that colds prevented them from coming. The day was another gorgeous one, the fair was comfortable, Libby was in a great mood, and a grand time was had by all. We went to check out the "kidway" to see how much rides cost and if she would even be able to do any. Decided to try a little motorized boat on water. When I went to get the tickets, a nice lady gave me a coupon for $6.00 off one of the packages. Libby loved the boat ride. We walked around some more and she pointed to the ferris wheel and said she wanted to go on that. Tried to interest her in something else, but no deal. She loved it! In fact, when they got down, Eric said only one of them was afraid when they were up there and it was not her. She also did the swings and the small roller coaster. On every ride, she was grinning from ear to ear. We eat, but not quite as much as some people. We did enjoy breakfast at one of the many halls that have been serving diners for decades. We liked the name: Order of the Eastern Star.



Today we popped into the doctor's office to have them look at a bump that Miss Lib Lib got a few weeks ago. It had not gone down as much as we had expected and she would sometimes point and say it hurt. The doctor said that it was fine and that it could take months to heal because of the location on her eyebrow. While there, went ahead and got her first flu vaccination. She was all smiley until the shot and then began to cry and gave the nurse and I a very hurt look. She recovered quickly. I have to steel myself for the next one in a month.

Great Minnesota Get Together

It is a fact, autumn is now upon us. The fair ends to day, and with it goes our summer. The last two weeks have given us beautiful weather. We had Libby's three year pics taken a week ago. They turned out very lovely. It does help that she photographs beautifully and has such a big natural smile.

We went to the State Fair last Thursday with our friend Heather and her son, Libby's boyfriend, Tenzing. I get worn out just thinking back. They had a fabulous time and minimum fights, for them. At one point Eric, rather exasperated, said they would argue over a rock. Heather and I just laughed, because, yes, they do it all the time. They sat on just about every John Deere tractor in Machine Alley. We also walked through just about every camper. They had a blast. We hit every animal barn, and they loved the sheep especially. The fair did not feel as crowded as past years, although they say attendance is good. Nice to be able to park at Eric's work and just walk over.

Saturday was our second annual Ulympics. It is a sporting event our friend Patrick has organized. All games are played underhanded, hence, "U"lympics. We invited Rena and Terry, along with daughter Lexa, and Ron and Leeanne, and daughter Ellie, to be on Team China. We had gorgeous weather and a great place for the games. It was a very fun afternoon, and Team China took home the gold in Ladderball Toss, thanks to Rena and Ron. Below is Terry on the left and Rena on the right.



Libby and Lexa had their first Chinese dance class on Saturday. Parents are not only in the class, but should participate-yikes. I guess this will make up for never having dance class when I was a kid :) I was going to sign Libby up for swim class with Eric. My friend Rena asked if I had done so, and I said I was waiting for registration to open on September 2nd. She looked at me and smiled and said, "Janice, it's September 4th". That about sums up the summer. :)

And one more third birthday party!

Yesterday was Libby's actual birthday. My brother Keith and his wife Diane, Libby's God-parents, joined us, as well as Marc and Teri and their daughter Maddy, whom we are God-parents to, and our dear neighbors Tom and Gail. I love grilling turkey, and was happy to find a fresh one at the grocery store when I was there. Libby's other favorites, pasta, watermelon and chips, were also part of the feast. On a tip from my friend Rena, I got the ice cream cake from Trader Joe's. Everyone agreed they liked it even better than the one from DQ. We had lots of wine, laughter and a very lovely evening. Libby grinned from ear to ear. Oops, no she did not have any wine :) Uncle Keith is one of her favorite people and they get just silly when they are together. It is hard to believe she is already 3. The time has flown by.



Unfortunately, we did not have a good night's sleep. Eric sat with her, but when he came to bed, she followed shortly, so I brought her back to her bed and sat with her. Everytime I tried to leave, crawling across the floor, she would wake up and call for me. Finally, we both fell asleep. When we awoke, Eric was long gone and it turned out to be after 9:00! Eric and I are both at a loss as to what to do about her lack of sleeping. It makes it really hard to get up and go the next day. I know this because she is still naked and snuggled with Molly, and I have yet to take a shower.


We were planning on going to the State Fair tomorrow, but Eric's company has a parking lot right by the fair that they staff for it. Lucky Eric is in charge of coordinating this. As it is their first time doing it, it has led to a lot of snafus. He will be working late there tonight and will probably have to work part of the day tomorrow. We hate not seeing him on the weekend, but the big Mac Groveland garage sale is going on, so I think Miss Lib and I will hit that during the morning.

I just have to end with saying how amazed we are by our little girl. She is funny, sunny, witty, loves good jokes, bossy, tempermental and just an absolute joy. We love our little sunshine more than words could ever come close to describing. Happy birthday, dear little Lib Lib.