Libbyism's

Did you get any spaghetti in your tummy, or just on your face?

Libby is very funny and very trying, sometimes both at the same time! There is never a day, however, when she does not make us laugh or smile. A few days ago, Eric was singing "You are so beautiful to Me". She looked up at him very sincerely, and said "And nice, too". She has this funny quirk that if you are doing something she feels you should not be doing, she will say "That's my song!". We have no idea what that means. Turns out she is also becoming quite the little social butterfly. Last week at school, a Mom stopped me to tell me that Libby and her daughter Evie had set up a play date. What? I just smiled and said "okay". I then got a call on Saturday from another Mom saying that her daughter Hope and Libby had set up a play date! Huh? We went to Lisa and Hope's house on Monday and were only an hour late after getting lost in West St. Paul over and over again. (Thank you Rena for getting us there finally). The girls played great together and it was a lot of fun. While lost, Libby could tell I was getting upset and kept telling me not to worry. Then she started shouting out "Hope's house, where are you?" That got me laughing. Smart little monkey I have. I wrote this on FB, but did not put it here how Libby wants another dog, "one who listens". Hmmm, I think this has more to do with that she wants a little fluffy white dog, like her friend Maddy's. A true lap dog that can be carried around and dressed up-all that good stuff. Anyway, I asked her what it's name would be, expecting something fluffy, and she looked up and said "Tim". OK, then....

Libby will not touch peanut butter and as you can imagine, it makes me sad. She has only tasted it a few times, and each time made a face like she was eating the worst thing on the planet. I have not tried again lately (at least six months), but have been talking it up a lot. I told her that at her play date tomorrow, she will have to try whatever is made for lunch. She has promised that she would, and a sign that her Daddy teases her too much, said she will eat what is served, even if it is monkey chow! FYI, she is not allergic to nuts, and this can be confirmed by her love of Peanut M & M's!

All is quiet here. We are still looking at places for a FL vacation, but I am thinking it is never going to happen. Our house project is so close to being done, I can feel it. My old pot rack does not have a place in the kitchen any longer. I was trying to think about how I could mount my pots and pans. I had a vision in my head of a flat something on the wall with hooks, but could not find anything on the internet. While talking to the esteemed Rena, she suggested peg board. Eureka! Then I remembered that it is just what Julia Child used in her kitchen. Our contractor had a piece leftover from something and Eric will mount it in the pantry this weekend. Woo hoo!

On that note, stay warm folks!

Sledding and winter fun

Libby and the T-Man

Libby's new great fun is sledding. At Christmastime, she was able to go several times. I had a day when I had many errands to run, and was so fortunate to have Heather and Tenzing invite Libby over for the day. They have an awesome little hill right out their front door, and spent the day sledding. Eric took Libby this past Saturday to Como and they had a blast, according to both of them. Libby even went down the hill a few times by herself. Dada and Libby then had hot chocolate at their favorite coffee shop.

Tenzing, Heather and Libby zooming



This Sunday, we took Libby to her first movie in a theater, "The Princess and the Frog". She was very good during the movie, but did not get that into it. I am pretty sure I enjoyed it far greater than she did. However, I knew she was paying attention to it, and when the very scary part happened, she turned her head into me to not see it. She did love the music and danced several times.

We had our first bout of pink eye a few weeks ago. It was pretty darn nasty, and in both eyes. She woke up this morning with one eye a little gunky, so we are staying put. I do not want her to be 'Pink Eye Libby" spreading it about.

Snow bunny

Libby's new proclamation is that "I will eat grapefruit when I am four!". I told her it is good to set goals.

When Merlie barks, which is a lot, we tell her she needs to stop. She, of course, does not obey. Libby informed me we need another dog, "one who listens". This is not in place of, BTW, but in addition to. Oh, and it should be little and cute...

The construction is at a standstill as we are waiting on the inspector to give an approval so that the rest of the work can be finished. I am chomping at the bit. I want to show it off, but not until I can say "ta da".

We are still thinking about a FL vacation in April. The thought of sitting at a beach doing nothing is calling our names. We will have to see what our bank account is calling :)

Calling it a day

Remodel Update.

I feel I should give a quick update on the house since it has been a while. Libby's room is now painted, and even our contractor said that the color we chose, lavender, was very nice. He did not say "pretty", but trust me, it is :) The mudroom is also now painted, and it is almost the same color as the living room/dining room, but not textured. Very happy with how it is all coming together. As we will not be able to afford new cabinets for years, we had the painter take off the doors of our existing ones, and paint them. They look so much nicer. We are still waiting for the shelves and rods to be put in the closets and the shelves in the pantry. The new/old radiator in Libby's current room has arrived. It is low and will fit under the window in her room. It took 4 guys to carry it in-whew! We are getting very close to being done. I teased the painter that I will miss him when he is gone. He is a nice guy, and we have gotten used to seeing him around. I am of course lying, I can hardly wait to have my house back! Yesterday, I was trying to make a roast in the kitchen, and felt like I should invite the painters and electrician to dinner! I am looking forward to having boxes of pots and pans finally put away, and settle in to our new space.

Attached are some pics of where we are at now.

The door to the outside was almost where the door to the new bedroom is.

Looking from the back door in the mudroom down the new hallway.

From the closet looking at the bedroom door.

Libby's pretty new room.

Sigh, our beautiful mudroom. The closet and utility storage are on the right.

Happy 2010!

One of my new favorite family photos.


Wow, here it is, 2010! The passed few weeks have been a bit of a blur, but a new year stretches forth in front of us, and I will hope for peace and joy for my family.

Libby making her first batch of Christmas cookies.

We had a very fun Christmas Eve with my brother Keith, his wife Diane and Kyle. Traditional Swedish meatballs were served and we all stuffed ourselves. Libby had a great time making Uncle Keith play hide and seek, and even cajoled her teenage cousin to play with her. We all agreed that Christmas Day was going to be too hard to celebrate after we heard the news of Rick, so we postponed it until Saturday. That was fine with us, and we hunkered down and had a very nice family day together. Libby is still oblivious to toys and the fact that she gets them for her birthday and Christmas. I don't want to push it, but was sure that this year there would be a little more, hmmm, "mine, give me", etc...She loved everything she received and had a great time playing. I had a few things wrapped that she did not touch, so I put them to the side and will give them to her for Valentine's Day, Easter, and family day. I love a girl who does not think it is all about her!

Our beautiful snow princess.

My brother's service in Hibbing was very nice. His two children did a very good job, far better than I could have done under the same circumstances. That evening, we sat around the pool at the hotel and ate and laughed and told stories. The one thing missing was Rick and his bad jokes.

Libby contracted pink eye and it was pretty nasty. She also has some rumbling in her chest, so we have kept her home from pre-school this week. I think she is feeling much better today, and should have gone back, but a bad night's sleep by all of us, made it hard to be on time. We are having another lazy day here. We are at a loss regarding some sleep issues that Libby has. We cannot establish a pattern as to why they happen when. From everything I have read, it actually seems to be a combination of night terrors and nightmares. She is not asleep, yet she is not quite here. It is very frightening. She will run around the room and yell at us, the dog, the cat, etc...Last night, it lasted almost an hour. Then, suddenly, it will end. She will snuggle up in my arms, my sweet girl will return, look up at me, and say "Mama". We have reached a point where we would like to contact a doctor who specializes in sleep disorders.

We are still waiting word from our agency on a referral. We have come to believe it will not happen for a few more months. I may have mentioned in another posting, that once we get the referral, it can be up to six months until we travel. Why? A whole bunch of reasons, but very frustrating to those who are anxious to be with their children.

Somewhere in the midst of all that was going on was my birthday. I had planned on a brunch with friends and neighbors that day, and debated canceling, but so glad I did not. We had close to 30 people here that morning, and the noise, chaos, laughter and sheer number of people reminded me of holiday celebrations when I was a child. It was a very nice balm to my soul to be surrounded by so many dear people.

I wish you all a safe, peaceful, and happy 2010!

Pretty Christmas Day girl.

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.