Split room start, stickers, water pitcher

My children really are beautiful - they have these souls that make my heart smile and there are things that they do that I never want to forget. This weekend, each had an experience that I want to hold onto.

Eleanor:
The children are growing older and with that there has become an awareness that they are different. Specifically that E and Ains are girls and G is a boy. We've been talking about putting the girls together and getting G into his own room but Ains hasn't been the most ideal sleeper and even worse at going to bed so we've held off. We had considered putting them together during the summer BUT when we had so many big changes already with new daycares and schools and friends and teachers that we figured it would be time for a hold off. However, my son is a boy and after a bath is in no hurry to get dressed and I decided maybe it was time to start the move in ways that we could - like clothes and dressing spaces. Here's the hold... E and G are buddies - they are total partners in crime and moving them apart will give them sadness as they like to be together (95% of the time). So I sat her down and began to explain what was going on... as we got deeper into the conversation it took a turn I wasn't expecting.

ALR: So, yes, in November, Grady will have his own room.
EER: And Ainsley will be in here.
ALR: Yes
EER: Because he is a boy.
ALR: Yes, and you are a girl and you can share a room with a boy when you are older and you are either in love or married.
Plain-faced, open eyes, earnest EER: But, I love him and I already married him. 

Later when Grady came to see what was going on, mid-move:
GRR: What's going on?
EER: We are moving your clothes into the other room because you have a penis and I don't need to see it. 

Grady:
With Matt and I leaving for GA soon so I went to Target to grab some last minute items we needed. G went with me. We shopped for 30 minutes, maybe an hour and when we were checking out, he asked the cashier with all his manners if he could have a sticker. The cashier presented him two - which kept him preoccupied for the next 10 minutes - looking the puppy in clothes and sunglasses and whatnot. When we got home, E met us in the garage to show him something. He promptly took one of his two stickers, peeled it off the paper and put it on Eleanor's shirt. She hugged him, said thanks and went to go show her dad. He looked at me and said, "I'm going to give this other one to Ainsey"

And that moment made tears sting in my eyes. This little boy was willing to give his sisters all he had because he knew that it brought smiles to their faces. He really is the best brother anyone could have asked for and his generosity of heart made me realize what a wonderful man he's learning to be... something to aspire to. I hugged him, kissed him, and told him how nice that gesture was. He almost seemed surprised for being commended... like it was a normal, everyday, unquestionable thing. 

Ainsey

Now my girls have fires in their bellies. Not the same fire but this deep conviction of personality and light. Eleanor's is this smoldering coal bed - a drive from within that runs deep and strong - not easily put out. Ainsley's is a massive fireball - with big flames and high heat, it's all show and quick to move. She's been our textbook two year old complete with "me do it" and the checklist before bedtime and the full on body drop tantrums. Well, we ran into one of those at lunch on Sunday. We've used a pitcher of water on the table - to prevent E & G from making 400 trips over to the sink to refill their glasses. Ainsey sees them and wants to too fill her own glass. 

So there she was, in a vehemently "I do it!" grabbing the pitcher and shaking it.. that is until the water came out and splashed all around, dumping on her. This creates a new level of pissed-off because now she has water all over her shirt and pants. 

Other things on the agenda - baseball, smores, cleaning, organizing, school   

WFHR, Badlands Camp

Matt played warrior this week while I played in Grand Forks. I took off Monday for the Workforce and HR Conference. It was odd for me as this is the first time in 5 years that I haven't been actively planning the event. We were going to the event to work a booth and help out a bit. It was so good to see some of the people that have been with the event for so long. I also took in a few good locations including Rhombus Guys, Bonzers, and Crooked Pint. I did manage to catch some bug and ended up losing my voice! UGH!




 

The best part of the trip was coming home to see some smiling faces - I had really missed them and it seemed like quite a long time. E went with her class to her first movie - a Trolls Movie. It's hard to believe she was ready but they said she did really well.

The weekend kept trend with a lot of the month of September - wet and rainy. It's probably been the wettest Fall ever and nothing is changing colors - it is so green. On Saturday, Matt and Eleanor took off for the badlands to do a scouting trip for deer hunting. They camped out for the weekend and did some planning for where Matt would be able to go in November. They slept in the tent, made a foil pack for supper, and also covered some ground. They saw some deer but also saw some antelope.

G and A stayed home with me. We had a lowkey day on Satuday... tried to get out for a walk but on Sunday we headed to the zoo for some fun, we event invited Mom and Dad to join us. Grady was excited to share mini-donuts with Grandpa and ride the train.

EER at bedtime.
ALR: I'm so glad that you and Dad spent the time together.
EER: Yes, we went camping and hiking in bad land.
ALR: I know. I heard you did so well.
EER: Yes.
ALR: What was your favorite part?
EER: Burger King.

Caravan (kar UH van)

It was our first full-day week back at work and with that I've determined the most heartbreaking thing is picking my beautiful sleeping baby up out of her crib and have her melt into my chest in a deep sleep and then to cram her into her little car seat and cart her off to work. She takes it like a champ with little fussing and often sleeps in the morning, but it doesn't mean I like it any.

We spent the weekend in the camper again. Last week was the dry run, this week it was for real. She didn't do quite as well as last weekend but overall we can't complain. She even enjoyed the campfire a bit this time. Matt enjoyed the maiden fishing trip of the Blue Fin and even put a fish in the boat but us girls stayed on shore. He felt bad that we weren't able to go with him and I felt bad that he was alone, but next year will probably be better for us to spend time together on the water.

We were camper locked a bit because of Eleanor but we did pass the time with cards.

 Len is starting to show off some cute behaviors. She's started watching "another baby" in the mirror. She'll laugh and watch that baby but my favorite is how she imitates her father when he shakes his head and blows his lips at her. I wasn't aware of the copy-catting until the two of them showed me. I love watching the two of them at play. It's amazing how much she's changed in such a short time.

I will say her father and I weren't so impressed with her though as she was a handful while we were trying to get things ready to go. JUST as we were finally loaded up and ready, we looked at her, laying on the table, with her bunny blanket... sleeping. Same thing happened when we were packing the camper to go home. Someone wanted to be held while I was getting everything ready to head back. I finally set her down in the booth to grab something and when I looked over....sleeping. Just as Matt stuck his head in saying we were ready to pull out. 

Best meal: Pepperoni Pizza Pies at the fire... with fresh garden basil. This is my camping favorite. For dessert it was nutella banana pies.

ALR, MJR, and EER sitting at campfire.
ALR and MJR are eating pizza sandwiches fresh from the pie cookers.
MJR sounding defeated: We are those people.
MJR sighs.
ALR perplexed: What people?
MJR: The ones with the campfire going before it gets dark.
ALR looks at EER who is eating her hand in her car seat carrier: I hate to tell you it may be the new norm.
MJR sigh again: I know.
5 minutes later
MJR: It is easier to cook when it's not dark out though.
The next night....ALR and MJR at campfire.
ALR: Do you feel better? It's dark out.
MJR: yes.
ALR: Hand me the fire poker for my s'mores.

Endeavor (en DEV er)

We are still struggling to find the new normal in life. This week I started back to work full time - under more protesting. I know Matt doesn't understand because he's been "back to work" full time for 9 weeks. I did try to explain to him but I'm not sure I can explain my not wanting to leave maternity leave status to myself either. Next week may be even more of a struggle because this past week I at least had 2 part time days. She's doing very well at work - it helps that Commerce has been extremely supportive and people want to take her and see her. It also helps that she naps pretty well in the morning, which has become my productive point of the day.

We closed the work week by checking in on my Grandma, who has officially moved into an assisted living facility and we couldn't be happier! It's a nice place and her room looks over her flowers in the courtyard and she's happy with how nice everyone is and it was fun to watch her introduce her youngest great-grand to all the staff. I did chuckle about how she's going to have to "watch herself" with the dining room because everything is so good and she doesn't have to do any work - meaning grocery shop, make it, clean up afterwards, etc. I'm glad she's enjoying being taken care of.

We had a busy weekend - It started with John, Allison, and Oliver. They were passing through on their way to Minot and stopped to visit. We hadn't seen them since last Memorial Day and Allison was just pregnant. It's amazing to see how much things have changed. It's also amazing to think of some of the stories Matt has told me about him and John and now see them as responsible Dads. It was Len and Oliver's first meeting and I loved that he was a strawberry blonde too with blue eyes and what a happy baby! My only wish is that they didn't live all the way out in California, would be fun to compare stories and watch these two grow up together.

It was also our first camping trip of the year... well, Len's first camping trip period. Now I'll be honest

- I've become one of those people I didn't want to be that is limited by their baby. But I do not like deviations from my routine because, well, parenting is hard. I am fully aware billions of people have and will continue to do it but I haven't quite found my stride and I like the ease of my routine. Either way, Matt and I pushed me out of my comfort zone and found ourselves at Fort Lincoln State Park in primitive camping with a 10 week old. And I think she handled it better than I did. We had a few meltdowns and we didn't quite find a good system with baby, but she slept really well once we got her down and we even enjoyed a campfire and I had my first s'mores of the season. We only went for a night to see 1. how the camper would go 2. how we would do. The temp did get up to 85 but the night cooled down nicely to 61.

Best meal: Not exactly a meal, but I did enjoy my s'more and my husband by the campfire.

After a long day at work and helping Grandpa move...
ALR and EER in backseat.
ALR: We are almost home, Len, don't cry.
MJR (from the font seat): Sing Ol' McDonald
ALR: Old McDonald had a Farm, EIEI-O and on that farm he had an Eleanor, with a Wahh wahh here, a Wahh Wahh there, here a Wahh, there - a Wahhh... everywhere a Wahh Wahhh.
EER stares.
EER starts fussing again.
ALR: Old McDonald had a Farm, EIEI-O and on that farm he had a Dad with a grunt, grunt here, a toot toot there, here a grunt, there a toot, everywhere a grunt grunt.
EER stares
MJR (still from the front seat): I like that version.

How to start a camping season...

We had our first official camping trip this past weekend. We also had the official dive weekend camping trip. We'd been looking forward to it to spend it with friends that we've been missing. We got there on Friday, after a week of hurrying to get the camper ready. We really had a perfect weekend with sun and hot temps! Good thing for the air conditioner!

Was good to catch up and fall back into old habits and old conversations. I think my favorite part of the weekend sitting around the campfire with the girls talking and laughing and making s'mores. I'm proud to say I made Roxanne's son, Ian's first s'more. I think he's was in love...all those wonderful foods coming together at once. Mmmm. I even had a belly ache that night from too many marshmallows.

Matt's favorite part of the trip was the boat, being on the water, and finally getting some fish caught. He's ahead of his parents this year with two caught. I know he would have liked more but for how much we've been out, we'll take what we can get.

Besides getting the camper ready, we also have been busy around the house....harvesting crop, gardening, canning....We canned 8 quarts of pickled beets, 6 half pints of peach honey, 4 pints of strawberry beat syrup, and 7 pints and 3 half pints of beet jelly. I still need to finish up the peach jelly (new recipe) and Matt has some plans to pickle our beans.

We went out to harvest when we got back from camping and we saw a little friend. We had been told about them but was still pleasantly surprised to see him scampering on the concrete towards the lake. Matt gave him a lift after trying to show him to our runarounds...they could care less, they just wanted to be outside.

Best meal: Fireside Pizza sandwiches, one of my favorites each year. MMMMMMmmmmm!

Conversation from the farm while out for supper while my grandparents were there.
Dad: No, we milked cows all the way until I left for college.
Grandpa: Nah....
Dad: Yes, we did, that old white cow.
Grandma: What was her name? Do you remember?
Dad: Whitey.

When crawling into the bed in the camper.
MJR: Why do you get two pillows in the camper?
ALR: Because I packed the camper and made the bed.
MJR: Valid point.

Wishing You Peace, Joy, & Love

2014...

       The year we started new jobs at Dept of Commerce and the Bismarck Airport.

       The year we moved to Bismarck.

       The year we sold our house in Dickinson.

       The year we looked at 20 houses or so in Bismarck before Amanda could convince Matt to go back to the first one. 

       The year we squatted at my parents for the summer or 135 days. 

       The year we went back to St. Maarten but took Matt’s parents with us. 

       The year we celebrated our first anniversary.

       The year we sold the Intrigue and bought the Mazda.

       The year that the camper saw more than 2 trips out, but the golf clubs didn’t.

       The year we canned everything from Peach Purple Basil Jelly to Tomato Soup to Borscht to Award Winning Beet Syrup to various salsas and more. 

       The year that we packed up all of our life and put it in a 10x30 storage unit and various rooms of my parents’ house for 7 months. 

       The year my parents finally got a garage...just in time for us.

       The year that we separated the cats so that 2 could live with us while Nike summered in Lansford.

I think that about sums it up. There have been some big changes in 2014….maybe more than 2013 but equally as wonderful. We continue to feel blessed to have each other, some amazing friends, but most importantly to have family that supports and celebrates us. 

ALR: You know we are pretty lucky.

MJR: Why do you sound surprised by that?

And yes, I am aware that 2013's card was a million times better. Matt is still insistent that we can't do a wedding-day do-over just for fun. 

Labor Day: Primitive Style

Those weeks where you get behind and can’t catch up…yeah think I’m there. It was a beautiful labor day weekend. While the company was great, the good was wonderful, the fish were in the boat, and the camper stayed dry…I guess those are the things that count!

Matt caught the first couple fish…..but the next day the slayers caught up with him. We caught at Audubon. I should say “they” because I just sat in the boat or slept in the truck. The first day was slow but Michele and Randy connected with a guide for Sunday and they didn’t have a problem limiting out.

We stayed at Cross Ranch State Park, which we didn’t know until getting there that it’s the “Primitive Camping Park” …glad we didn’t need the air conditioner! We even put the heater on at night and the rain came down and made a messy camp ground. Good thing for the fire, was almost too big for s’mores but I prevailed. I had to get a final in for the season.

We also brought our rehearsal cake, made by one of my bridemaids, Shantelle. After 1 year…it was still good and we were all surprised by how moist it was. The frosting didn’t look as pristine but the flavor made up for it.

We are also starting to benefit from the garden season. We thought we’d have a hard time since we are squatters but we actually are nice benefits as we’ve had a few take pity on us! The peppers are both from my mother’s garden and Matt’s mother’s garden. These are both jalapeno’s but I think it’s safe to say Michele raises peppers with more tenacity than my mother. We’ve canned a few things including jams (peach basil, peach jalapeno, strawberry basil, and jalapeno) and tomatoes, salsa, pickled beets, borsch soup, and beet syrup.  

Best meal: Matt’s porkchops…….he does them so well!

ALR: Have you talked to your parents this week yet?

MJR: (thinking)

ALR: I’ve talked to mine.

MJR: (eyes roll)

Buying and Selling!

Things are picking up for us. I feel like we are going in a million directions all at once. We’ve had a crazy two weeks. We started it off right though…at the lake with the Petroffs. They are a couple that has been experiencing life at the same pace that we are. They got engaged about the same time that we did, we planned weddings together, purchased houses at similar times, and it was great to get out on the water with them. Matt managed to be the fisher of the group while Shantelle and I caught up and caught some sun. It was a wonderful weekend and cooking was amazing….I think it took 2 days for me to be unfull!

This past week was full of houses. We went to three more sessions of showings…I’ll admit that I lost track of our houses that we hunted but figure we had to be about at 15…but really didn’t need to get past 3 as we’ve put an offer in on a house, the third one that we looked at. It’s been accepted and we are set to close the first part of October. I’ll admit I may have known it was the one when we walked into it as it had that similar feeling that I got when I stepped into Hillside Drive. Open floorplan, faulted ceilings, the fireplace, the patio, the masterbath with walk-in closets, and it has a place for the camper. It doesn’t hurt that it’s on a lake and we can envision ourselves in a paddleboat complete with fishing trips and broom ball/hockey. After moving 6 times in the past 4 years….I’m ready to be done, settled, and planning a future.

Now it’s just getting all the stuff to Bismarck and into the house. We took another big step in that direction this past weekend. We hauled another load back on Sunday. We have completely packed the storage unit. We may be able to fit 3 or 4 more things in it…if they are small and thin and boxes or snow shovels…but the patio set will sit at the farm until it goes to Cottonwood as will the grills and our pictures off the wall. Our whole world is jam packed into a 10x30foot storage unit.
We also took in my cousin’s wedding on Saturday. This was her second wedding and I was blessed to be in her first and to compare them mentally, it was almost night and day. She still looked beautiful but the simplicity and basics behind what was done made me realize that as we grow up it doesn’t matter what the colors are, the center pieces, or tuxes or not…what does matter is who is waiting at the end of the aisle. Granted, I’ve never seen a grand march with the bride and groom riding on toilet thrones, but it was nice to see Heather happy. Was also nice to catch up with other family, the Stollers, who had come from Madison.

 

Letters from Nike:
Dear Matt, my B.F.F.,

Staying at Grandma's and Grandpa's is fine. Only fine....they think they can put me on a diet. So I got my own food. I brought home a rabbit. Life was great. Until they saw it. Not only did they think they had to take the rabbit away from me, but they also thought they should go out and catch a 28" long walleye. How'd they have felt if I took away their fish.

I guess I'm irritated. Tell Amanda and those other two cats that I don't miss them.

Love you and think of you every day, Nike.

Best meal: Gotta admit that Shantelle and Rick know how to make a camping meal between the huge steaks, the vegetable packs, and the appetizers...almost needed to take a long walk when we were done.

 

Staring at the storage unit, which is taller than Matt.
MJR: Hope you don't need anything from there.

ALR: I don't think I have the option.
MJR: Nope. Not even a little.
MJR: See you all in October. (Closes door and puts the lock on)