Snowman

Yesterday afternoon I dressed up the kids and had a little Christmas card photo shoot.

 (The only reason I am this far ahead of the game is because my friend designs our Christmas cards every year - for free! And while she loves doing it, I don't want to add to her pre-holiday stress. SO I try to get the pictures to her plenty early. Plus this particular photo idea was from last year. It never happened last year. Oops. Since I had 12 months to plan it...I finally pulled it off!  Although it was still somewhat painful to get all 3 kids to cooperate. But I persevered. And NO the picture above is NOT the card picture. My photography skills are pretty minimal/ non-existent but I like to believe I am a little better than that!)

All that to say...it was very fitting that we got our first snow fall of the season yesterday! It sure made it feel more Christmas-y as the kids were romping around in their red & green outfits. 

And while they were excited to get out and enjoy the snow...I was not! I convinced them to wait until daddy got home because "daddy really likes to play in the snow". Worked like a charm. (Sorry Joe.) I can only imagine how tortuous it was to search for all the appropriate snow gear and then bundle all 3 of them up. To play outside for a grand total of 7 whole minutes. Okay maybe 10. That's a pretty big maybe. To then un-bundle all of the whiny, cold, snot-nosed children and put said gear away. So glad you "like" to play in the snow!

But here's the real meat of the story. All of the above was just random ramblings. Last winter, Isaiah and his kindergarten teacher told me (on several occasions) that Isaiah was working very hard to create a snowman picture. His teacher seemed impressed with the details he was including and thought he was very artistic. I heard about this particular project almost daily for a month (or so) before I finally saw it. As you can imagine I was very excited to see his creation and my expectations were HIGH. 

Isaiah's Snowman:

I just about died when I saw it! Artistic indeed!

Happy 11-12-13:)

Holmquist 287

Tomorrow morning when Joe drives off to Men's Bible Study he will be taking a little piece of our history with him. A small white particle board drawer thing from college. More specifically his dorm room. And a dresser, also cheap particle board, given to newlywed us as a hand-me-down. I am a sentimental sap, can you tell?! Up until recently we were still using these furniture pieces in our home. We no longer need them, but someone in our congregation does. So we are gladly gifting them to him. Happy they can be put to good use. However I must commemorate them (and what they represent to me) first. 

This was Joe's dorm room:

Oh my! This picture has too many funny things going on I can't possibly mention all of them. The computer! It was brand new. Purchased just for college. The love seat under the loft...Joe snuck that in from the common lounge area. Wasn't much, but it sure beat the camping chair that had been there. See that fancy N64 gaming system? I bought that for him as a high school graduation present. Coolest girlfriend ever! (We still own it too. Clearly a wise investment.) My mom made him that quilt. And the gray towel? We still use them regularly. In fact they are some of my favorites because they hide everything grubby little hands wipe on them! Oh and somewhere in that mess is the white drawer thing. I am sure of it. 

Holmquist 287. Joe and his roommate Brian lived there for 2 years. It was good to them. But it was even better to me. Because that is where Joe proposed to me. Romantic, eh?

Every little girl's dream to receive a marriage proposal while hanging out in her boyfriend's dorm room eating crackers and watching TLC! Amiright?!

Yep, Britney Spears was there too. Pure class I tell ya. 

In Joe's defense, he had better plans. A romantic scavenger hunt of sorts. But we had time constraints (both of us were heading out of town that day with our respective families) AND mostly I was crabby and uncooperative. He DID get down on one knee AND he had a beautiful speech prepared. Which I kinda ruined by interrupting. I blurted out, "Oh you are going to do it now, aren't you?" before he had a chance to properly pop the question. Oops. 

[Side note: before I went to Joe's dorm that fateful August afternoon I had contemplated changing into something nicer. I didn't. I was too hot and crabby. And I still regret that decision to this day.]

And then I went with my parents to Montana for the weekend. Because it was Labor Day Weekend and that is what I had done every Labor Day weekend since I was 3 months old! That year I won Billy Bass (the singing fish) and wore a candy crown. And apparently jean overalls were all the rage...

Late

During nap time today I sewed! And listened to CME (continuing medical education) lectures. But that wasn't nearly as fun. I got a bit carried away. With the sewing. Not the lectures. And the girls were sleeping so well. Resulting in us being a tad late for picking up Isaiah from school. Oops. We weren't really late. There were still kids lined up by the fence and vehicles in the pick up line. A few anyways. I felt bad of course. And immediately apologized. 

Me: Sorry I was late.

Isaiah: Thats okay.

Me: Were you worried?

Isaiah: Yeah. Kind of. 

Me: You don't have to worry. I will ALWAYS come get you. 

Isaiah:  No. That's not why I was worried Mom. 

Me: Oh....oh. Why were you worried then?

Isaiah: I was worried I would be late to art class!

Me: ....

I guess I am glad he trusts me to always be there for him?!?

Later as we were leaving his art class, Charlotte & Isaiah were raising to the van when Charlotte's pants suddenly dropped. Like down to her ankles. She immediately stopped and bent over (all the way over!) to assess the situation. Funniest thing I saw all day! I just wish I had been quick enough to snap a picture....weirdly enough she didn't oblige my request to re-create the moment for a picture;)

And here is a little sneak peak at my sewing project from today...

My girls' Easter dresses. Yep. I just said EASTER dresses. Because clearly that is how I should be spending my precious free time in NOVEMBER. Makes perfect sense. Or none at alll. What can I say? I got the idea a few months ago and I have been slightly obsessed ever since. I just had to make them. So I did. And I LOVE them. Might even make a few more. 

Oh. And have no fear we made it to art class ON TIME. We were the first ones there actually. 

Picnic Lunch

Charlotte: "Ok Hannah, I am packing our lunch. Lets pretend this is our lunch!"

Charlotte: "Ok Hannah. It's time to eat our lunch. We have napkins, pizza and macaroni. You want more?"

Oh Monday mornings how I love you. And my newly created skinny grey cords. I love you too. 

Was the bizarre bathroom picnic the result of under-supervised children while I sewed? Maybe:) But I needed something to wear with my new black boots...

I think these will do nicely. I have a pair of really old khakis I want to attack with my sewing machine next. But they will have to wait for nap time. Because I have two little girls that want to play doll house with their mama. How can I resist that?


Update: A few people have asked me how I transformed my pants. Well HERE is the answer.  I followed Dwija's super easy tutorial. I mean it. It is easy! It only took about 15 minutes to transform old pants into something I love once again. And those kahkis? Skinny already:) I have a pair of jeans that are up for the chopping block next! Have a sewing machine and old pants with some stretch? Give it a try! You won't regret it.

Aunt Chelsea

Joe's little sister, Chelsea came to visit us this weekend. It was pretty fabulous. All three kids loved having her around and were constantly vying for her attention. The entire purpose of her visit was just to hang out. And that we did! She joined us for Charlotte's dance class and the kids' workshop at Home Depot yesterday. And today we went to church (on time!) and then cheered on the Vikings while eating a lunch of snack-y food. 

We sure have enjoyed having an extra set of hands around to help with the kids. However I am sure Aunt Chelsea could have done with a little less whining and sibling rivalry. The kids of course. Not her and her brother:) 

 

Chelsea and I even managed to sneak in a little shopping. Just the two of us. {Charlie charmed me again! Boots to be featured soon...} And we have been staying up late at night chatting. It's nice having another night owl around. 

The funny thing is that "Joe's little sister" isn't so little anymore. She's a grown up woman. But sometimes I forget that. Chelsea was only 7 years old when Joe and I started dating! {That's only one year older than Isaiah is now. I can hardly wrap my mind around that fact.} During our late night chats we have been looking at old photo albums and reminiscing. It's funny. Her memories are completely different than mine. But then again she was just a kid! Her biggest memory from our wedding day was that I allowed her to walk barefoot down the aisle (as a junior bridesmaid) because her grandma had hemmed her dress too short. A fact I had completely forgotten. Other details from that day stick out as a little more monumental to me:)

Ok. Now for the fun part. Old pictures of us...

These pictures are from 2001-2002. There are NO pictures of Chelsea and I the first year Joe and I dated. Why? Because Chelsea didn't like me then. I was "the new girlfriend". And I didn't measure up in her 7 year old mind. I wasn't tall, skinny and blonde. But I won her over eventually. Even if I am short and a brunette. 

Thanks Chels for visiting! Please come back anytime...we loved having you here. Hopefully the feeling is mutual. 

Sorry. I can't skip this somewhat related funny story...it just cracks me up. 

Friday evening Charlotte and I drove into Chicago to pick up Aunt Chelsea from the bus stop. At the very beginning of the drive Charlotte informed me that she was helping the car move with her legs (i.e. Flinstone style). I thanked her for her help and then completely forgot about it. It was a rainy day with lots of traffic. So it was a long sloooow drive. An hour into our journey Charlotte whined from the backseat, "Mo-om!". Turning a simple one syllable term of endearment into a drawn out two syllable complaint as only a child can. She continued to explain (in a whiny voice) that her legs were tired and I would have to move the car for the rest of the drive! 

I did willingly. We made it. And Charlotte's legs rested and recovered:)