The VP Family

Christmas Letter

2012-02-01T21:11:00.003-06:00

I try to send out letters to everyone, but inevitably, I miss people. I'm sorry. If you missed out letter, here is mine from 2011:

Yes, you may be a bit surprised…we’ve added to our family. I found Crosby’s birth announcements recently…about a year after I finished making them. What a perfect time to send them out…for his 18 month birthday!? ?????

Welcome to life with 3 little ones! Poor Crosby. No really, he’s not a poor kid. He’s a doted over, happy-go-lucky, smiley little guy. He’s into everything. Especially playing football with his daddy, “Bay-ey” (Blakey) and “Nenna” (Makenna). He loves to run around the kitchen and have us chase him, and then he’ll run into the living room and throw himself up onto the chair or couch. He thinks it’s the best game, and we think it’s pretty fun as well! He’s chatting up a storm and recently started to say “Bible” when we read from it to do our advent calendar. Have you ever heard a little person say “Bible”? You should. You’d be asking him to say it almost as much as we do, if not more!

At 5, Blake is all boy and sweet as can be. He played soccer and t-ball this year and learned how to ride his bike without training wheels. He loves to go biking with me when I go for runs. He is gearing up for kindergarten next year and enjoys learning about letter sounds and spelling. His other love is Lego’s. He’s obsessed….’nuff said. He is strong-willed, kind-hearted and has a minimum word count he has to hit each day before he goes to bed. Many nights we can hear him chatting away with anyone who will listen while he lies in bed!

Makenna, Makenna, oh how we love thee! Our spirited 3-going on 13-year old who is into all things her brothers are, as well as taking care of her babies. The only thing she asked Santa for this year is “jewelries…. Lots of jewelries”. When asked why, she said because she wants to wear them to work when she turns 4. She mimics many of the things I do or say and definitely adds a little emphasis to her words when she wants to by adding a little lip smack to it! She is into fashion and accessories, as well as wearing skirts while playing soccer and bike riding. She has gotten pretty good at biking and is a determined little thing!

Mike is in his 5th year teaching kids with Autism. He teaches in the Ghetto…Minneapolis. Actually, it’s a nice school. I just like to tease him. He took up shooting a bow this summer, which has now turned into bow hunting. Saturday mornings are typically spent in his tree standing waiting, waiting, waiting for a deer to come. Someday he’ll get one and then I’ll have to cook venison. No thanks! Maybe we can donate it?

I am still in pharmaceutical sales with Daiichi Sankyo… Sounds like God Bless You! I’ve picked up woodworking this year and built our headboard and a craft table, among other items. It’s great… when I actually finish a product! I have some pictures of our bed frame on our blog: www.thevpfamily.blogspot.com

In other news, we got a cat. His name is Buzz and he lives in the “old garage” and has already earned his keep by catching a chipmunk. We got him in September and he weighed less than 5 pounds. I’d guess he weighs 10-15 now. He has a healthy appetite, to say the least!

Kali, our 8 year old Labrador, thinks Buzz is pretty cool, except when he bites her tail. She loves to go in and play with him, as well as snoop around his “house”. Speaking of houses, we built a dog house for her. Fully insulated and with roofing to match our house. She’s pretty stylish!

We hope you have a fabulous year, we KNOW we will… Attitude is a choice!

Love always,
Mike, Nicole, Blake, Makenna, Crosby,
Kali (the dog) and Buzz (the cat)

And the picture to go with it?

Furniture Refinish

2012-01-26T09:05:00.005-06:00

I really enjoy woodworking , furniture refinishing and re-doing pieces of furniture. Every so often, I will browse craigslist and look at pieces that are inexpensive and think "how could I make that cute". My criteria?

1. It has to be cheap. Cheap meaning $50 or less.

2. It has to be solid wood. Some veneers are okay, but solid wood is best.

3. It has to have great lines. Lines meaning detail on the piece.

4. It has to serve some purpose once refinished/repainted.

So...I bought a really ugly piece of furniture off of craigslist a while back for $50.

It was super ugly.

I should preface that. Super ugly, as in, if you lived in a 70's house with shag carpet and a nasty "70's" stain on your wood paneling it "might" look cool! Really ugly stain...right? It met all my criteria. It has great lines, it is mostly wood (the sides are veneers), it is solid and would look fabulous as a dresser in a shabby-chic room, or as an addition to some Pottery Barn furniture.

My intentions were to put it in our bedroom opposite the bed frame that I made.

It would be adorable!

So I set to work sanding the top. I envisioned the top being finished in a walnut stain with a few coats of poly on it. Everything else? A cool teal/turquoise color.

Yuck! It was such an ugly color! I hope we don't look back at colors we wear or paint now and think that. It's inevitable, I guess!

I set out sanding the top, yet quickly realized the top would not work stained, as the veneers were also surrounding the top lip. FYI...veneers do not sand or stain as well as wood. Heck, they don't take stain, unless it is a paint-like stain.

So, I just put a coat of primer on the whole thing. I used a primer that I bought at Sherwin-Williams which is a furniture primer that you can put over stain. It was perfect. It really grips to the furniture, so your paint application is much smoother.

Then, I painted. I also bought the paint at Sherwin Williams. It is a furniture pain that is really thick and self-leveling. It's great.

Next step? Distress. My favorite part. Take some 150-grit sandpaper and start sanding edges, spots where typical wear would be, and any spot you mess up on. That's the beauty of distressing: if you screw up, just make it look like there was wear in that spot.

The result:

Original hardware was kept.

Awesome color!

Love how distressing pulled out some of the white primer. It made it look even more shabby-chic in that it appeared it was old and rustic and had been painted multiple times.

Before and after:

You'd pay $50 for the after...right? Well, I decided to put it up for sale on craigslist to see if I could get a bit more than what I paid. I ended up getting $200 for it. I made $150 for simply painting it and using a little muscle to sand/distress it. I love the piece, but I definitely made a chunk of change off of it!

Thank you craigslist man who's wife could not live without my turquoise dresser! You paid for me to start another woodworking project!

Landscaping

2012-01-02T13:06:00.009-06:00

Why all the dirty feet?

Fluffy cotton-like gunk in his hair?

Why...we landscaped our muddy yard, but of course!
This was one of the first things we did to begin the final landscaping projects...we took down a huge-HUGE Cottonwood tree on the side of our house. It was an enormous tree...the biggest one in the yard. It was stuck at some point by lightning and had a large cavity that was rotting. We talked to our insurance agent and he said if it fell on the house, insurance would cover $500 of the removal. Not something we wanted to hear, so we paid less than half of that to have it removed.

John arrived right at 7:30 and was in and out of the branches like Tarzan. He had the tree cut down in less than 20 minutes!

And this was the mess that was left. It looks like a forest on the ground!

As you can see, our kids had no problem playing in the driveway all of the spring before we seeded. Isn't this picture adorable of them? Bikes propped up, chatting away about something very important to a 2 and 4 year old!

Here's a picture of Kenna and I starting to get the front gardens ready. She had no problem getting totally filthy in the mud and muck!

We decided to landscape in the front of our house as well as the tiered landscape under the office window!

Here's close to the final grade:

Here's a picture right after our sprinkler system was installed.

And the moment we finally waited for: grass to sprout!

More grass beginning to grow!

Then, it was time to landscape the backyard. Tyler came over with his bobcat and assisted in making the yard look great! Dirty pigs were just the icing on top of a long, hard-working day spent driving a bobcat around and distributing fresh soil and seed throughout the yard where the old house was.

A dirty little face to match those pigs!

No worries! Crosby got to enjoy the dirt and mud of the day as well!

After baths, these two littles got to go outside and see what Blake was up to while they were bathing!

Driving the bobcat with Ty was what he was up to!
Thanks, Ty, for all your hardwork!

Here's some of the front gardens. Tons of dirt, hundreds of plants and 100's of bags of bark mulch were added to make these gardens look as they do!

Who's that hotty down there!!!!! WOOOT woot! He's my HHH!

Ms. Kali enjoyed napping by us as we finished the gardens and put some finishing touches!

And one final picture of the first time Mike mowed our new "lawn" which ended up being mostly weeds at the end of the year. It ended up downpouring for about the last 15 minutes of his lawn-mowing!

And that, is part of our landscaping journey. There was definitely more that we did, and much more that we have to do this year. Welcome to home building!

My dad died (part 2)

2011-08-31T08:52:00.003-05:00

In this post, I talked about his initial diagnosis and day 1-Christmas Day 1992.

Merry Christmas to us-right!? Your dad has Leukemia, the prognosis doesn't look good, now go open your Christmas gifts. Not my idea of fun, nor anyone in my family!

After that first day, things looked pretty dismal. We, as his kids, had no idea. We were young and innocent. My sister was 8, I was 11 and my brother was 13. We didn't know anyone that was in the hospital, anyone that had cancer, or anyone that was "that sick". Over time, I’ve found out that my dad was given less than 2 months on that first day.

Boy, were we in for a shock! Yet somehow, it became the norm. After Christmas, it was time to celebrate New Year's. We always went to my Godparent's house, the Schuster's on New Year's Day, so what else would we do but go! Everything seemed quite normal except my dad wasn't there to celebrate-he was in the hospital. We skated on the rink, ate yummy food and enjoyed the company. And then, the ritual of visiting my dad in the hospital began. On our way to the hospital, we picked up KFC. I distinctly remember him saying that the hospital food was not good and he wanted something tasty to celebrate the new year.

So...KFC and a visit to the hospital it was.

Whatever family routine we had before my dad was admitted to the hospital was all thrown out the window. The new routine was school, bus home, then we'd go down to visit my dad. From what I remember, it was almost everyday, unless we went to a friend's house or had a sporting event. I know my mom was there daily, and can only imagine how exhausting that must have been-to watch the love of your life, the one you shared your most intimate secrets, the one who fathered your children, the one who swept you off your feet when you were a hippy-loving Californian-to watch him fight the battle of his life right in front of your eyes. I can't imagine, and I pray for those who have and are fighting like this with their loved ones.

From all indications and from how you'd think a normal family life would be, it was rough; yet when I look back I don't ever remember it being that bad. From my mom's standpoint though, I can only imagine it was horrible. Try going from being a mom, wife and homemaker who rarely paid the bills, much less knew anything about where they were paid to, out of which account and whatnot to being the bill-payer, mom and dad, dinner-maker, chauffer to the hospital, confidant to your husband, cheerleader for my dad, peacemaker during the chaos, and all else that comes with being a wife to a cancer patient and a mom to 3 young kids whose dad has cancer. It sucked. I can assure you of that.

Then, there's the pain. My dad was on a constant stream of pain killers as his body was enduring the vicious-ness of chemotherapy. Pain killers to dull the pain of mouth sores. Ever had a canker sore? They hurt. A lot. Now try having your whole mouth be a canker sore-hard to imagine...right? Another horrible side-effect: Chemo affects your cells. All of them, whether cancerous or not. Know what that means? Butt sores. Yep. I remember my dad having to sit on a donut-an inflatable little ring-in order to be able to sit comfortably. Glamorous! Just lovely. And these two things are just the pain-related items that I clearly remember. I know there were 100's of other things he had to endure throughout the struggle.

On a brighter note, with him being confined to the 4 walls of the hospital, it allowed others to love on our family. My dad received so much mail on a daily basis that they ended up giving him his own PO box in the hospital. All of the cards and notes he received were placed on the walls of his room to brighten up his day. We also received and outpouring of love and support through meals, people driving the 3 of us around town and to/from the hospital, as well as sleep overs and other forms of help. It's amazing the community you can build in an instant when something like cancer happens.

Back to the timeline:

November 1992-back pain

December 1992-fell off roof

December 25, 1992-admitted to hospital

December 26 or so, 1992-diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia

December 1992 to April 1993- in hospital receiving rounds and rounds of Leukemia in order to rid as much of the cancer as possible. Never once stepping out of the hospital…can you imagine not breathing fresh air for 4 months!?

As you can see from the timeline above, my dad endured almost 5 months of chemo and all the nasty side effects that go with it. He was on the 4th floor ICU at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, MN for the whole time. He never left the floor he was on in 5 months. No going outside, no riding in a car, nothing. Imagine that!? I can't. Watch life go by as you sit in your hospital room with a drip of poison in you all day long. Know what though? I never remember my dad sad or unhappy. I know it is something he must have worked hard at doing, but he was always the usual David George Guimond that we knew and loved. Same great big bear hugs that are closely mimicked to this day by his cousins, Gary and Randy O'Brien. Same loud laugh that he was so notorious for! Man, makes me want to bring him here right now.

To be continued....

The things they say....

2011-08-06T23:11:00.002-05:00

On Kenna's birthday, she was standing in the doorway to her room looking at Mike and I who were in the hallway. Blake was standing behind her and was sizing her up. We were commenting on how she was now the big "3" and she was so excited. Her excitement was dampened by Blake, as he said "but mom! She can't be 3". Mike and I looked at eachother inquisitively and asked him "Why?" He then said "but she doesn't LOOK any bigger!"
Oh boy! If only our age is judged by how "big" we look!

Sweet dreams!

2011-06-09T19:05:00.003-05:00

If you were wondering what all the lumber was for in the last post...

Here's your first clue:

Any guesses?

A bit more of the view...I'm sure you all know what it is now!

Yep. I made our headboard. Me. By myself (Mike helped do a little distressing, and helped put the 4 x 4 post legs on). I know. I know. You can't believe I (a girl) could do this!? Yep, me neither. Ana White at drew up the plans. She posts homemade furniture plans that even a novice can do. Our plans came from the farmhouse bed plans. This was my first project and it took quite a bit of time, but that's because I'd work on it for 10 minutes here, an hour there, and I really didn't know what I was doing.

Kindof amazing-right? I think so. I couldn't believe it when we went into Pottery Barn a few weeks ago and took a look at this bed which we've been drooling over for years:

But with a heft $1,499 price tag, it doesn't exactly fit into our budget! Here's one that is a bit more within the budget:

But honestly, at $999, I'd rather spend money on fun stuff like garden plants and grass for our yard!

So, I made my own. It cost me less than $100. You'd never know the difference. Really, you can't tell that I made it with my own two hands, a cordless drill and a table saw. Amazing...huh?

Sorry to seem conceited, but really?! I built it. I've never built anything before, except our deck, which was really just a few support beams and some wood. All. by. Myself!

And now we don't feel like we're in college with our bed on the floor and no headboard.

Want me to build you one? I'd be up for it!

Happiest kid in the world

2011-05-17T05:00:00.000-05:00

I am infatuated with birth order. It ceases to amaze me the order in which children are born and knowing how they will "turn out" when they are older. I strongly believe birth order plays a huge role in who you are in life and what your personality traits turn out to be like. My 3rd little one is absolutely the most laid-back, easy going, go with the flow little ham!

Happy as a little lark in his car seat waiting for everyone else. He even smiles for the camera through his nukie!

He's not always happy, happy, happy!

Just kidding!

Lumber

2011-05-15T08:00:00.002-05:00

What is all of this lumber for?

Here's the beginnings of what I built:

Any ideas?

That looks good...

2011-05-14T19:50:00.005-05:00

Something looks delicious on my plate!

And maybe not! A lime looks green, inviting, tasty...I guess not!

The things they say....

2011-03-14T22:22:00.004-05:00

Tonight when Blake and Kenna were giving eachother their good-night hugs, Blake told Kenna to "Hug me like a garbage truck hugs a garbage can!"
Oh boy....does he think in terms of all things boy or what!?

My Dad Died

2011-03-08T13:57:00.001-06:00

Crazy to think that it will be 18 year ago in July that my dad died. It is the single most defining moment in my life and I will be writing a few posts about it.
In late 1992, my dad had been complaining about back pain and how much his lower back hurt. His doctor put him on some pain relievers and sent him on his way. A couple weeks later, he was shoveling snow of the roof of the house and fell off the ladder. Again, the back pain came back, but he attributed it to falling off the ladder!
At the time, he was traveling quite a bit, and apparently was really busy with work and didn't notice the pain got significantly worse.
On Christmas eve, the pain became so unbearable that he brought himself to the ER on Christmas morning. I went with him while they ran test after test after test. It turns out that his lower back pain was due to an extremely inflammed/enlarged spleen, an indication of Leukemia. After some initial tests were done (which took all day), they determined that he would need to be admitted to the hospital and my mom needed to come down as soon as possible. I remember watching my dad in his hospital gown pose against the fashionable curtains in the ER. He would pose like a model, which made me laugh so hard I remember the nurse coming in and politely asking us to be a bit quieter! I also remember when my mom got there, we went to a little cafeteria with a refrigerator vending machine that had sandwiches in it. I remember my mom and my parents friends talking in hushed tones while I sat at the table, bored out of my mind from being at the hospital so long. I don't remember them telling me anything then, but I assume they were discussing my dad's diagnosis and what that meant. I also remember going with my dad up to the room he was admitted into and the nurses drawing what seemed like copious amounts of blood into many, many small test tubes.
I remember my dad getting morphine that night before I left and that he had a severe reaction to it. Why do I remember these crazy details? I have no idea. What a minute details that I remember so vividly.
The final diagnosis that evening: Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. Onset: 44 years old. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001569/
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/acute-myelogenous-leukemia/DS00548

Thus began the most defining point in my life.

Christmas

2011-02-13T22:22:00.003-06:00

Santa came to our house on Christmas Eve!

(Isn't he a hottie!?)

He delivered the goods to our fabulous little ones...

He posed for a few pictures and then woke up a little girl...

He woke up a little boy as well, but he was QUITE crabby, and NOT impressed!

He was, however, excited the next morning that Santa did, in fact come, and deliver the goods. He was also very inquisitive as to how Santa got down the chimney with his big bag. He seemed to be okay with the idea that Santa is magical and can do magic (coming down the chimney and not getting burnt).

The four cousins. Not too easy getting 4-4 and under to look in the same direction. Smiling at the same time AND looking? Not gonna happen!

My brother and SIL at Christmas dinner. (That's Matthew's sippy cup and baby food)

Too funny not to share!

2011-02-10T22:37:00.002-06:00

An e-mail I received from a friend contained the following message about parenting:

11 step program for those thinking of having kids...
LESSON 1
1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the LAST time.

LESSON 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appalingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to "run wild"
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it, because it will be the last time in your life YOU will have all the answers.

LESSON 3
A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10 PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Attempt to eat cold food with one hand for dinner).
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. Just as you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM, make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get back up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up, make breakfast, get ready for work and go to work (work hard and BE productive)
10. Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and put-together!

LESSON 4
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out...
1. Smear peanut butter onto the couch and jelly onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer long.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed and then rub them on clean walls.
4. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc and rip out pages here and there.
5. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

LESSON 5
Dressing small children is not as easy as it looks.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to pt the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
3. Time allowed...3 minutes before you jet out the door to work!

LESSON 6
Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. ANd don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. FAMILY cars don't look like that!
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back of the seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then mash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

LESSON 7
Grocery shopping is not as easy as it should be!
1. Go to the local grocery store.
2. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then DEFINITELY take more than one goat.
3. Buy your next week's groceries without letting the goat out of your sight and without eating any of the food in your cart.
4. Pay for everything the goat DOES eat and destroy.
5. Until you can easily accomplish this, do NOT even contemplate having children.

LESSON 8
1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small whole inthe side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now, get a bowl of soggy cheerios and attemot to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the cheerios are gone.
6. with the remaining cheerios, tip the half onto your lap and the other half throw in the air.
You are now ready to feed a nine month old baby.

LESSON 9
1. Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street, Barny, Dora, Disney, Martha Speaks, etc.
2. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS or the Disney Channel for at least five years.

LESSON 10
1. Make a recoding of Fran Drescher saying "mommy" repeatedly. *Note: no more than a four second delay betwen each "mommy"; occasionally crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required.
2. Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next 6 years.
3. You are now ready to travel with kids.

LESSON 11
1. Start talking to an adult of your choice.
2. Have someone else continually tug on your shirt sleeve, or elbow while playing "mommy" tape from lesson 10 above.
3. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

REMEMBER: a sense of humor is one of the most important things you'll need when you become a parent!

AHhh.....aren't these true!? Everytime I read this, I get a chuckly because I knew EVERYTHING until I became a parent. What a humbling experience it is!

The old house

2011-01-23T19:39:00.007-06:00

Our mailbox. That still is our *current* mailbox until this frozen tundra thaws out!

One view...pre-tear down.

The road view. It was such a beautiful day for pictures. The lighting was amazing!

Pulling the snow away from the house so the deck can be ripped off.

Yes, that cloud is 100+ years of dust and dirt from inside the walls.

Josh...FYI-if you smile...the camera will break!

Much better Mr. Lafond! And Larry. The excavator guy. What a great picture you two!

Kids pics

2011-01-23T19:20:00.005-06:00

******Scroll down to see more posts that have been recently published.

******Please leave a comment as to whether you'd like to see a post of the new house 1st. Or a post of the old house being torn down 1st.

We've been having a ton of fun this winter playing outside in the snow. Crosby even enjoys being outside in the snow while in the backpack.

Blake has enjoyed it the most. He will play for hours and hours playing with shovels, wrestling the dogs and whatnot. He'll even stay out for an extra few minutes if he gets hot chocolate when he comes in!

Look at these cheeks. Somedays you've just got to squeeze 'em. She'll let you!

And look who's growing up right in front of us! Crosby is now sitting up a lot and will even feed himself a bottle. My baby is getting so big, so fast! He's now starting to get up on all fours and rock. Look out world: We've got a crawler on our hands SOON!

This is what happens when you give a baby an orange for the first time:

The driveway pictures:

2011-01-23T15:26:00.005-06:00

Some more pictures...

Getting our driveway done

The awesome HHH inspecting the work while we get our driveway done:

Kenna sneaking some juice inside while they did the driveway...and a picture of our kitchen. Pre-appliances and pre-cleaning!

Our little charmer outside while we had a bonfire before the snow started to fall!

A little Woody and Jessie action!

The outside of our house how it looks

The things they say....

2011-01-20T13:52:00.002-06:00

The other night I was putting Blake to bed and we were saying prayers. He was praying that he got "the Toystory aliens, and bullseye, and" then he paused and said "I pray that Bailey could come back from hea-bin. Anna's Bailey, and Anna's dad (GaryD) and Papa Dave. I pray they all could come back from hea-bin." It was so sweet and so genuine that I started to cry. The innocence of his sweet prayer forced me to step back and realize how simple life would be if all our prayers could be realized. Blake asked me why I was crying and I told him it was because I was so happy that he wanted everyone back. He asked why they couldn't come back, and ...wow. Ummm. . . let's see. How to explain that to a 4 year old! I told him that God needed them more than we did so God was going to keep them with Him until we get to go to heaven. He seemed satisfied with that answer, but he has been quite fizated on death and dying and how people die and all that (not so fun) stuff.

House Update

2011-01-15T19:43:00.006-06:00

Okay. Another update, and a sneek peak! I'm going to update over the next few days so all of you have something to "sink your teeth into", and then the big reveal in a week or so.

What you ask are we doing in this picture?

Got any ideas?

Why...insulating our ceiling so our house is "somewhat" sound-proof! One of the joys of custom building is we could do things we wanted to along the way, provided we stayed out of everyone's way!

Insulation is NASTY! It is so itchy and the little particles make it a must for wearing glasses!

This is the hallway upstairs looking from the stairwell.

Whoever said that bribing your kids is not "healthy"?

You're wrong.

And...you've never built a house before! (notice the sucker in Kenna's hand)

The kids were so good throughout the whole process, especially when Mike and I were working on things that practically brought us to divorce court! Seriously.

What was it that almost got us there? Nope. Not 3 kids in under 3 1/2 years. Not living with your parents, while having another baby and living with your sister. It was:

Tiling. Yep. Tile. I, by myself, have tiled 3 bathrooms. (all at our old house). However, this tile job got the best of both of us. The tiles are 24", so they're not an easy thing to do. And having a perfectionist husband laying the tile and making them perfect also did not add ease to the project! We set out to tile our mudroom and all 3 bathrooms. We made it through tiling the mudroom and the main floor bathroom, and caved. We had a tile guy finish our bathroom and the kids' bathroom!

Mike working hard at perfect!

Our bathtub that we had someone else do, which helped to save our marriage!

A little sneak peek you asked for?

Welcome Home!

Oh Christmas Card Oh Christmas Card!

2010-12-03T21:39:00.002-06:00

You've been in and out of our lives over the past 7 years. Hopefully this year I will be able to maintain an annual card. With the help of shutterfly's Christmas photo cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards I think my dreams will come true! If only I had done Crosby's birth announcements using Shutterfly (http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birthday-cards-stationery), I could have used the time it took to make them all and assemble all of them and put it to better use addressing the envelopes and putting stamps on them. Oh well...right? He's not 6 months yet! We usually do a calendar for Mike's grandma using http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars, and I better get on it so I can order my Christmas Cards and her calendar BEFORE Christmas! There was a year when I forgot it and ended up having it made at a store by our house, but I think they always looks so much nicer when you can set your photos in the layout you want and they are in-puted (is that a word?) into the calendar online, THEN printed. So...off to Shutterfly I go to put together our Christmas cards. I can't wait to see what they look like! Thanks Shutterfly for all you do!

House update

2010-09-09T14:48:00.005-05:00

Whew! It's been quite a while, I know. Here are a few pictures to satisfy all of YOU!
The house is MUCH, MUCH more done than this, but these are the pics off of my camera. I will take some more and update a bit later (tonight-maybe)!
Here is our living room, with the box on the left where our fireplace will be. A real fireplace-yup! I know. Call us crazy. The mess, the dirtyness, the work. Ahhhh....but the sound and smell of a real fireplace simply. cannot. be. beat!

These are the french doors that will eventually lead out onto our deck. To the left is the kitchen window.

Our own little Walnut Grove that we (me brother, sister and I)planted with my dad when I was probably 8 or so!

Here is our front door from the inside looking out.

The garages and the two dormers to the left are my mom's living room and her bedroom. The one on the right is Blake's room.

More pics to follow!

House progress

2010-07-16T21:38:00.000-05:00

The kids playing on the newly poured concrete, which is our garage floor.

Mike helping the guys pour concrete at 6 in the morning.

Watching daddy work!

The view of our kitchen/mudroom and dining room.

The front of our house.

Back of the house

Our 2nd floor, and my mom's area.

View looking from my mom's apartment into our bedrooms and laundry room.

The newest Member...and more house pics!

2010-07-14T10:35:00.007-05:00

Me right before being induced and starting Pitocin.

Our newest member: Crosby Charles Van Patten

Born June 30th, 2010 at 5:47 pm. 9lbs, 19 inches.

Daddy and Crosby

All 3 of our kids! Meeting Crosby for the first time.

Kisses from Blake and Kenna

Kenna thinks he is the greatest and is always trying to soothe him if he makes even a wimper!

Proud big brother Blake. He is so in love with his little brother!

Proud aunt Ellen and uncle Loren

House Progress

2010-06-24T20:03:00.014-05:00

We are in the thick of house-building. It has been quite the process thus far, and here are some pictures of the progress:

Some of the work Mike put into clearing the area. HOURS, upon HOURS, upon HOURS of him clearing trees, brush, junk, etc. (And one trip to the ER for some stitches)

The house area (with the old barn) prior to digging.

The kids and Mike in the excabator (as Blake calls it).

Blake digging the dirt out with Ryan (the excavator guy).

My babes watching the guys!

Josh (in white), our builder...he LOVES concrete!

Pouring rock into the basement before the cement is poured.

Watching the digger on a rainy day.

Hugely pregnant lady in her basement.

Baby girl sportin' some construction material.

The trusses are up on the first floor!

Pouring the concrete for the basement floor.

Our construction crew hard at work.

And the best part?

WE HAVE A FRONT DOOR!
(or what will one day be our front door!)

Bathtime

2010-05-26T06:19:00.003-05:00

Last night I was taking a bath and Blake came in the bathroom to get a drink of water. Upon coming in, he saw that all his bath toys were on the floor. He looked at them, then looked at me in the tub reading a magazine and said "Mom, you can play with my toys!" I said "Oh babe, I'm okay. I don't need any toys . . . I am reading a magazine!" He then said "Ok Mom. When I leave (the bathroom) you can play with my toys. I will share with you!"
Oh babe...I think the days of me playing with toys in the tub are over, but I won't break your heart and tell you!
You are such a sweetheart with such a kind soul. You are going to be such a good big brother when this little babe is born.

Hockey Games

2010-04-18T22:14:00.004-05:00

My college hockey team hosted the DIII final four this year. It was something we always wanted to do when I played for them "back in the day", but we never had the opportunity. So...of course I had to make the trek down to Gustavus to cheer on my Alma Mater. Unfortunately, they lost both games that they played in, however it was a great experience for both kids.
My little stinker on the way down:

My little man wondering how much longer?

My little thumb sucker soaking all the excitement in:

Kids say the darndest things!

2010-04-08T14:24:00.001-05:00

Oh my, Oh my!
Mike and I were talking to Blake the other night before he went to bed. We were talking about when he was "little" (like he isn't little now!). We were telling him about how he would kick me when he was in my tummy and how he liked to be rocked when he was a baby, and so on and so forth. At some point, I said something I remember from when I was little. He immediately got a confused look on his face, as if he could not grasp what I was saying. I asked him what was wrong and said "but Mommy...I never knew you when you were little."
It was so funny to try and figure out what he was saying, but it was as if he was saying he couldn't understand how I could have been little at one point because he "never knew me."

An another note, Kenna's new word for a horse is a "hee-haw".
She will talk almost any toy, put it between her legs, as if riding a horse and say "hee-haw, hee-haw"!
When we drive past horses on the road, she'll say "MA-om. Mom. Hee-haw. Hee-haw!"

Do you want to?

2010-03-16T11:48:00.002-05:00

While in the car riding to daycare, I catch a glance at Blake leaning over towards Kenna in her carseat. He is talking to her and I turn down the radio so I can better hear what he is saying. Here is how the conversation went:
"Kenna, do you want to be a light fixer?" Kenna's reply "Nuh-uh"
"Kenna, do you want to be a bettery changer?" Again, the reply of "Nuh-uh"
"Kenna, do you want to be a cow?" and she responds while laughing "Uh-huh"
Blake looked at me and said "Mom, Kenna wants to be a cow. Not a light fixer or a battery changer, a COW!" And he starts giggling because he realizes how funny it is, she continues to laugh because she knows he is playing with him and we all go about our merry way!

As a side note:
Blake thinks that there are people who come into your house and change your lights, fix batteries and fix anything else that needs to be fixed. If a toy needs a battery he says we need to call the battery man. 'Cause he will come and fix it.

Pregnant

2010-02-22T22:26:00.003-06:00

My pregnancies, in particular:
Have. Been. WONDERFUL! I have nothing to complain about with my two previous pregnancies, nor this one. (Except a slight case of heart burn that is easily solved with a little bit of OTC meds.)

My favorite parts of pregnancy:
1. telling people we are expecting
2. starting to show
3. feeling the baby 1st move
4. feeling the baby really start to move and holding my hand on my tummy waiting for him/her to kick or punch my hand
5. seeing the baby on the ultrasound
6. feeling the baby's hickups
7. getting close to my due date and not knowing when they baby will decide to make his/her grand entrance into this world (late...as usual, or at least that's what I hope for!)

One thing that is different from this pregnancy than my other two is that I get to share our excitement of the upcoming baby with Blake and Makenna. Blake is completely, 100% convinced the baby is a boy. If we say "what if it is a girl?" he will say "it isn't mommy. It is a boy and he is going to sleep in my bedroom in the new house." Good thing he's got this whole life-thing planned out.
Makenna is adorable with the idea of a baby. If I ask her where the baby is, she will lift up her shirt and say "baby". Then I ask her again where mommy's baby is and she will point to my stomach and again say "baby".
I am now 24 weeks and will get to see what this little one that is so active is...in 4 short months! (probably closer to 4 1/2 months, as Blake was 11 days late and Makenna was 6 days late)
This is a picture of me pregnant with Makenna on her due date:

CRazY! I know. I look like a torpedo. No wonder I've got such lovely stretch marks. Oh-the joys of being a mommy!

Garbage Man

2010-02-02T13:24:00.003-06:00

Our little man is such a sweetheart.
We got him a garbage truck for his birthday because he thinks they are the coolest things ever. He will wait by the window when the garbage man comes an watch intently at all that goes into picking up our garbage. We have even had the opportunity to meet our garbage man and let him know he is Blake's idol.

Here is a conversation we've had over the past few weeks:
Me: "Blake, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
Blake: "A Garbage man" matter of fact-ly.
Me: "Hmmm...really?"
Blake: "Yes," he says "Garbage men can can be daddy's too mommy."
Me: "oH...they can!? You don't want to be a football player or a hockey player?"
Blake: "No. " (in a completely annoyeed voice like I didn't hear him say it before. "A garbage man. 'Cause they can be daddy's."

And so the conversation has been going the last few weeks. Apparently I was unaware that garbage men can be daddy's. SO...A garbage man he shall be! I'm sure they make lots of money and hey-they get to be outside all day long! Can't complain about that, except in the dead heat of summer. No thanks on those days.

Corners and Tags

2009-11-22T22:44:00.002-06:00

Something I want to be able to share with my littles as they grow up:
Blake...has always been a blankie baby. When he was "little" up until about a year ago, he would take his blankie in his hand and rub it between his pointer and thumb. His "yellow" blankie, which is actually white, has a soft fleece-like side and a satin other side. He would position the blankie just right so it would slide smoothly between his fingers. He upgraded a year or so ago to the corners of his blanket. He will push the corner in, then squeeze the sides and it will pop up, just so he can do it over again. Unfortunately, the corners have become too soft and now only one corner does the popping up!

Makenna....has become quite a blankie babe as well. She calls it her B and is obsessed with the tags on them. She is not partial to just one blanket, but many. When we are driving to daycare, she usually has a blanket with her and has to have the tag on the blanket in her right hand with her thumb in her, unless she "settles" for it in her left hand, yet still has her thumb in her mouth. Sometimes, if she can't find her tag on the blankie, she will come up to us and say "P, P, P, P" in a really whiney voice and hand us her blanke. (P is Please for Kenna). She is hinting that she wants us to find the tag for her.
Ugh! Seriously! LOVE THEM!

Rodeo

2009-09-01T22:53:00.005-05:00

Have you ever looked at something and totally felt the feeling that you were outside of your body viewing the world looking through your own body? I was listening to the radio a while back and they were talking about "God Moments". Basically, the moments that take your breath away and make you feel that God was totally in control. One of those moments happened to me at the rodeo back in June. The sky was an eery shade of black/blue, the stars were out, the sun was setting, the horses were directly to our side and the world was oblivious to the fact that my two year old was jamming away to the music. It.was.simply.amazing.
Such a small glimpse in time, yet such a memorable one for me. It was so cool to watch Blake jam away to the song on the loudspeaker without a care in the world as we stood next to the fence that stood between us and the horses.

If this picture of a girl totally enamored with her daddy doesn't melt your heart, I don't know what does. Maybe the sight of your hubby with your baby? Oh man! I love these two so much!

A girl and her papa.

A boy and his daddy!

Love the baby arms.

I know! I know!

2009-08-10T21:03:00.006-05:00

It's only been forever since I've posted.
What have we been up to? Hmmm... Here's a little list:
Potty training
Moving out of crib
Painting/redecorating room
Traveling abroad (to Chile)
Traveling south to Uncle Myles' farm
Celebrating a 1st birthday
Celebrating a 29th birthday
Celebrating a 28th birthday
Learning to walk
Going to a rodeo
Going to a wedding
Getting a first class tour of a fire station
Celebrating a 6 year anniversary

Going to the beach....ahhh! The days of summer are getting the best of us.

Let's start in order by date:
Blake decided that, on Mike's birthday, he'd give him an awesome birthday gift. The gift of potty-training himself. Yep! You heard it. He decided to march his little behind into the bathroom, without any prompting, and pee on the potty. He tried the little potty, but felt like goldilocks and the three bears. It just didn't fit right. Then, he was off to the "big boy" potty.

Much better! Ever since, he's been all undies, except bedtime and naptime. Amazing, I know. I always thought he'd be the "tough kid" to potty train. Nope. He definitely has a mind of his own.

Next on the agenda?
Our 6 year anniversary. Time flies, I know. I cannot believe it has been 6 years.
What did we do to celebrate? I surprised Mike by having my brother and sister in law watch the kids for the night, and I booked a room at the St. Paul Hotel http://www.saintpaulhotel.com/
It was awesome. A perfect STAYcation!
We went to Axel's in Mendota Heights for steak and drinks. I got a yummy martini and Mike got the sampler of scotch. Afterwards, we went to the Grand 'Ole Creamery for ice cream. Double YUM YUM!

Back to the hotel for bubble baths and enjoying the last 6 years of marriage!
The next morning we woke up to rain, but that didn't hinder our plans to go to the Wabasha Street Caves. They were pretty cool, and the history behind them was very interesting.

Then...off to more food at Ike's in Minneapolis for hamburgers, caramel rolls, french fries and a little diet coke.
Oh-how delicious it was!
We thoroughly enjoyed our time together and are planning on doing many more stay-cations in the future!

weekend warriors

2009-05-28T21:10:00.000-05:00

Oh...that we have been the past weekend. We went to Oconomowoc, WI to visit HHH's grandma. I took Friday off and drove the kids the 339.05 miles from our house to Grammy's.
The kids were amazing. We had a few minutes of a screaming fest, but that's to be expected. Blake is really into having "things" with him at all times. We usually set a limit of 2 items, one for each hand, but sometimes you just have to pacify him with more than 2. Such as this picture:

A little while later, I caught him catching some ZZZZZ's.
Seriously. I just love him. To bits and pieces!
While driving to Grammy's I ordered pizza (by dialing 1.800.goog.411)from Marty's so the kids could eat quickly at her house and get ready for bed.
Grammy ended up giving them a bath with me, which was so much fun. Blake was playing with a cup and was giving Grammy "Skittles" of all different colors. He would put water in the cup, pinch a bit of it and then say "Grammy. Dis wun es yewoah skitto." "No dis wun es bwue wun". It is something I want to remember forever.
Saturday we woke up and played until HHH, Loren and Ellen made their arrival. It was a perfect day, which ended with the kids playing at a park by a restaurant that we were at.
Daddy and his hungry littles.
Kenna digging for food in her little bib/tray! It is so funny to watch her dig for gold in there!
Kenna eating a lemon. Yep. In love with her.
Blake kissing "Ewen"
Ahhh...swinging. The ultimate kid-pleaser! I wish I could swing now without getting sick to my stomach!

Oh-Kenna's new thing is to take her bow, barret, pony, anything you put in her hair, she will take out. It is hilarious to watch her when she doesn't have something in to try and take it out. It's like a phantom bow and she'll keep trying to take it out, even though there's nothing in!
Trying to get it out. Wrong side babe. Wrong side!
Look mommy! I got it out!

Sunday arrived. We enjoyed an uneventful morning at home (other than we had to find a new church b/c Grammy's pastor was ill), went to said church, then to the Lake Club for lunch. We ate outside, which turned out to be a fabulous day to eat lunch outside.

After lunch the kids played in the beach area where Blake raked and shoveled the sand.

Nap time followed quickly after lunch and then...

dahdahdahhhhhhh...

the dreaded drive home. Yuck. However, our children were...yet again amazing on the ride home. Except a few screaming episodes where we had to roll down the windows so we didn't ruin our hearing.

The above are taken during one of the screaming episodes. Kenna's hair is so wispy right now that the wind just took it away! Notice the food crumbs all over!? Gotta love eating in the car with a 10 month old!

All in all, it was a fabulous weekend. We got to hang out with Grammy, chat on the pier on the lake, eat at yummy restaurants, our children were well-behaved and the driving wasn't so bad. I just wish she lived closer!

Baby Love

2009-05-26T23:38:00.000-05:00

Mommy

2009-05-11T19:30:00.000-05:00

The one thing I've wanted to be since I was a little girl is a MOMMY. I remember playing with my friend's baby siblings and my parents always saying I needed to play with my friends. I remember babysitting and never wanting to put the baby down and the mom's saying "he/she can walk". Yeh. Whatever.

Now that I am a mom, I know why I always wanted to be one. It is absolutely. Positively. THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD.
Some of the highlights I have had in the last two and a half years:
Sneaking into my little one's rooms to pick them up and rock them while they sleep.
Having the overwhelming feeling that your heart is beating outside of your body the moment Blake and Makenna were born.
Having the feeling that your heart is going to jump out of your chest the moment my kids took their first breath because you love them SO. MUCH.
Having my kids say mama for the first time. Blake was 18 months and Makenna was 8 months!
When you Blakey gets hurt and nobody can console him except-me!
Having Kenna say MamaMamaMamaMama when she just wants to be held.
Holding my kids and having them put their heads on my shoulder to snuggle.
Having Blake say "I wuv you mama!" Oh. It'll melt your heart everytime!
That natural instinct to run into their rooms when they start sleeping through the night to make sure they are still breathing. I remember being in their rooms and thinking "how did I get in here!?" Blake started sleeping 7-7 at 4 months, and Makenna was 3 months. Best book to help? 12 hours by 12 weeks. Our wonderfully pediatrician recommended it.
Hearing Blake use his manners and say "hankyou Mommy fo heping me!" or "hankyou Mommy fo getting me my food!" He's a charmer, I tell ya!

These two little ones have made my world so much better! I have learned a great deal about myself by being their mommy and working with Mikey to raise them to be polite, caring and happy children!

Blake @ 3 days old.

Makenna @ 2 weeks.
The two of them 3 days after Kenna was born:

Oh! How I love these two to bits and pieces and want to just nibble on them all day long!

What did you say?

2009-05-04T21:23:00.000-05:00

Huh? What? You said you love us to bits and pieces?!

Geez Mom. You're making me blush!

Sibling Rivalry? I think not.

2009-04-26T07:16:00.000-05:00

When asked if our children get along, I always say yes. Sure, they may have little quarrels over a toy or a book, but for the most part, they get along perfectly (in our eyes at least). The evidence lies here:

where they are playing on our bed. Blake is trying to keep Kenna from escaping as she attempts to crawl off the bed. And here:

Oh. How I love the two of them playing together. At the end of another day, Blake wanted to "help Henna drink bottle". How can you resist a loving brother trying to help his sister drink her bottle so she can be placed in her bed to drift off to sleep while he gets to read books in his mommy and daddy's bed and then also be placed in his crib to sleep the night away?

BUT...after a bottle and before bed, a little wrestle-mania II must occur!

If these two continue on the trek to friendship that they are on, we are all set!
A little Makenna update:
She is 9 months old.
This week she started crawling...for real. No more army-style crawling for this little babe.
She now attempts to crawl up stairs.
She starting saying "mama" and continues to say it over and over again.
Last night she started clapping, and pretty much hasn't stopped. She seems to already realize you clap when you're excited or want something, or want more of something.
We started signing basic stuff to her (I know. I know. A little late!), and she has picked it up amazingly fast.
She LOVES. LOVES. LOVES her brother.
She loves snuggling her blankie when she goes to bed and sucking her thumb.
She has started to suck her thumb more now when she is getting tired, which is so easy to spot and quickly swoop her up to her bed for never-never land!

Easter weekend

2009-04-18T14:47:00.000-05:00

As our children get older, it seems that the fun and excitement of holidays and celebrations come running back. At times, I wonder who has more fun with all the excitement...our little ones, or Mike and I? Who would think that we would strive to have the "best egg" while decorating eggs, or have the best hiding spot, when hiding the plastic eggs filled with candy for our children?

Regardless, we had an amazing Easter right here in our own home. We dyed eggs on Saturday. Blake loved putting the car stickers on them.

And just for all those Guimond's out there, he definitely "Is a Guimond". Look at that tongue. Seriously-you just want to squeeze him! >div>

And just for those of you that think I only take the pictures, I am in one:

We had such a fun time decorating eggs, enjoying the (finally) nice weather outside and getting some spring cleaning out of the way.

Then, Blake put carrots and "milk" out for the Easter bunny. Milk is actually ranch dressing, but really-who's checking?
And when we woke up . . . the bunny had placed eggs all over the living room and brought Blake new hockey sticks and his own copy of Green Eggs and Ham.

After eggs and a breakfast of apple crispies, we headed off to church for a beautiful service, followed by naps and brunch (at 4:15 in the afternoon) at Sunset's on the lake.

Green Eggs and Ham

2009-04-06T11:03:00.000-05:00

Oh...the thoughts from a two year old.
When asked what he would like for breakfast, Blake non-chalantly replied
"Umm...Green eggs and ham". What!???? R U kidding me?
Actually, I was not surprised at all. He has been obsessed with this Dr. Suess book ever since we found it at the library. So....

Green eggs and ham it is!

the Pop Sneezed!

2009-04-04T23:21:00.000-05:00

HHH opened a can of pop at the dinner table.
Blake had a surprised look on his face, laughed and then laughed and said
"The Pop Sneezed".
HHH and I laughed and I asked HHH
"Where did we get him?" to which Blake responded
"At Carget" (aka Target).
Seriously. Where DID we get him? 2 cute.