Friday, November 30, 2007

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!












Hello all. I wanted to post these pictures last week but have had a sick baby, and a broken washing machine and dishwasher all at the same time! I'm happy to report the washing machine is fixed, the part is on the way for the dishwasher and Zella still has a cold but is at least sleeping through the night.

We had a fun Thanksgiving. We went to mom and dad's house and my sister Lisa and her 7 kids were there. We hadn't seen them in a long time so that was fun. Great food too of course. We were missing family we weren't able to see. Hope you all had a wonderful day.

As you can see from the photos, Travis made Indian headbands for the kids with real pheasant feathers. They thought it was pretty cool. ;)

Last Saturday Travis and Madeline went on a "date" to a movie and also went Christmas shopping for Zella and me. They had a blast.

Zella and I decorated for Christmas while they were gone. (Well, really Zella just "sang" along to Christmas carols and watched me from her high chair.)

On Sunday we decorated the Christmas tree and started a new tradition of making sugar cookies and having hot chocolate afterwards. Madeline LOVES to cook and is constantly asking me to bake something with her. We've been having fun.

We are getting ready for the holidays. Last year we had just moved and were about to have a baby so we didn't even put up a tree! We just had a tiny fiber optic tree. So we are not wasting any time this year getting into the holiday spirit.

Today we are going to my sister Lisa's house to go deer hunting. Travis is really excited to hunt. He has never been deer hunting before and I really hope he gets a deer.

We're excited to spend time at Lisa's house which is kinda like a Disneyland for kids. (Pond for fishing/ice skating/swimming, horses, cows, rolling hills, beautiful scenery and all those cousins of course!)

We hope you and yours are happy and healthy.

Love,
Lori

Friday, November 16, 2007

We moved 1 year ago





Hello all. It's hard to believe, but we moved one year ago. Let me refresh your memory of what was going on last year with us....

First of all, I was 8 months pregnant. If you or a family member decides to move when they are 8 months pregnant try to talk them out of it! I was HUGE. I could barely bend over or stand up let alone move boxes. And if any of you had been to our loft you probably remember the dread and terror of the 32 steep steps in our stairway. Imagine climbing the stairs with a giant belly, an 18 month old and a diaper bag. I was quite a sight!

We had possession of our current house at the end of August, and Travis was renovating pretty much the whole house. He worked 11-12 hours a day and then went to the house each night and weekend for hours upon hours. Poor guy! We ran into mold under the living room carpet two weeks before we were to move so that pushed everything back quite a bit. Luckily my parents, Trav's mom Stacey and his sister Kate helped us paint the ENTIRE house in one weekend. They were AMAZING and we are still appreciate of all their work.

The day we moved we didn't even have the toilet installed in the bathroom. (Rest assured that is the first thing Travis did once the move was complete.) The kitchen renovation wasn't even started so I didn't have a kitchen for two weeks! Did I mention I was about to have a baby at any second? All of the kitchen boxes were in the dining room and Madeline was a mad woman trying to climb them. I would waddle after her and try to lure her back into the toy room. It was craziness!

We still have a lot of work to do on the house...none of the trim is up and we still have to finish the bathroom upstairs (I use the term "we" loosely of course...it's mostly T) but we have come a LONG way. Our house had the ugliest paint/flooring I have EVER seen! It's probably why it was on the market so long. The dining room paint actually gave me a headache! U-G-L-Y. Of course it's not ugly anymore, thanks to Travis and our wonderful family.

Travis has transformed the back yard also. He put up a 6' privacy fence. We have a nice big swingset and sandbox, a garden, hammock and fire pit. It was fun to spend time out there this summer. We hope to build a deck next summer.

Hope you like the pics. It's hard to believe the before pictures but the house was really that ugly. ha ha The pictures above are from the first floor...everything but Trav's studio. I will try to take pictures of upstairs later. It was ugly also ;)

Lori

I left the house without the kids!

Hello. Yesterday I actually left the house without either kids. It doesn't happen too often. :)

My dad picked me up after he was done with work and we went to Mason City. We went to Aldi's (discount grocery store I'd never been to before). Then we went out to eat at Chandler's and headed to Target after that. Of course we had to get ice cream on the way home.

We had such a blast. Who knew grocery shopping would be so much fun? :)

Mom watched the girls until Travis got home from work. They were excited to hang out with Granny and Papa. Travis has had to work a lot this week and will be working OT next week also trying to get everything taken care for before Thanksgiving.

Seeing all the Christmas decorations in the stores made me so excited for the holidays! We didn't have a Christmas tree last year (just a teeny tabletop one) because we were moving. I think we'll put our tree up next weekend. Woo hoo! I already have the Christmas music playing. I love the holidays.

Hope all is well.
More later,
Lori

Monday, November 12, 2007

Happy Monday

Hello all. Hope you had a good weekend. Grandma "Marker" (aka Trav's mom) came to visit. We had so much fun! The girls were so excited to see her.

Grandma gave Zella a cracker and Zella said "thank you". We couldn't believe it! I thought it was a fluke so we waited a couple minutes and Stacey gave her a cracker again. And again Zella said "thank you". Smart AND has manners...just like her sister...we lucked out with these girls I tell ya!

Zella also said light and dog for the first time this weekend. She's walking more and more and loves to get into whatever Madeline is doing. Madeline loves to play dress up and undress herself. It is hard to keep clothes on her! She is doing well with potty training.

Hope all is well.
More later,
Lori

Monday, November 5, 2007

Happy Belated Halloween!







Hello all. It has taken me awhile to get these pics off my camera but I finally did it. We had a great Halloween! Madeline was Strawberry Shortcake (she kept saying "I'm having a berry berry good time!") and Zella was a Hershey's Kiss.

First a stop to Aunt Gayle's to drop off popcorn balls and chat a bit. Uncle Louie, cousin Sarah and cousin Jeff took turns coming in from the field to see the girls dressed up. We played and chatted for a bit.

Then we went to see Madeline's best friend Amelia and her mommy Cassie (one of my good friends). We went trick-or-treating up and down their block. Madeline kept trying to go inside everyone's house and sit on their couch. :)
It was pretty nice outside but windy and Zella's Hershey Kiss hat got ripped. So I put her in a Winnie the Pooh costume (thanks for the hand-me-downs Lisa and Carrie!)

Next we went to Granny and Grandpa's house. Uncle Minnesota was there visiting from Scotland. It was great to see him!!!! Granny went with us to houses around her neighborhood. We went back to my parents for supper and baths. The girls had fun.

I dressed up as a witch (I know that's not what won the poll, but Madeline asked me to dress up as a witch). My costume didn't last the whole night though because I tripped on the dress and fell down the concrete steps outside of my parent's house. I think I broke my finger! It's still swollen and I can barely move it almost a week later. Good thing I wasn't carrying Zella. I am such a clutz!

The popcorn balls were a hit which was good since I had never made them before. I think they will have to be a new tradition. Madeline was happy with her candy loot and Zella was happy-go-lucky as usual.

I hope you all had a great Halloween.
More later,
Lori