Tag: family

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OTW – feeling crummy

My weekend actually started Thursday, if you count the weekend as the days I’ve felt less than 100%.  Not that I feel 100% a lot of the time, but I’d say it’s generally at least in the 90’s.  The last four days I’ve been down in the 25-30% range.  Not fun.  Thursday I started an on and off streak of migraines that have had me down for the count most of the weekend.  Friday morning I woke up in such pain that I called my mom to see if she could come over to wrangle the mini-men.  Thankfully, she was able to clear her schedule and come to my aid.  I was in bed (and in pain) until dinnertime.  My awesome mom not only handled the boys (play time, lunch time, nap time & dinner time) but she also helped me get started on the mountain of laundry that has been silently growing in my basement.  What a gift to me she was on Friday.

Unfortunately, the pain did not subside on Saturday and Jake was kind enough to pick up where my mom left off and took care of the boys, meals, etc. all day.  In the morning, he took Lincoln to the swimming pool while Papa & Nolan went to Lowe’s to build something together.  That something was a fantastic jewelry organizer!  Nolan was SO proud of his project – and rightfully so!  I love it!  And to make it even more perfect, Jake’s Valentine’s Day gift to me was a beautiful sapphire necklace, & earrings made by our family friend, Becky.  The boys rounded out their Saturday morning outing by stopping for lunch at Nana & Papa’s and a little cake decorating.  They boys had fun with all of the frosting and sprinkles (or crickets, as Nolan called them.)  After dinner, we enjoyed the finished products.  Yum!

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The gass we pass

Tonight after prayers were said and little boys were snuggling in for the night, I laid my head down on Nolan and asked if I could use him as a pillow tonight.  He started wiggling around and I told him he makes a pretty uncomfortable pillow.  Just as I said that, a short puff of gas came out of his rear into my ear.  The kid totally farted on me.  We all instantly broke out in laughter.  I couldn’t believe what he did – and I don’t think he could either.  I shot up from my sleeping position and stood next to his bed.  He was still giggling uncontrollably.  I went over to give Lincoln a kiss and said, so are you going to fart on me now too?  His answer, “ya.”  Thankfully I don’t think he understood what I was asking (and didn’t follow through on his promise.)

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Rest in peace

I’ve been contemplating whether or not to write about Saturday.  I know I use this blog primarily as a way to share the goings on of the kids and the craziness of our house, so let me preface this by saying today’s post will diverge from the norm.

Last week our family suffered the loss of one of Jake’s cousins.  Today we laid her to rest.  She was only 20 years old and was the mother to a beautiful 7 month old little boy.  Her death is one that I have taken harder than you would think, since I didn’t know her that well compared to others in the family.  I think the grief I feel stems from being both a daughter and a mother.  My heart aches for her mom.  And I hurt for her son.  As I continue to try to make sense of what transpired last week, I pray for peace in the hearts of all who had the opportunity to know and love this young mother, sister, daughter & friend.

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Sweet, sweet singing

I’m listening to my two little chatter bugs talk to each other in their room – they’re supposed to be sleeping.  Nolan’s saying the ABC’s and Lincoln is singing along with him.  The sweet sounds of their little voices melt my heart.  The two of them have become such good pals.  Even when they bicker or get upset or frustrated with one another, they are quick to forgive, forget, and move on.

As we were having an ice cream treat tonight after dinner, I realized how many of the pictures I take are of the boys eating something in their respective places at the table.  As an outsider looking in, one would think the world revolves around our dining space.  With two growing boys, that’s probably not too far from the truth.  🙂

Today was PJ day at preschool, so Nolan wore his Batman pajamas proudly all day.

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Mom’s birthday – the first of 2010

My mom celebrated the first family birthday of the new year.  Several years ago, my dad started a birthday dinner tradition to commemorate her special day.  He prepares his now famous, Beef Wellington, every January 3rd.  This year we had twice baked potatoes (made by Tony), julienne carrots, asparagus and chocolate vinegar cake for dessert.  I think everyone looks forward to this meal each year.  The boys were more interested in the veggies and cake, but I’m guessing if they’re anything like their dad and uncle, it won’t be long until they go back for 2nds from the main course.

It wouldn’t be a birthday without opening gifts.  The kids helped Nana find her presents inside the birthday bag.  I think they pulled everything out in less that 20 seconds.  🙂  My mom hardly had time to see what they pulled out before they grabbed something else.  After opening gifts, I tried to take a picture with Nana and all of the boys, but Nolan decided to pout.  (That’s him behind the railing in the green sweatshirt.)  To round out our visit to Nana & Papa’s the boys had to visit Taz & Gwen (Uncle Tony’s bearded dragon & gecko.)  They love going upstairs to say “hi” and feed the lizards.  It was an extra special treat to have Uncle Tony with them for tonight’s visit.

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New Year, New Decade, Same great relatives!

We piled into my parents’ “giant marshmallow” as Nolan has started calling it (thanks, in part, to my mom :)) and pointed north to the Iron Range.  Our “normal” family gathering was pushed a week later due to the Christmas snowstorm.  It actually worked great for us, since we usually can only make my dad’s family’s celebration every other year.  Once again, my Aunt Ann, Uncle Gene & cousin Amy were exceptional hosts.  They always have an amazing spread!

My cousin Cory and his wife Renee brought their 3 kiddos from ND so Nolan and Lincoln had a few playmates.  I think the kids had a good time with one another.  We should try to get them together more often!

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NYE

Jake loves being a dad.  Things like this make me smile – he really loves his kids.

Just in case you were wondering, there are about 70 balloons there – all inflated by my husband.  And no, he didn’t feel light-headed after blowing them all up.  Thankfully, we have an air compressor that did the job.  We rung in the New Year with a few friends, 3 kiddos, a warm fire in the porch, and a few tasty treats.  The kids lasted until about 10:30, so the party ended a bit before the official start of the new decade, but that was ok.  Our family had to get some sleep so we could get up and make the trip up north to the Iron Range to visit my dad’s side of the family.

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Christmas 2009 – take 3 & take 4

We woke up Christmas morning to snow and rain…yes, rain on December 25.  Jake  started a fire in the porch so we could open presents without freezing around the tree.  We gave the boys sleeping bags & cots this year.  It was pretty funny watching them practice taking naps.  It’s the first Christmas morning in several years that we didn’t have to load ourselves into a car to travel to a morning or out of town gathering.  What a gift that was!  We spent time as a family, the kids napped in the afternoon, and in the evening, we headed to Jake’s grandparents’ house for the Settergren family Christmas celebration.  35+ of us were able to make it this year.  Believe it or not, we were missing a few due to the weather.  I forgot to pack the camera for the big family shindig.  Maybe that was a good thing though – I didn’t worry about capturing all that I could, digitally.  Instead, I just enjoyed the evening as it unfolded.

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Christmas 2009 – take 2

Christmas Eve was a snowy one.  We woke up to a driveway full of light, fluffy flakes.  After breakfast, Jake and I traded our “normal” jobs – I went out to snow blow the driveway and he stayed in and watched the kids and cleaned up the kitchen.  After he was done, he dressed the kids in their snowpants, etc. and brought them outside.  We dug out the sled and tried to make a path down the hill in the front yard.  Several attempts were made to blaze a trail, some successful, some not so much.  But fun was definitely had by all – except for the one time that Lincoln got white-washed.  He called it quits after that episode.  But Nolan, our neighbor D, and I continued to play for a while.  If lunch time hadn’t closed in on us, we would have stayed out longer.

After lunch & naps, we went to 4pm Christmas Eve mass.  Thankfully, my parents beat us to church and reserved half of a pew – they saved us from standing.  From church, we headed to my parents’ house for dinner, presents and a birthday cake for Jesus.  (This is one of the kids’ favorite things about Christmas.  Ok, and mine too :))  Part of dinner consisted of turkey drummers for the boys to eat.  Nolan first had one when he was about 9 months old.  This go-around he made much more progress.  Lincoln did quite well with his first drummer.  Actually, he looked like a natural.

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Christmas 2009 – take 1

Sunday afternoon, after the kids took much needed naps, we headed to Jake’s parents’ house to celebrate Christmas.  Unfortunately, Stacie wasn’t able to join in the fun – she was studying for finals.  We played a little Mexican Train, watched football, had a great ham dinner complete with cheesy potatoes & orange jello salad, and of course, opened presents.  The boys were very excited to help pass out the wrapped surprises and open them 🙂  I think they assisted everyone in opening at least one gift.  After the wrapping paper was picked up, we snacked on all sorts of sweets – ice cream, fudge, chocolate crinkles and dipped pretzels just to name a few.  The boys were more than happy to sample just about everything they could talk someone into giving them (or sneak!)