Spring is coming....

Typical week in the Strawn household. Started out crazy and ended up crazier. Al had evening meetings on Monday and Thursday, and Sarah had evening meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Tonight, Al and I just got back from a benefit dinner for the hospital. The high school speech team, band, choir and OID team were the entertainment. The art programs here in Bridgeport are really well supported and we have some very talented kids to fill the spots. After supper, they held an auction which was great fun. We were outbid every time, but had fun trying.

The funniest thing that I saw all week was when Eden put her dolly in time out. This is how it played out: Eden “Dolly, you sit time out 2 minutes for being naughty.” Eden goes off and plays for a moment, comes back to the doll, “Say you sorry dolly. Ok. I love you. Give hug.”

The second funniest thing that I saw was when she got the stool from the laundry room, took it to the changing table, grabbed a diaper, wipes and lotion. She came to the living room, stripped the clothes of the dolly, wiped her front to back, squirted lotion on her butt, rubbed it in, put the diaper on and wrapped her in a blanket. She’s going to be quite the mother someday.

Lars was up almost every night this week, wanting to play at the middlest of the night. Cute but tiring. He is really teething, and goes back and forth between wanting his pacifier and wanting his thumb. Haven’t managed to get a photo of that, yet.

On Thursday, Eden got to play in the mud. It was warm enough to be outside (Thank God Spring comes early out here in the desert-like plains). We played on the swing set and picked up an enormous amount of dog poop. To give you an idea, during the summer, I pick up 2 shovelfuls every other weekend. I haven’t picked any up since Lars was born… so, this was quite a task. Eden walked around in front of me saying, “here more poop, Mommy.” That got old after a while, but the yard is cleaner.

Friday, the kids went to Douthit’s so we could paint phase two of our upstairs. This included the stairwell and two small walls on the south side of the house. We took a break at 6:00 and ordered pizza. We were up until 11:00 p.m. getting it done, but it’s worth it. Two colors down, two to go! Our new washer also came and was installed. After they left, we discovered that it was not level and therefore, would not wash, rinse or spin. It also has a big chip in the door. Me and Sears gonna have a chat on Monday.

This week, Eden started sleeping with her door open. She must think I’m deaf, because as soon as I get downstairs, she comes out of her room upstairs, grabs her doll and shopping cart, and runs around the kitchen’s linoleum floor. If you’re going to sneak out of your room, that activity is not the one you want to try.

On the topic of Eden, she got in a lover’s quarrel at daycare. Apparently, another boy wanted the green blanket that Eden was holding. If you can tell by the photos, he grabbed her face with his fingernails and dug in. What you don’t see is the other guy’s face. He went away with bruised cheeks. One on each side of his bloody nose. Ok, I don’t think he had a bloody nose, but it sounded dramatic. She came away with the blanket, however and in the end, they both wound up in the same bed at naptime.

















Neither Al or I have changed much this week. Just a bit older and one day closer to needing another haircut.

Squeezing in the last bit of fun with Papa & Grandma

As expected, the week with grandma and grandpa went quickly and we enjoyed every minute of it. Surprisingly, we completed the honey do list and I had to go out and find more projects to add to it! This was not difficult to do, but now I’m thinking it’ll be all summer before I complete my new list. Al even built my parents a new Dell computer, which was long overdue!

On Monday afternoon, Dad managed to squeeze a drive in when he and Al took a S. Dakota bound hitchhiker as far as Alliance.

On Tuesday, I left the kids home and went to Scottsbluff to meet Al for supper. He was on his way home from Morrill & we decided to have a sit down dinner without the kids. I left the house a bit early to get some errands done.

It really all started with a wrong turn. I was looking for the bike shop in Scottsbluff when I got on the wrong road, which led to a really great antique shop. Being kid-less, I popped in “real quick.”

A couple hours later, I ended up with a 6’ tall unfinished wardrobe, which Al will convert into a shelving unit for my excess kitchen ‘stuff’ and a pair of royal blue formal sitting chairs for the upstairs living room. The guy settled for $170 less than the asking price for all 3 items if I paid cash, so, being the frugal consumer that I am, it was a done deal.

We then headed over to Sherwin Williams with a beautiful fall painting that Chad & Marie got us for Christmas. It very much reminds me of Michigan and it’s going to be the focal point of our paint colors for the upstairs, which is currently all painted Parsonage white. After a lively discussion, we settled on the colors Cascade Green, Copper Wire, and Belvedere Cream. I’m very excited to start painting!

On Wednesday morning, we said “good-bye” to Papa and Grandma as they headed back to Denver to catch a plane. After Eden’s nap she said, “Grandma & Papa at church”. But when they didn’t come home for supper, she got a bit worried and said sadly, “Where Papa? Where Grandma?” I showed her the empty bedroom & told her we’d see them again at the end of the summer. She accepted that for now.

Friday was a beautiful day and when I let the dog out, I heard rushing water. I immediately had thoughts of sunny spring days with the snow melting in the sun…then realized that that was way too much water for an early spring day. Instead, I looked to the driveway and saw Old Faithful spewing out the concrete, with small gysers bubbling up from several cracks in the driveway. A water main break. After a detailed inspection, I found a 6 foot patch of grass fully uprooted and looking like a giant tumor in our yard. The water was pooled up under it. Silky sludge was 8 feet in all directions. After the city came to fix it, the road was a muddy mess. I now have to dodge a blinking orange and white barrier when I back out of the driveway. Now spring seems even farther away.

Utilizing the 40 degree weather, Al started work on my wardrobe-turn-kitchen cabinet. I took a chair that I’ve been working on up for Ladies Night at church and re-covered it, and I managed to get to my scrap-booking stuff in the laundry room, which was really nice!

Saturday was a long day. Enough said.

Still no washer. Still getting the laundry list of excuses from the local Sears store. No surprise there, really.

Other than that, we had a great week. It’s a wonderful life.

Welcome, Papa & Grandma!

No time to chat, Eden's grandparents are in town! We are having a wonderful time with my mom and dad, who flew into Denver on Wednesday. They rented a car and drove to Bridgeport and will be with us until Wednesday this week. Eden is having a ball saying, "Grandma" over and over again and "Papa" over and over again and having them answer her. She has slept in Grandma's bed every night since they got here & sat on her lap just about every meal.

Al and Dad have spent lots of time doing the Honey Do list. This included making a seat for an antique rocker that I acquired, cutting a new rung for the banister, hanging up a hard-mount baby gate, and snaking the sink and shower in the downstairs bathroom. I think it's safe to say the hair that they got out was more than just mine from this past year! Mom and I have worked on a curtain for the backdrop of the TV, wall papered Lar's nursery (it finally looks complete!) re-covered a seat for another chair I acquired and did some mending.

Last night, we made ice cream and watched Shrek. Today, we watched the Red Wings get beat by the refs...I mean the Ducks. Though, I think the linesmen helped. Tonight we made pizza and played games like Ring around the Rosies and Farmer in the Dell. Currently, Grandma is rocking Eden to sleep, since she already rocked Lars to sleep about 2 hours ago.

No plans for the rest of the week, just having fun. I have started the lengthy process of replacing my washing machine. However, it is slow going. They aren't real ambitious to help at the Scottsbluff store, probably because the original sale was in Kearney and therefore, it will make no money to the local store here. Hoping to get the taxes done this week as well, so that we can plan our summer accordingly.

Here are a few pictures so far...

Eating pizza with Papa

Eden is ready to go outside and help Papa and Daddy work in the garage

Eden & Grandma color with Lars

Daddy Day Care

I used a firm voice, I begged, I pleaded, I asked politely, I nearly blew my stack and I almost cried, but in the end, it took threatening a lawsuit and an already drafted letter to the Better Business Bureau to get a new washing machine out of Sears. Now, I have an authorization number and a $1,000 limit to get a new washer. Unfortunately, I have to get it from a Sears store. Anybody have a GREAT washer they want to promote in the Frigidare, Kenmore or Maytag front load series?

Lars has officially been declared a night owl. He gets up sometime after 0130 and is up for the rest of the night. I stay up with him until 0530 and then I get daddy up to take over so I can have 2 hours of sleep each day. Oddly, he only takes about a 4 hour nap in the daytime, with two 15-20 minute cat naps. I think this is God’s substitute for birth control.

One day this week, Eden was being a perfect little 2 year old, playing quietly downstairs while her brother slept and Mom and Dad enjoyed a rare breakfast together before he left for work. Lost in the tranquility of the moment, we kind of forgot about her. When we realized she’d been quiet for so long, Al came down to find a naked Eden on the couch, kicked back watching TV with a night-old can of pop and a bag of Frito Lays. She’s getting cuter every day, and quieter in her naughtiness.

It was a daddy day care weekend, as I left for Holdrege on Thursday night for a 3-day EMT Refresher class. While I was in class nearly 10 hours each day, I still found time to do a little shopping at Hobby Lobby in Kearney. Other than eating, I was studying poolside at the Super 8 in Holdrege and missing my babies.

While I was gone for 3 nights, Daddy did the diapers, the feedings, the shuttle bus routine to daycare and sitters, the cooking, the changing of the bed sheets in the middle of the night, the Tylenol for teething Lars and anything else that came up. The kids stayed overnight at a friend’s house Saturday night and came to church clean and dressed on Sunday. I made it back to Bridgeport during the middle of the Super Bowl and met up with them at a party in town. Just got back from that major upset and decided to step over the piles of clothes & toys to post a Blog.

Tomorrow, in anticipation of my parents arrival on Wednesday, I hope to research some washing machines, sort the mail, put away my shopping spree, clean up the house and clean the carpet. We’ll see what gets done!!