May 2017

We got a piano!

It was an adventure to get it though. An online auction had just the right piano for us (happily, it ended up being a former piano of our piano teacher, so we knew it was a good one!)

I got a little excited about 'winning' the auction, so I may have inadvertently outbid myself at the last moment. So I payed a few extra dollars, but it was totally worth it in the end.

We fixed up our guest room! It wasn't in time for Aunt Kelsey (Sorry!) but Grammy came and got to enjoy the splendor!

Grammy got to see Sock's 4th Grade play, "The Pied Piper"

 Socks played the mayor and had a small solo. It was so fun to watch!

We also got to celebrate Grammy's Birthday with her!

Our days were filled with the usual chaos.

Hair-dos.

Lego-ing. (The iron rod and the Tree of life!)

Dentist visits (like a pro!)

Orchestra concerts

And Haircuts!

Socks loves keeping his hair long. "I just don't like short hair because I like how it feels when I run my fingers through it long." But we reached maximum capacity

ENTER... the $10 haircuts.

Grapes dared the boys to go VERY short for summer. She offered them $10 each!

Of course they took her up on it. (I don't think she thought they would!)

One Sunday, late in May, the kids complained that they were bored. So I told them to make a cake, not thinking they would.

But they did!

And it was also May-May's birthday, so we decorated accordingly and sent her a photo.

Then we ate it.

Homeward bound, and real life

February 2017

The trip home came very early the next morning, and none of us were very happy about it. The boys fell asleep at the airport waiting for Dad to bring breakfast from 20 yards away.

 her selfie says it all: We didn't want to go home!

 Back to real life in a hurry-- Grapes got her braces off right after we got back.

Before:

After:

Some of us wanted to relive the trip over and over again. (Indiana Jones style...)

 (And Elsa style...)

In all seriousness, the dress was worn daily... 

And braids, braids, braids....

We also had a girl turn 13- and her sweet bestie threw her a surprise party. 

It was (of course) Harry Potter Themed, and I got to make her cake!

(It was harder than you'd think to make a messy, Hagrid style cake.)

Then June Happened

Walk with me, down short term memory lane.
Just a summer ago....

We really WERE busy! We traveled and visited and celebrated!!
First- a wedding dinner then wedding for Uncle Lon and his sweetheart, Liz!!

Grandpa Dee and some of the gang.

Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday, Baby! Oh, I love you so!

One Candle makes a lovely light!

  She helped me pick her gifts

to complete a year

In Spanish the word for birthday is made of the two words "to complete" and "year"-- literally your birthday is the completion of another year of your life. I'm realizing though, it's more than just a year of your life, it's a year of life for anyone who is part of your life. 

My Grapes turned 11 this last week. Eleven years of her life are finished: milestones passed and landmarks reached. Her journey to become the Grapes she was meant to be is fully underway.

But 11 years ago was also when I became a Momma; when we became a family, rather than a couple; and when life as we once knew it became a memory.  Things have changed in so many ways, and it has been both a blink of the eye and an eternity to reach this point. 

We celebrated (twice!)

First with family

A fiesta of sorts

Happy Birthday, Socks!

We had a Lego Movie Birthday Party. He invited two of his good buddies, and his brother. 

("Thanks for inviting me!!" Pencil said. Someday he'll learn that brothers get a default invite, but this year he was honored and elated, so I let it slide)

LULLsville

We are officially in the weirdest place of our lives right now. (I don't mean Arizona... I mean time place, not place place. Milwaukee was definitely weirder as far as place goes.... but I digress)

We are waiting. Not the "what will happen?!?" kind of waiting. Just the "what can we do until it's time to DO something?" kind of waiting.

And life is good while we wait. It is slow and uneventful and I feel like it is the lull before the storm.  So I guess this is us, battening down the hatches...


...while being blanket tail mer-people.

...while sharing/fighting over the i-pad. (OH- these faces!)

...while enjoying MORE snow. really?!

...while napping near Legos. (I like the foot propped up. He woke up with his foot asleep)

...AND while celebrating a ninth anniversary of birth. Nine years?!

...while enjoying banana cream pie. Mmmmm.... Pie.....

Setting the story straight

SOMEDAY is lurking in my mind again. As big decisions about our future loom on the not so distant horizon, I am pondering what I wish for. What do I want next? I find that I am excellent at making a 'someday list' in the hopes of reaching a day when The Doctor works less and makes more. (Perhaps it keeps me going on the hard days) But I find it far more difficult to turn that silly, selfish list into practical decision making skills when the time comes to actually plan for our family's future. The Doctor finishes his residency in a matter of months. Before now, there was always a 'next step' to move on to. (After under-grad you go to med school, then after med school you have to finish residency) But now it is different.  The Doctor could choose a fellowship (more residency, essentially) or he could look for a job. In any Emergency Room in the country. What?!?!

 

What do I wish for?

 

 

Grapes told me she wishes she had straight hair. So a few mornings ago, we gave it a try. She was ecstatic. I may have created a monster.

 

Pencil wishes that eating chalk tasted better. Every time he does it.

The Doctor wishes the tiny leak under our kitchen sink had not necessitated a complete replacement of the faucet. Good thing my husband is good at styling himself as a plumber.

 Sock wishes that I had taken some pictures of him this week. (how do I have a zillion pics and none of my middle child?! Tell me that is normal. No- just tell me to do better. Shoot!)

In other news:
The Doctor has again aged.
My children wrapped and decorated. (What? Not everyone has power rangers and 5 pound weights at their birthday celebrations?)

 He need a little help opening his gifts.

Then he needed a wrapping paper-turned confetti -turned cool party hat extravaganza.

Of course the monkeys obliged.

Happy Birthday, sweet guy. We love you!