Just a Catch Up

The snots been a running, the body is aching and we are all running around like a chicken with our heads cut off.  First me, then Bella and Landon, and now today Tim.  The cold and flu season is in full swing and I am counting down the days until summer.  I am one of those whiny up-north gals, but I am where my husband is and that takes me to the northern winters.  My choice would be somewhere warmer, but not so warm that I can't stand to be outside during the summer.  I guess we can't have it all.  Wisconsin is tired of snow already and everyone else is praying for it.  My family in Minnesota got a dusting of snow and we got 6".  This I know, when I'm older and retired, I will probably be one of those envied snow birds with a house in the south to which I can retreat when the winter months get too cold.

Lately I have been trying my hand at some carpentry.  Tim and I have found our second home up in Rhinelander, WI at the Menard's store.  We seem to spend more time there than anywhere else.  I spent all of New Years Eve putting in vinyl flooring in the kitchen and the dining room and all of New Year's day putting it in the bathroom just to come up short leaving us with unfinished floors.  So off we went, in the horrible 2012 Eve blizzard and got some more tiling so I could finish up my job around here.  The Hubby said he wasn't going to help me with the tile so I can have a sense of accomplishment when I finished.  I am not sure if I believed him, but after the first five minutes of him in the kitchen telling me how to cut tile, I was glad he left me to it.  When all was said and done, my way seemed to have worked because we're both quite happy with the new and improved look of our kitchen.  Now he just has to finish putting all of the trim back in...

Other than that, we have been busy visiting family over the holidays and running after our Gremlins.  Mr. Landon is smiling quite a bit now and such a good baby.  I realized today that his projectile vomiting has slowed down to just dribbles, thank goodness and Bella is keep'n on with being her usual Gremlin self.  She's starting to talk and ask for things now and sometimes it takes some detective work to figure out what she's saying and what she wants.  Currently, her favorite words are snack, milk, baby, Bella, mom and Tim with an occasional no and mine thrown in there for good measure.

It was so great to see all of the family this Christmas and I enjoyed it more than I usually do.  I love Christmas time when all of the family gets together and this year the atmosphere and mood was entirely different.  It was more focus on family and less of gifts, which I loved.  We had a big bonfire at my family's house and I got to see mostly everyone.  The kids went sliding and I got to see Tim act like one of the kids too.  He makes my heart melt when I watch him interact with all of the little ones.  He is a very quiet person but he comes out more when he's around children, and that has always been one of the things that attracted me to him.  He's such a wonderful dad and he's Bella's best friend.  Tim's side of the family all came up and the kids had a blast and they were spoiled rotten by Grandma and Grandpa Frits.  I feel so fortunate that my children have two sets of wonderful grandparents and that they love our little Gremlins so much.  Bella always comes home chipper and gleeful after visiting the grandparents, and that's the way it should be.

My big adventure so far is just starting and maybe I'll save that for another day to write about.  It is getting more difficult to find the time and energy to write but I promise to get back here soon and post more pictures of the projects going on around here and to write about this, that and another thing.  But for now, I hear some children that need attending to.  Funny, that always seems to be what gets me to the end of my blogs, such is the life of a mother right?  Happy New Year and just think only a mere 356 days until Christmas.  :)