The Kindness of Friends & March Mud

Tim, a good friend of Tommy's (see link to the right..."Best A/C Company in Florida") gave the boys these really cool wooden walkers.

They played on these for hours the other day. Reeve said it was so hot outside he was sweating...it was in the low 50's! Both kids said it was way too hot for shoes with socks, so these wooden flip-flops worked out perfectly.

They had to practice working together to get some coordination, and they had a ton of fun doing it.

Well pretty much all of the snow has melted...leaving us with March Mud! Kyle must have changed clothes 3 times this day. He just loves the mud.

We need some SUN...look at Reeve's white legs...they're blinding!

Friday the 13th Hoax?

I checked the weather forecast on Friday and got a pretty good laugh.

New Hustler B&B, Dynamic Dishwashing Duo, & 34wks

What's Tom's latest project??? He's helping to remodel the Fountain Mission Home in Hustler, WI.

The church could no longer afford to run this as an Assisted Living home (my Grandmother lived there for a little while).

The new owners want to operate it as an Eco-friendly Bed & Breakfast...in Hustler! You must understand Hustler has 2 Churches, 2 Taverns, a bowling alley called the Hooterbowl (that was the Elementary School, years and years ago), a cheese factory that closed and is being turned into a museum, one bank with one teller that closes at 3pm!, a convience store, the Hustle Stop, that SOMETIMES sells gasoline...when they can afford to buy it, and about 157 (MAX) residents. It sounds like it has a lot, but believe me it is SMALL! Gary Gladstone, who wrote a book called "Passing Gas and Other Small Towns along the American Highway" wrote a bit about Hustler...basically he said it was so small that driving through it "made his hair hurt." I think he did come back and posed with one of the Happy Homemakers Gals who was holding two bright orange bowling balls at chest level in front of the Hooterbowl.
At any rate it's pretty exciting to think that our little one horse town (as my late cousin Dee Dee (from Chicagoland) affectionately called it when visiting my Grandma Corky at the Mission Home) will have an eco-friendly B&B. The new owners want to cater to bicyclists...as it's right on the Omaha Bike Trail that connects Camp Douglas, WI to Elroy, WI and in Elroy you can get on the Elroy-Sparta Bike Trail...the first Rails to Trails bike Trail in the Country. Sparta, WI is the Biking Capital of the United States. The other exciting thing about this B&B is that one of the owners is Grammy Nominated "Simply J.P.", aka JP Olson (married to the Town Chair of the Town of Fountain...our little Township with 367 registered voters...the same little Township that I'm running for Town Supervisor in the April 7th election this year!). We just met JP at our neighbor's birthday party and she is a lovely person. I talked a good long time with her about organic foods, and where to buy them around here. She ran a restaurant in Memphis, TN and really wants to serve healthy food at there B&B...she even mentioned VEGAN dishes!

Our other exciting news is that we have a new DISHWASHER...AKA the DYNAMIC DISHWASHING DUO, starring Reeve & Kyle!!

They BEGGED me to do the dishes the other night. Believe it or not, I was hesitant at first. I had visions of the boys sopping wet, sponge throwing contests, and a water-soaked kitchen. I think my reluctance actually did the trick, because when I finally said YES they were sooooo excited. I told Reeve that I'm very picky when it comes to dishes. I can't stand it when people do a half-arsed job and leave food or soap scum on the plates.

He really took my warning to heart, and really took his time to make sure the dishes were totally spotless. It's nice to know that I can count on these two to help me out in about 6 MORE WEEKS!

Reeve scrubbed the dishes, and Kyle rinsed them, and Tommy put them away. I didn't have to do a thing, but smile, smile, smile.

Here's a really bad picture of me that Kyle took. These overalls are really the only comfortable thing I have to wear around the house. My belly is so big that I can't even do the side buttons up!

Bathroom Renovation Project

Our bathroom has been bugging me for years now. The flat paint we had on the wall was impossible to clean, and the walls were severely "loved" by two growing boys. Both are guilty of marking the walls. Here is an "R" that Reeve put on there...actually not too long ago.

The Christmas snowflake stamp that Kyle put on in December didn't really show up well...it's kind of hard to take a good pic of a wall, but you get the idea. In January we bought some no-VOC paint, and in February we put the first coat on.

Kyle's face has spaghetti sauce stained on it:

Reeve had fun with the roller:

It looks wonderful, and we still have another coat to go.

I also wanted tile floors in the bathroom (and the rest of the house, but we gotta start somewhere) and this weekend my hero set up "Brutus" and went to town cutting tiles.

By Sunday at midnight it was all complete...it still needs to be grouted, but isn't it beautiful?


Prego update: All is good, baby moves, moves, moves. My midwife listened to the heartbeat last week and she really thinks it sounds like a girl. She was taken back by how much the baby moved during the visit, which was mild. I told her at home I feel like there must be some wild child in there doing the jig. I've been craving capers lately. The other day I actually ate a whole jar! Kyle was bummed because recently he's discovered that he LOVES "kippers." We've told them they're called capers, but he likes to call them "kippers." Okay I've just made myself really hungry!

Snowboarding Reeve, Sledding Kyle, & Laura's now 29wks

Thanks to our neighbor tending our fields for his organic dairy cows we actually have some okay downhill slopes.

They're not steep by any means, but good practice grounds for Reeve, and pretty fun run on the sled.

The thing about the sled ride is you have to bail out right at the end...otherwise you will go over the cliff and into the very steep valley.



All in all good fun. Just wish it was a little warmer for them to enjoy it. Well...not too warm. We're actually going to be 36F today and in the 40'sF tomorrow! All that and we still had a -10F windchill this morning.

Don't ya just love those rosy cheeks?

Well here it is...my pregnant belly pic.

Kyle really gets a kick out of feeling the baby kick. We have a fiesty little one inside me. Everytime it's Kyle's hand on my belly I swear the baby kicks (or punches) twice as hard as normal. We now have less than 11 weeks to delivery day! YIKES!!!

We're still here

Well this winter hasn't been as fun as last winter. We did have a lot of snow in December (the most on record), but hardly any in January. It's just funner when it snows...it's also warmer. It's been bitterly cold, temps 15 to 40 below with (and sometimes without) windchill are a regular thing now in the morning. If we want to go anywhere first thing in the morning we have to make sure to plug the battery charger on the car just to make sure it starts.
The house has been nice and warm though...well, I should say 1/4 of it is nice and warm. Also it's supposed to be a balmy 31F here tomorrow...can't wait.
We have our first spring flowers: Paper White Narcissus

They have an intoxicating beautiful smell that has been cheering us all up. The days are also getting longer, so that's a good thing. Now it gets dark just before 6pm...much better than 4pm.

I finished my Four Seasons Chairs Cross-Stitch...this project was started in May 2006 at my folks house in Indiana when they hosted an Indy 500 Race event with a house full of family & friends. I remember parts of that weekend well...it was actually the worst I have ever felt in my life...self-induced with way way way too much tequilla on top of beer, rum & coke, and then red wine...WHAT was I thinking?

The sad story about the 2.5 year cross-stitch project is that when I was ironing it, to smooth out the wrinkles I did not put anything between the cross-stitch and my iron. I had ironed it many times with no problems, but this time Tom suggested I use steam...I'm not very experienced with ironing and actually didn't even realize that I wasn't use steam in the past. Well I BURNT SUMMER!!! I was crying and so upset with myself, but there was nothing I could do. I learned that lesson. I framed it up and shipped it out to my folks...a very late Christmas present...I actually thought I'd have it finished for Christmas 2006...where does the time go?

I'm now working on a smaller project, but no pics for awhile. It's almost done, but it's a present...top secret. After I give it away I'll post a pic. After I get that one done I'm actually going to stitch something for us...something I've NEVER done. Every single thing I've stitched in the past I've given away. I want to make a Birth Anouncement for our baby. I made the design myself, borrowing heavily from a design that my friend Dana stitched for us for our wedding.

When do I find to stitch you ask? I set my alarm to go off at 5am and I can usually get in an hour or so in the morning. Then I can fit 30min to an hour in in the evening when I need to get off my feet and rest my aching back. It only hurts at night...especially after doing the dishes, which I thought would convince Tom to do the dishes, BUT that didn't work and the dishes didn't get done...it was kind of like Shel Silverstein's Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out. I couldn't stand it! In his defense I think Tom has a wonderfully unique perspective and attitude toward life where mess and clutter just don't bother him. He's very much an absent minded professor type. Tom has been WONDERFUL about cleaning the litter box and putting dinner away at night, and I do get a back massage when I whine about it.

You know how we got a snow plow, so we wouldn't have to shovel anymore? Well Tom thought he'd really push the limits of the 4x4 Geo Tracker and decided that he was going to use it to plow a path to the front door...there is a slight downhill incline from the driveway to the front door and...

he got STUCK! In the grass. Another lesson learned...sometimes you just need to use the shovel.

We do have some cute pictures of Reeve snowboarding in our field, but they're on Tom's camera and he keeps leaving it in his vehicle. When I think to get it I'm too chicken to go out in the cold to get it, or he's gone working...like now.

Monday I visit the midwife. I'm now in my 3rd Trimester and still feeling great. The first 9weeks were miserable, but ever since I got over that hump I've been feeling great. We have a very active baby...much more movement than I ever remember with Reeve or Kyle. The baby is also pretty good at keeping a beat. The other night he/she had a pretty good rhythm going on with either a foot or a hand...I can never tell what's what. Soon I'll get Tom to take a picture of the baby belly. Ah, the baby belly, yet another reason to stay inside where it's warm. I just can't find any thermals that are comfortable.

Tom's website

Yay! I'm really LOVING my new web host. No more lame advertising at the top! No more invasive pop-ups! Cheap hosting (less than $5/month!) and templates that I can use until I get more proficient at programming. If any of you are looking for a great, easy to use, web host just let me know...they even pay me $$ for referrals. Can't beat that.
I was messing around with Tom's site today...I hope to make it better real soon, but here's my start: buildingenergycontrols.com

Happy New Year

Last Day of 2008!
December has been filled with snow...and then melting snow. We've had some pretty wild extremes here, but today has been COLD!

On December 20th the kids celebrated the last day of Fall with a snowy swing ride.

They love to get swinging pretty high...

and then jump off the swing, turn around in the air, and land in the snow.

Kyle just likes to fall off the swing into the snow.

It's hard to believe but we've live in Wisconsin 15 years now and this year we broke down and bought a Geo Tracker with a snow plow!

No more shoveling for hours on end just to get out of the driveway...no more dependence on the kindness of our neighbors to eventually plow us out when they can. Now we can actually help to plow them out. We'll also be able to use our full driveway down to the garage...and not just the bit at the edge of the driveway. The day we bought it was pouring rain and then that night we got about 3 inches of fresh snow for Tom to test the plow. It worked great!

Tom's business has been growing and getting stronger. He's serviced 50 customers since August and hasn't had too many days off since then. We decided it was time to upgrade his work vehicle. Currently he's been using the Family Van...our 92 Toyota Previa, and we're thinking we're going to need that again in April when we'll have 3 kids to tote around.
He found a great deal on a 2002 Chevy Express Cargo Van.

I'll take more pictures when we get the business lettering on it, but we're thinking the lettering might look something like this...

I've been pulling my hair out the past couple of days trying to upgrade our free business site to a professional one (without the annoying pop-up ads and top banner advertising). I tried hostmonster.com because they had a hosting special and I read that they were user friendly. I spent days trying to learn Joomla (a software script for building websites) with no luck at all! I followed the tutorials, but I just didn't get it. Then I researched "best web hosts for beginners" and found LunarPages.com. They had a better special going on, so I actually ended up saving $$. I can't really dive into it until hostmonster transfers my domain (can take up to 72hrs), but so far I think I'll like it better. They have a website builder for idiots like me called Page Mason. I can just plug my info into a template, which is pretty much all I know how to do. I still have to figure out how to upload pictures, but I think that will be easier once the domain is transferred.
I'm making Black-Eyed peas for New's Years dinner tonight...unfortunately I have NO collard greens...will cabbage do? I hope so. We also have some New Glarus Cherry Ale to ring in the New Year...don't worry I won't drink too much. It's a mild Ale, IMHO :-).
We still have our Christmas tree and Christmas decorations up...I gotta work on taking them down...it's the longest I've ever kept it up.
The baby is doing well...at least it's moving around a lot and the heartbeat sounds strong and healthy. I visit the midwife on January 5th.
Reeve and Kyle are doing well and are happy when it snows...just one of the reasons that it's probably a good thing we live in Wisconsin. The other things we love about life in Wisconsin is the easy access to locally grown organic food and Wisconsin Public Radio. We love to listen to Garrison Keilor's "A Prairie Home Companion," Big Top Chautauqua's Tent Show Radio, Wisconsin's Old Time Radio Drama with great radio shows from the 40's & 50's, and my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE RADIO SHOW IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD... CHICAGO PUBLIC RADIO'S "THIS AMERICAN LIFE" with Ira Glass. If you ever get a chance to listen to it...DO! It's awesome.

Everyone have a SAFE and HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE!

Once Upon a Christmas Cherry in the Lab of Shakashiri

A couple of weeks ago we went to the University of Wisconsin in Madison to watch UW Chemistry Professor, Bassam Shakashiri, put on his annual "Once Upon a Christmas Cherry in the Lab of Shakashiri" Christmas presentation.

It was a lot of fun! The kids got to sit in the same lecture hall where I had Chemistry...I started to get panicky about taking exams.

We had front row seats for Bassam Shakashiri's (don't you just LOVE his name) 39th Christmas Presentation...you might be able to see it on your local PBS station. Here is the link to his website. We've seen it on TV, so it was really something to be in the front row and see it live.

Bassam likes to use a lot of color, explosions, and fire in his demonstrations...

All the balloons had different gasses in them and they each did something different when he set them on fire.

This one made a huge popping sound:

Reeve and Kyle were in awe...theire faces looked like this throughout the whole show...

Since it was the 39th Presentation Bassam's lecture focussed on the 39th Element in the Periodic table...Yttrium

It was discovered in Ytterby, Sweeden in 1794 and has been used to make the red color in color tv's (not the new flat screen kind...but the old color tv's with tubes), the crystal garnet used in radars, and other uses in lasers, camera lenses and fireproof bricks.
This is a bubble floating on carbon dioxide:

Bucky Badger came to visit and help...check out is science goggles...

After he was done helping he got Kyle to sit on his lap!

Santa came to help too!

After the show we went and picked out some VOCfree paint and floor tiles for the bathroom...I would like to get this project done before the baby comes in April...I'm actually hoping to finish the bathroom and paint/tile the adjoining bedroom. I was under the false assumption that Tom would have more time to work on the house when he went into business for himself, but he's still working 6-7 days a week! When he's not working he's been shoveling snow and chopping firewood. We've had the 6th snowiest December sincd 1881!
I recently had a visit with my midwife and all is well with baby and me. The baby has been very active...especially around 3-4am. I have a feeling I'll have another early morning baby...it seems they know that's a good time because I'm not doing anything important...only sleeping :-).
While we were at the midwife's house we got to see her calf that was born 2 weeks ago...so precious!