to do list

we have a to do list for the house.  you'd think we were done when we built, but i think we've just added more and more fun / interesting / cool / decorative  ideas as we've been there...

we'd like to put a fun path from the sidewalk on the side of the house that will lead you to the back patio.  this will allow for a decorative element on the side of the house, provide a stable walking path as currently there are sort of 'pot-holes' in the yard that will/can cause a sprained ankle for yours truly, and allow for a smoother path to mow - i.e. no sharp corners to cut in with a giant riding lawn mower.  i've come up with a few ideas...

Traditional Landscape by Napa Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers Richard Kramer

I love this one because it's "natural" looking to me... purposeful, but still a meandering design.

Curt on the other hand wants a more structured approach...

Craftsman Landscape by Redwood City Photographers Hoi Ning Wong

perhaps with less grass or no grass in between...

Traditional Landscape by Minneapolis Landscape Contractors Drawn by Nature Landscaping

we went this past weekend to look at stone... it was about an hours worth of looking/deciding/figuring/changing our minds/coming to the same page in the same book as we were not prior to arriving -- all the while my brother and boys had a good time hanging out... my brother will do the work so he wanted to see our ideas and the boys tag along because they have to or are bribed with food...usually both!

we ended up not finding exactly what we want...but know now what we do not want...so we'll hit up a few more stores to check out selection (who knew stone could be so complicated?)...

so with no stone decided - this is all i could come up with... the cutest little helpers ever.

January, February and a mouse... eek!

Oh my, oh my... a mouse in the house...sure why not start with the crazy stuff right?  One Saturday, the boys were downstairs playing in their room; he comes up yelling, "I think there's a squirrel in the window!"... of course I freak out.  Curt is calm of course.  Mark is squealing with delight hoping we get to keep it!  We head downstairs - All of us... and what did we find, but a field mouse... one who had been living high on the hog I might add.

Well of course Curt decides to save the mouse, not sure if it's because Mark was so excited to have an actual animal near the house or if he just didn't want to kill it in front of the boys... he gets a box, gloves and climbs down into the window well and gets him.  We all walk across the street to the open field and let him go... and of course the little turd starts running back towards the house!  I scream at it and try to get it turned around...and I did... thank goodness.  Curt decides to check the other well...and the mouse's buddy didn't do as well... hard as a rock, stiff as a board... I was done for the day... too much veterinary work for me for one day.

Not sure if the next bit was before or after this, but we have a peanut allergy in the house... yep Seth is allergic to peanuts...had him officially tested in February... so we will be free o' peanuts until we get him re-tested at 3yrs...  so far it hasn't been too terrible...

Noah played basketball this year - and fell in love with it.  He was pretty darn good if I do say so myself.  He was getting dribbling down and loved to shoot the ball...I think we will definitely have him play again.

And the biggest news of all...Curt got a promotion...pretty big promotion... pretty significant change to schedule, but we are all adjusting and managing... all part of the bigger plan.  We all got to go out and celebrate on the company...had fun with pasta and meatballs!

um thanksgiving, christmas, new years? oh and we moved in!

well well well... almost 4 months exactly since the last post.  go figure.  lots o' changes.  lots o' going on in our world.

let's start at the beginning.
we took family pictures after Seth's 1st birthday.  Literally the day after.  Beautiful fall day, leaves and light were amazing in the back ground.

then we moved.  signed the paperwork that Friday before thanksgiving and started the moving process that very next day (putting up blinds, installing towel bars, toilet paper holders - you know the absolute necessities!)
it was a whirlwind for sure moving again, but the great thing (as i was reminded by my sister) was that everything was already packed up.  we just had to move it.  no going through stuff - deciding if it should go with us or not...just pick up the box and go.  frankly that was refreshing...  i think it moved a lot smoother...and of course that would be the case!

we took thanksgiving off from moving and had a wonderful and relaxing day at my sister-in-laws.  everyone brought something and it was a great day to let the kids play and be loud and crazy and for the adults to relax and visit about everything!

the very next day, "black Friday", we started at it again and the professional movers came to help with the heavy furniture.  i think my husband was really relieved i just called and set this up.  he and my dad had moved a lot of boxes/totes/everything from Monday through Wednesday and i think he was glad he wouldn't have to do the bed(s), dressers, etc.  he'd never admit, but we all know it's the truth!

first night for us was that Friday - it was weird sleeping here.  new sounds, new smells, new walls to run into in the middle of the night.  'where's that light switch again?'  the boys' first night was that saturday.  i think they were excited.  they seemed to like it and be happy to have room to move around.  I KNOW Seth was happy to be able to wander around freely.  i think the first week he just followed me around and did laps...he would be exhausted in the evenings from all his exercise.
Most everything is unpacked.  all the rooms are pretty 'put away'.  a couple of the closets need some help and the garage is an absolute mess, but it's been so darn cold that we didn't really want to spend too much time out there organizing.

had a couple of weeks prior to Christmas.. OK maybe three...seemed to fly after thanksgiving though.  i had the last two weeks of December off for the kids being out of school.  it was good that i did.  everyone threw up.  coughed up. snot nosed.  bloody nose.  there wasn't a fluid we didn't see or touch and nothing we didn't have to clean up.  oh well.  it wasn't that bad...OK maybe one day it was bad.  i was pretty stressed about all the puking.  so bad that i had a tension headache... pretty painful.  hope that doesn't happen again.  i'm sure it will...ha ha!

Celebrated with the in-law side a week prior to Christmas.  It was a nice, relaxing day as well... kids got to play and adults got to visit and rest.  And we had that Sunday to rest up before sleeping in on that Monday.  ha ha!  Well Curt did anyway.

Celebrated Christmas day with just us in the morning - the boys were up at 545am.  I assumed they would be.  One day they won't.  And I'll be sad about it.  So i'll take the early risers on that special day.  The boys got simple stuff from Santa this year.  Bikes, lots of books, a stuffed crab and a new blanket.  I thought it was a pretty good Christmas.  We spent the rest of the day at my parents' house.  It seemed to go well.  The boys had a great day.  My sister did not.  She left early, sick; ended up being really sick that night and Collin too.  Ashley never got it.  But the next night my dad and brother ended up with it.  Then Noah I think got it maybe a little bit?  Then Seth over the New Years holiday.  It was quite a couple of weeks.

Everyone is better now.  I think I cross my fingers everyday to hope for health.  Not much else matters right?

Wilson Dream Home - update

there have been so many changes to the Wilson Dream Home since I last posted.  Practically everything is complete... All inside paint is done, all stone work and tile are done.  All cabinets are set / painted / doors put back on.  We are waiting on some final drawers/doors to be painted for the kitchen, the hardwood floors to be put in and carpet on living room floor and stairs.  All lighting is ready to be installed, the finishing up of the light switches and electrical outlets...the faucets can be installed as all granite is installed and looks amazing...!

Its really coming along and surprisingly close to be completely done!  I don't know what we are going to do with ourselves in the evenings when we "don't have a house to go look at and check on"...might just have to find another activity...'unpack'...!

funny conversations

Mark comes home all smiles from school on his birthday ->
Mark: Momma wanna hear my birthday song?
Me: Sure!
Mark: This is your birthday song.  It isn't very long!

Sang this all night... thought he was so funny!


Later on... but still out of the blue...
I am laying on the couch watching my ever loved food network.  Noah comes over touches my foot.
Noah: Momma you know when you go to that toenail place?  They can remove that scratchy stuff.  (as he touches my heel).
Me: Oh yeah?  I know they can - I haven't gone in a while.
Noah: Can you have them do that to you?  Please.

Curt: It will just come back Noah...
Noah: (frowning) - Really? Why?


**if anyone has $30 to share I'll go get my little issue taken care of straight away...otherwise don't touch my heel?

trying something new...

so we're trying something new... letting our hair grow out a bit...mom is doing it, the boys are doing it...Curt isn't and desperately needs a haircut... ha:)

Here's Noah today trying out hair gel... oh my what a cutie... inside i'm asking myself 1) how did he get this old? 2) what have i started with this 'hair is important' thing...i mean we usually just buzz it and go on our way...

progress...

we've been doing ok all this time... lots of eating / pooping / spitting up / crying (LOTS of crying) / whining / going to bed early / melt downs (me) / not listening / talking back (all of us to each other)... i am trying really hard to keep it together...take it one minute, one hour, one evening, one day at a time... looking back on these pictures helps... it shows that for a split second we were happy, laughing, doing something fun/funny...

such pride!

i smile when i sleep to little man!

another smile...:)

working on tummy time!

how is it at your house?

We had a funny morning conversation among Curt, Mark & myself...

Keep in mind... Curt got up with all the boys this morning so I could sleep in a bit (8:20am)...no mention to Curt at any point about breakfast...

Curt:  Good morning!  did you get a nice little bit of extra sleep this morning?

Me: yes i feel a lot better - thanks for taking the boys!

Mark: Morning momma...why are you wearing that shirt? (I had on a heavy sweatshirt since I've been freezing at night).

Me:  I don't have those awesome warm dinosaur jammies to keep me warm at night - so I have to wear this sweatshirt.

Mark: Momma you make me breakfast?

Curt: Marky - you hadn't said anything all this time about breakfast...

Me: He wouldn't ask you Curt because you never do it...usually it's me during the week and most often me on the weekends...  Daddy can make pancakes today!

Mark: Daddy is shaking his head like this...(Curt is shaking his head 'no')...

This is how we do breakfast in our house - if mom is still in bed - everyone waits til I'm not...I wonder what they would do if I just didn't get out of bed?  They might just wait...or come in and ask me a million times until I did get up... funny boys!

crack is whack...

this stuff should be called crack...literally it is so good that it's all consuming... even the boys love it to the point of asking "hey momma can we have a little scoop of that brown stuff in the pantry..."  REALLY?  little scoop of the brown stuff... hilarious... this stuff is so good...i'm so glad i paid the $3.78 for it at wal-mart...totally worth it.

Does it make it less un-healthy if i scoop it out with a slice of apple?  makes sense in my head anyway...

new friend...

so we tried something different this morning...the morning that we all slept til 8:45am...um we haven't done that for so long i forgot how it felt to wake up rested and wanting to get up, not dragging myself out of bed and being grouchy for the first few minutes...

anyways back to what we did... i usually try to have one of the weekend days (if not both) with a big breakfast, pancakes, french toast, b's & g's, etc...no not all at once, but add some eggs, sausage links or bacon and some fruit and we'll call it a great start to our day!

so today i had the idea from somewhere (tv, pinterest, facebook...somewhere) to make french toast and make it on a waffle maker!  it was suuuurreee good!  Everyone (even Curt) liked it!

here's the recipe i used:

for 8-9 pcs of whatever bread you have - i had white whole wheat from costco

5 eggs
1c. milk
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

Soak the bread like you would and place a piece on the waffle maker.  I had pre-heated it to a tick mark between medium and high (there are dots on mine, 3 dots = high and 1 dot = low and i was in between the 2 dot = medium and 3 dot = high so medium high i guess??)

and of course pics to prove my success!

xmas gift

totally getting use out of this!  LOVE IT!

had pineapple & PW's Enchiladas in it...

labels

so perhaps i should've read the manual before starting this blog thing... uh wait there was no manual...yeah figures.  see down at the bottom left side... LABELS... yeah didn't know there was such a thing... been looking over the blogs i read/follow and couldn't figure out how they had those...they were so handy as you could click on them and they'd group stuff together...kids / vacation / food / etc... jeez  it sure is nice to see it...even nicer to see what i post about so often...need to up the poor label "the Lynns" and even out "Mark" and "Noah"... hahaha!

yeah and i'm labeling this post as a ramble... i do that a lot too :)

ohhh where the sun don't shine

nice title huh?  yeah went to the dentist today...haven't been since ohhh maybe 2006?  it wasn't too bad...i have 4 cavities...not surprised though...there was no guilt, there was no shame... which was sort of nice...maybe i'm just getting old and don't care ("ma'am you have cavaties...", "oh yeah, let's fix it and be done, i've got more important fish to fry")...pretty much how i felt.

now i must go back in and get 'em filled or sealed or whatever the heck they do now...gosh technology has advanced in that field... thankfully...  xrays were a breeze - no bitewings...just hold onto a little stick with your teeth and the machine spins around you...nothing to it...

ok - that's all i got - just a post to prove i went... see ya in december for another post to prove... ptp...i just invented a new acronym!  ha!  i call it!  trademark by Kate Wilson!

no point in even posting

there really is no point...i chopped, i diced, i boiled, i scooped, i arranged... i even took pictures of all these adverbs...but to no avail... no one liked it but me so i might as well just tell you to go look here for what i thought was a fabulous dinner... oh well...sorry PW - i still love you!

uneventful week --> thank you God!

this week, the entire thing - Monday through Friday was a normal, un-eventful week. We got up went to daycare / work - spent the day doing normal activities, picked up from daycare / work and ate dinner, took a bath and went to bed...........................................................................................................

do you know how wonderful that was / is?!

it was heaven, absolute heaven after what seems like 2 months of sickness, snow storms, etc - it was glorious to just have a normal routine week... i am a freak o' nature when it comes to routine...i c-r-a-v-e routine...i am seriously the most cranky person when there are no schedules or routine... phew!

here's to a few million more weeks JUST LIKE IT! have a fabulous weekend everyone - go outside and enjoy that beautiful clean air!

and of course a pic to brighten your day (and mine too!)

practice makes perfect

today we went to Hiawatha by way of Bonner Springs, Basehor-Linwood, Lansing, Leavenworth & Atchison... We went to support my sister's fiance's family as they lost one of their children this last month and were having a funeral for her (she was buried in Massachusetts, but family was from here in KS.) So we have a 7month old and a 3yr old. Both have been sick this past week, but really were feeling pretty good today. Sitting still for an hour (after sitting in a car for 2 hours) in a "have to be" quiet environment like it is at church must be absolute torture for a child...frankly i can't imagine anything worse...sitting still and being quiet...i mean could there be any more opposite of a living breathing child?! Really Noah did pretty good... pretty good...thank god we had James the red engine with us...that entertained us for a good hour... but here was some of our conversation amidst the ceremony -->

Noah: momma can i have a snack?

me: no noah i don't have any snacks.

Noah: momma can i PLEASE have a snack, pretzels?

me: no noah please be quiet, shhhh

Noah: momma can i check, i can get it for myself, do you have any raisins in the little box?

me: NO! (still whispering however)

Noah: does mee-maw have any snacks? could i have some of hers?

me: No Noah, no snacks, just sit there please and play with James

So the service proceeds... My mom is holding Mark by this time...he's cooing away...enjoying his private time with Grandma... My dad is obviously getting frustrated by Noah...keeps asking him if he wants to sit on his lap...Noah says no...which leads to the next conversation:

Noah: momma where is annie? can i go see her?

me: No Noah, shhhh

Noah: momma i want to see annie, please can i go see what she is doing?

me: Noah no, please be quiet...

Noah: what about Cody? Can i go see him?

me: NO! (now by this time i am thinking 'well played my son' to ask for someone i don't even know if you remember meeting?, but anything to get you out of this pew and on to better things! and i am a sucky parent....during everyone of these conversations i am either laughing, smiling or about to do both...so Noah can't tell that I really am frustrated and want him to be quiet because laughing = game playing and fun right?

Finally! the priest is winding down - i hear the 'Our Father' - thank goodness for the Our Father.... service almost over in any branch of the church...perhaps one more song and then we are outta there right? Yes...and we survived...all of us! Even poor Cody!

I told my parents I couldn't remember not sitting still at church....i didn't remember climbing all around and talking...my mom said we did, but we learned how to behave... so i guess practice does make perfect....where else is a kid expected/forced to sit still and be quiet...not at the grocery store, no restaurant i know of, not the park...nope church = still silence... we will keep practicing, WE WILL! it is one thing that i can comfortably do and always have been able to - sit still and be quiet :) and my kids will be able to do that as well.... so help me!

wednesday night festivities!

So what were you doing last night around 5pm? Me? Well I was making these delicious cheese enchiladas! What was the rest of my family doing? hmm see for yourself...

Yes that is Curt blow-drying our fridge! For a few weeks a couple of months ago the fridge was leaking off the right bottom corner...no biggie, it's happened before...put a towel underneathe and move on...more important things to worry about right?! Well it stopped leaking and we know why... the entire back panel where the grates are in the back of the fridge were frozen in about 2" of ice... I think there is a problem with the cooling system...and the water dispension system...it's a mess...a manufacturer's defect, but who knows right? It really was so bad with the ice freezing that it had bulged out and was not allowing for the drawer to close all the way, which was impeding the door getting a good seal... SHEESH! This has happened once before - about two years ago...we were still under warranty so we had a guy come out - did the same thing Curt did and all was good. Not sure what we're going to to do...my impulsive, irritated self said "let's just go buy a new fridge, who cares about money!?".... my calm, easy going husband says "well it's not that bad, it took 2 years for this to happen right?!" big fat whatever...i'm ready to go to Nebraska and slap down my card and demand perfection! right!? right!? who's with me!? yeah that's what i thought - i am a bit of a drama queen... oh well

On lighter news, not necessarily good news... my son is obssesed with Willie... Willie?! yes Willie the Wildcat!

Shot # 1, my bday - Noah doesn't tell me "oh momma your cupcake, that was good!" or "oh look at the three of us!"...nope he says "momma i'm wearing my willie shirt! yeah!"

Shot # 2, Noah posing once again with his willie shirt, and 'this time we've got a long sleeved under for warmth'... can you hear me describe this like they do on a fashion show... LOL i crack myself up!

Shot # 3, my three boys...boy are they cute! love them all, but of course Noah once again in that willie shirt!
So suffice it to say, the 'willie' shirt is the best thing since sliced bread in this house...well maybe chocolate milk... the kid seriously wants/expects me to wash it so he can wear it every single day! well i am obliging - sort of... about every other day really... i already told our day care gal that i swear if you see it on him more than once a week i have washed it... sheesh...the things you do for your kids... never thought i'd see the day...but i support those wildcats...if only because it makes him smile!

P.S. i still love the Jayhawks!

Day # 1

Well is today is day #1 of my Christmas vacation...I know, I know I had a maternity leave this past summer, how can I possibly have time to take at the end of the year!? Well it was very carefully planned my friends...very very carefully! I love the two weeks off at the end of the year - time to re-charge, rest, organize, clean, play, nap... what could be better right?

For the first day the activities include, but not limited to: cleaning the carpets! yep you read that right - cleaning the carpets... I did say "clean" back up above didn't I? I do enjoy cleaning - isn't that so stereo-typical of a mother? I am a basket case if my house is cluttered, disorganized...it can really make me sick to my stomach and make crazy in the head...ask my husband...he'll tell you - that's why I move the furniture about 3 x a month! Just a little bit to make my brain see something "new", "fresh", "different"! So back to the carpet cleaning... my mother bought a cleaner to use on her pretty new "white-ish" carpet...and is so gracious to let us kids borrow it when we need to...but frankly I'm afraid of it...all I can think of is gallons of water spewing out of it and no sucking power -I am such a nut job right!? let's be real here - it's no DYSON...and I LOVE my DYSON! The man is a genius! You know what though..I am totally procrastinating...typing a post for the blog fans to read, paying bills, checking emails and oooohhh facebooking...m-u-s-t g-e-t m-o-v-i-n-g! later gators - maybe I'll post a picture of the before/afters... blogs mean nothing without pictures right!?

a little of this and some of that

soooo if you'll notice the right hand side of my blog now shows my run total (miles) and races i'm signed up for... apparently i'm wanting to become a runner...apparently its just going to happen... god i love that runner's 'high'...seriously i can't get enough...i am actually excited about running... it should be noted that i am very very slow...no where near running 3miles in the 30min like my ipod program is training me to do...but what's so awesome this time around...i don't freakin' care...i ran for 28 min non-stop tonight...i can't hardly believe i did it...i never did that in high school...i ran in volleyball (sprints, miles) and totally ran in basketball...but really - 28min? non-stop? not really...a lot of the sports i played are anaerobic...and i'm sooooo going for endurance...who cares if i run as fast as most people walk... i will get to that finish line...eventually:) so that was the "little of this"...now for "that"...

we are going to Florida in 5 days...OMG 5 DAYS! I didn't sleep good at all last night...frankly its not sleeping thats a problem when i am worried about something it's falling asleep...i was up til 11:30 last night - most nights i go to be at 8pm...YES 8PM...i know it's ridiculous...but i am usually a good sleeper :) i am freaking out about a lot of things... here i'll list them out for you: 1) traveling with little kids, do i really need to elaborate on that? i mean three hours in a car is one thing (getting out to go to the bathroom is no biggie), but on a freakin' airplane?! I guess there will be pottys on there, but still...it's different...and let's talk about entertaining for three hours...2) curt has put like 15 movies on his IPAD so hopefully it'll just be a movie-marathon and that will be sufficient...but it'll be headphones...staying in your seat...tons of extra people...arrgghh... 3) traveling with all the extra crap! strollers, car seats, clothes, diapers, formula...it's like going camping, but for a daycare! 4) being a new city, not knowing your way around...5) SAFETY - i am freaking out about this one...Noah knows NO stranger and talks to anyone (more like shouts "HEY how are you!"), most people are gracious about it, but still! I know i just need to relax and take it all in stride - it's going to be fine - Curt will be my calming force like he always is, but i wish i could just chill out about it.... hopefully the post that i do AFTER the trip will be a "it was super fun, no big deal, told ya it'd be easy"...we can hope right? say a prayer for me will ya? maybe two...yeah two is good... see ya on the flip side!

random lunch thoughts

sooo sitting here eating my delicious lunch i suddenly wondered what kind of person people are when they eat...two scenarios: 1) ones who gobble up the good stuff only to leave the icky or not as well liked items (i.e. veggies) or 2) ones who gobble up the icky or not as liked items first then to only have the wonderful, un-sharable pieces left? i am a # 2 thank you... parents taught us to eat all our food...especially the veggies...now being an adult there are not many i do not enjoy, but i seem to still do the same thing i did when i was a kid...eat the icky stuff first and leave only the good stuff last... funny huh? yeah not really... but when you are eating at your desk..sometimes your mind wanders a bit.


(this is chicken and zuchini left, guess you know what was the best part huh!)