"My New Red and Yellow Bike"

During the beautiful warm weather last week, Adrian figured out how to ride his bike! (With training wheels.) He has been trying since he got his bike in August. He would get so mad trying to push those pedals and I would get frustrated pushing him around on it. Finally, one day he just started pedaling! He was so excited, it's so awesome to see him succeed at something that he has been working so hard at.

He occasionally rides his bike with the neighbor boy who is 5 who also just learned to ride a bike--without training wheels. The neighbor (we'll call him "N") would zip up and own the alley and Adrian would roll down the slight incline outside the garage, turn around, push his bike back up, climb on, roll down. Repeat. The very first time they played (after my garage sale when we happened to be near enough, long enough for them to get chatting), N would give Adrian a little nudge to get him going. I bet he'll be pumped to see that Adrian can actually pedal his bike now.

October

Ooooeeee, well, hello there! Anyone, anyone?

We have been keeping ourselves occupied lately, did I mention that I'm trying to paint our entry? Can't even remember because I have been slacking on the updating. Anyhoo, it's turning chartreuse before my very eyes and it's kind of out there, but I think it's going to be really cool. My friend, Heidi, was here and she seemed a bit surprised by how bright it was but in the end she said it would probably turn out cute. Hopefully she's right. It is taking forever and a day to finish. When I first started priming I told Jeff I wanted it to be done by Saturday (it was Tuesday). I'm funny, right? I must have momentarily forgotten about my children. And the fact that I cook. And the fact that I don't generally enjoy living in a pig sty. It is slowly making progress though, hopefully it will be done by the end of the month. Then we'll move to the trim. Ha.

I've been wanting to do an update on our big 6-month-old. I'll save that for another day week.

I felt like such a green thumb today. Jeff's mom snipped some branches from her snowball bush so we could root them for our own plant. That was in July and I finally planted them today but I don't have much confidence that they'll survive. I have A LOT to learn about gardening, I'm sure. And considering the leaves were already turning color in the vase (I've been leaving it outside so I wouldn't forget to give it some sun) we won't even know if it survived until next spring. Especially with the snow we're supposed to be getting this weekend. If it isn't gong dormant now, it will be very soon.

Yes, you read that right, the forcast is showing snow. But then, it is October in the U.P. after all. The leaves showed their brilliant colors and they are quickly falling to the ground. As we were coming out of the grocery store a few days ago, Adrian noticed the trees across the street dropping their leaves and stood for a few moments in awe. I am so with him. Fall is beautiful. And really, really short.

We have Brother Matt here for a time. Not sure how long, he's here for work. I feel like we have seen family so much this year and none of them even live near us. It's awesome! I feel kind of spoiled. Aaaand, my sisters and my mom are coming in a few weeks!! I am super fired up to be hosting. We have been emailing back and forth making plans, hopefully we have some nice weather, but it should be fun no matter what. Everyone will make it except my sister Em. I guess we won't get so lucky as to have everyone there every year but we'll sure miss her!

Daily Journal and Fishing

Summertime is getting away from me! It's the middle of August and it already feels like fall in the U.P. The tips of many of the maples are just beginning to change. Perhaps next month I'll get back to more regular blogging.
Jeff went fishing overnight on Monday with my cousin Tom. It was my first night alone in our new house and I survived to tell the tale. Or lack of a tale. It was a peaceful night, thank goodness. Of course, I had Adrian to protect me, he was pretty excited to go to sleep in our room. He's been sleeping in there more often than not lately but he generally starts out in his own room. I enjoyed a few evening hours alone and devoured the rest of the birthday cake. Kidding. Actually, I'm serious and it was good.

I thought the guys had good luck fishing when Jeff brought home a cooler of salmon weighing 20-something lbs, but apparently they didn't do well at all for that area. I guess they'll just have to go again! Tom is coming over for supper tonight to enjoy some of that fish.
Last night, I had a few ladies over for craft night (you know, since I finally have the space to do that). I had pinned this journal calendar a while back--yeah I think all of my projects for craft night come from Pinterest--and started on it last night.

I didn't actually read the post on Design Sponge until I was about halfway through making the calendar so mine is a little different. I didn't have enough index cards so I mixed them in with colored cardstock and I decided to leave out the month dividers for now. I'll probably just keep the current date at the front and file it to the back each day. I also used both sides of each card since the cardstock is thicker than the notcards; there wouldn't have been enough room for 366 cards. (Dont' forget Leap Day!) I'm excited to have this since I like to journal, in theory, I just don't always remember to do it. This way, I can quickly jot down something from my day and be able to look back each year. How fun!

Tumble Dry on Low Heat

Maybe it's just the coffee from this morning getting me all excited yet not quite anxious, but I feel like a little kid right now. Both boys are sleeping, the house is quiet. I should be sewing!! Or packing! Or cleaning! Or doing laundry! But I feel kind of free right now. And I'm pretty sure that one cup of coffee (and the rest of the chocolate...) is making me all giddy and excited.

 I quit coffee about a year ago because I was drinking way too much (and by way too much--don't laugh--I meant several cups a day) and it makes my blood sugar go crazy and gives me anxiety and heart palpitations. I thought that after avoiding it for this long I wouldn't even like it. Yet, every time I smell it, I crave it.

For the first few days in our new house, Jeff was riding his bike to the gas station (2 blocks away) and buying coffee so I figured I would be saving us money to just buy the good stuff and make it ourselves. Except, I had to try it. And now I'm having a hard time sticking to just 1 cup a day. Yum. And now I remember why I love it so much. Maybe it's just a mental game but sipping on coffee makes me feel like I can conquer anything. Or at least clean the house or implement a really cool design idea. Perhaps that explains my crazed need to paint, paint, PAINT! (No painting has occurred yet.)

Anyways, my sister Kaitlin stopped by yesterday with her boyfriend, Aaron. She said she was glad she was able to see the house before I did anything to it. Most of my sisters have told me they can't wait to see what I do with the place. Oh my goodness, as if I wasn't impatient enough, now I have the added pressure of all of them waiting to see what I do. Luckily, Jeff is basically letting me have free range and do what I want. He said he'll stop me if it gets too crazy.

Darn coffee. If I didn't have summer vacation plans coming up I could rip out the carpeting on the stairs.

Snapshots from the Week

 Moving in!

First full day in our house, Jeff fixes the washer. Yes, we still have paneling in the new place but it sure beats the dark, faux wood in our apartment living room. (This is the only paneling in the house.)

Isaac is learning to reach.

Alfalfa in the booster seat.

Eating chocolate chip black bean brownies on the deck. No, those chairs are not on my list of projects. Aren't they pretty? Just kidding but they are broken beyond repair so they will be replaced as soon as I find something suitable.

Football jammies!!

And the best for last; I need to hang this mirror but in the meantime, I propped it up against a chair and this little dude has been playing and talking to himself.

Oh and by the way, I'm halfway to 48 today. And Facebook is awesome.

Mowing his Own Lawn

Babies are magic. I just had a few paragraphs typed out and with one click of a button, Isaac deleted it all and then just like that, blogger auto-saved the blank page. Does anyone ever feel like typing again after that happens??

I'll try my best.

Here is the picture I had posted to go with the title:

The gist of the post was that after over 4 years of apartment living (both here and downstate) I am so thankful to have a house. And I'm so glad that Pinterest is around now so that I can really make our house look like, well, ours. And without putting us further into the debt that we are paying off.

I have so many plans for this house. Most of the immediate plans involve lots and lots of paint. Mom isn't so sure about the chartreuse entry way I have in mind. ;)

Interrupted to add: Why is it so funny that Adrian is walking around with his bee (butterfly) net on his head even when he is supposed to be taking a nap?? (Jeff is planning to raise bees starting next year for anyone not fortunate enough to have had a conversation with him recently.)

Adrian's room will be grey and the kitchen cabinets (now a very dark stain) will be teal. That's all that I know for sure right now, but I'll be sure to post pictures if I change so much as a piece of trim. If you look at my Home Sweet House board on Pinterest, you'll see exactly what my house will look like by next week.

I'm super impatient to get started but we do actually have a trip to the camp coming up and the whole trying-to-enjoy-summer-while-it's-here thing. Which is awesome by the way; the previous owners left a patio table (which will be getting some spray-paint treatment eventually) so we have been eating breakfast, lunch, and supper out on the deck with half the town as an audience.

Speaking of enjoying summer, Adrian is NOT taking any sort of rest whatsoever so we are heading to the outdoors. Peace out.