If you think your life doesn't mean anything....

Then you should spend some time with your grandparents or great aunts and uncles and ask them about their past.

This weekend my mom, Andy, Eli, my brother Greg and his girlfriend Liz and I went to visit my grandpa.  He said he is 87!  He is a quiet man.  We don't see him that often and when we do it can be a struggle to keep the conversation going because he doesn't say much.  We usually try to visit in teams so that we can help each other out with the conversation. 

We arrived with the idea of "interviewing" my grandpa and seeing what he could recollect about his past.  We wanted to ask about his childhood, his take on meeting my grandma, his memories as a dad and a farmer.  It was SUCH a special experience. My mom took notes and may even type it up for us.  I really think he enjoyed the "session" just as much as we did.  There were many questions that his answer was "I don't remember" or "That was a long time ago" or "I don't know". 

During a quiet time my brother said to all of us "see, this is why you should write about your life".  It totally clicked with me.  Even if you don't think you have done anything special or out of the ordinary with your life (no matter how old you are), someone will want to know about it. You may have children, grandchildren or great grandchildren who won't be able to picture the life we now lead in 20-60 years.  We may forget the mundane or normal things we do each day that would seem so interesting to our family in years to come.  Those details that we will probably forget could paint images of our past for those in our future.  Even the little things such as favorite meals, what you would do with an extra $100, what the Holiday's were like and what your cell phone was able to do for you.

Oh how I dream to spend a day with my Grandpa as a child-to see his days as he helped his dad "pick stones" (which appears to be the dreaded job back then), meeting my grandma and his wedding reception at the farm house, and how farming changed from when he was just helping to when he was running it.  What a life to live- on a farm-something he said he always wanted to do-never wanted to be a teacher or police man.  Things he couldn't answer for us (maybe he erased from his mind) were his thoughts on World War II, how he proposed to my grandma, if a farming income was always enough to get by, how he felt about my dad (his oldest child) going off to college instead of following in his footsteps to be a farmer and how he feels about how farming has changed from his day.
Things he could tell us were that if he had an extra dollar he would have taken it to the fireman's picnic and played a game or bought a soda, he first tried a cigarette when he was 6 and then never again, he dated my grandma for 4 years and they went dancing weekly (where they just "swung around"), details about milking the cows and what other animals they had, speaking Luxembourg and going to school where the teachers only spoke English, he drove his dad's 1928 black dodge and more...

During the visit Eli sat on his lap a couple of times.  They high-fived a few times. There were silent moments and lots, lots, lots of laughs, which was the goal of the visit. 

 (The picture on the wall behind us is the family farm, which is no longer "in" the family)

Boo!

Last year Eli was a soft, fluffy, cuddly reindeer.  He sat in the bouncy seat at the door watching the trick or treaters come and go.  This year he was the perfect skeleton!

I'm not a fan of Halloween.  I have never even walked through a haunted house because they creep me out.  As I said in an earlier post-I never dressed up in college to celebrate even though almost all of my friends did.  As a kid I felt weird trick or treating.  But after this year I have developed a crush on Halloween.

Andy, Eli and I spent the day at my parents house.  Eli napped through the beginning of the trick or treat frenzy while we watched the Packer game.  After he woke up and "Suited up" we ventured out.  I had it in my mind that we he would survive about 3 houses.  I think he actually made it to about 15!  I fell in love with trick or treating as my cute, lovable skeleton traveled from house to house carrying his blue "bumba" (pumpkin).  He often threw his pumpkin or dropped it to pet a dog or pick up a leaf.  But he did get a lot of others to smile as he stole their hearts. One little fella who was just ahead of us at some of the houses turned to Andy and I and said "I like your son!"-my favorite moment of the day.
I also found out that my mom enjoys Halloween much more than I knew.  I didn't realize that she enjoyed taking us trick or treating or that she got a thrill out of handing out the candy.  She actually counts the number of kids that come by and this year 131!

When we were done with trick or treating we sorted the candy.  Eli can't eat most of it, as it is either a choking hazard or has nuts or peanut butter. Darn!  I guess Andy and I will have to take care of it.

We left a bowl of candy outside of our house since we weren't there during "meet and treat".  I hung a sign that said "Boo! We see you. Please take 1. Happy Halloween.".  Last year we had tons of candy leftover so on the way home Andy and I discussed if we thought that there would be any left, or if any little boys (I assumed only boys would do this) took handfuls instead of just 1.  The bowl was empty!  Probably a good thing as we should watch our waistlines before the other big eating holidays arrive.

Happy Halloween to everyone out there trick or treating in the dark.  What will next year bring?! Boo!

Sunday Blues

Who has 'em? I do!
Every
Single
Sunday.

I can't get past it.  My mom always tells me to enjoy the weekend instead of wasting part of it, but sometime around 2 pm on Sunday I get crabby.  I can't seem to forget that the next day it's back to the grind.  I can't describe this feeling.

Ok, yes I can. 
It
-is totally frustrating
-is a downer
-is sad
-is aggravating
-is stressful
-is depressing
-feels never-ending
Well you get the point. I could go on and on.  Every Monday feels like I'll never catch up and I'll never survive until Friday and I would do anything to get out of it.

I do end up surviving.  But not without a total angry period on Sunday.  I need some ideas on how to get past it on Sundays.  What do all you "dreading Monday" mom's do to get by?

Tonight the only thing that helped was putting this song on loud and attempting this dance (see old post) here. 

Join the Club

A few weeks ago my good friend Peggy joined the 30 club.  Her husband threw her a fantastic surprise party. She had no idea. (ok she had a little idea).  Jason bought brats, beer and buns, made a carrot cake (from scratch!) and secretly invited everyone!  Peggy was in the backyard on the riding lawn mower when I got there.  We were the first to arrive and acted as though we were just dropping off a card and flowers for her.  While we were chatting 2 male friends came over with a 6 pack of beer and chips. Then she knew something was up.  Peggy was a relaxed guest of honor, didn't go in and do a quick clean up or even change her clothes-maybe just added a sweatshirt and cracked open a beer.  
Being a new mom I took pictures of all the kids at the party instead of the birthday girl.  Now everyone asks "where is the birthday girl?" when looking through the pictures.  I did capture one or two.

Cheers Peggy and welcome-welcome- welcome to the 30 year old club!  You're such an awesome friend of mine. You are so much fun, helpful, hilarious, supportive, knowledgeable and as you know, and as we always say-we were meant to be.  Oh and let's not forget who REALLY celebrated the night away with the "moonshine rum" (picture on the right).

6

Man do I miss this little boy!
He turns 6 on Monday.
Happy birthday Charley!!! I wish I was there to give you hugs and kisses.  I know that's not what YOU want for your birthday, but it would also be fun to hand deliver your present, play games, share some cake and hear all your stories.  "1 thing you should know..."   "you know what?" etc etc.

Look how you've grown.
You're a very, very special boy.  Smart and intelligent. Adorable. Playful. Funny and competitive.  Caring. Brave but cautious. And I could go on and on.
I wish I had a few more moments of you while you are five, to savor and memorize you at this stage. But it's inevitable. You're going to continue to get older, grow bigger, stronger and smarter.  Next year I think you can be Professor Plum in the grown up (adult) CLUE game (that's an honor by the way!).

Hope you have great birthday Charley and a fantastic 6th year.  

These 2....

Keep us SOOOOOOO busy.

 When we get ready to leave the house, Eli starts to look for Bailee. He repeats "Bye Bye" (Ba-Ba) and goes over to give her a hug.  I wonder if this irritates Bailee at all as she used to be able to come along for car rides at times. 

 He loves her. She is slightly indifferent unless she is licking his face. And we adore them both.

After a long day of dealing with lil Elijah, Bailee finally stretches out for a rest.
 

Eli's Red Hat

Elijah got so many compliments on his simple red hat this weekend.  It's so basic.

But it has a history.

Grandpa Bob do you remember?  I'm sure that Aunt Sarah does...
Either way-it's getting good use and if he forgets it's there-it actually stays on!

Firsts

Dear Peggy,

Here are our "first borns". Together.  They had a good day together.

 

Aren't they beautiful!  I know there are many, many fun years to come-together.
Love,
Raina

October...thoughts

Halloween has never been a favorite holiday of mine.  It amazes me that so many houses in this neighborhood are decorating for it!  Many friends get "in" to this holiday!  I have never been to a haunted house because they scare the bajeebers out of me.  Trick or treating was something to do with my friends-but I always felt greedy going door to door.  I did like costumes...in the daylight.  But even during college when everyone was dressing up and going out on the town, I usually found an excuse to stay home and rest from a soccer game or study for a test.  How lame!  It is what it is.  This year Eli will go to a costume party!  He's not even 2! We will take him to the neighbors for trick or treating. And today he got his first pumpkin!  I adore that pure joy on Elijah's face in the first picture!

I do agree that fall is a fun season.  And I'm ready for it.  I'm a jeans and sweater kind of girl.  I hate shorts and I don't even really like tank tops.  I like wearing a fleece and feeling cozy instead of a scarf and a hat and feeling freezy.  I love the colors (Check out my sisters blog www.fortheloveofnaps.blogspot.com for some pretty colors).  We hope to get Up North to see some of the fall colors before it's too late.  Today we took Eli to a park in attempts to get a pretty picture but he wouldn't stand still (pictures of THAT to come).

Today is my dad's birthday.  We got him a card with a yummy looking rotisserie chicken a big frosty mug of beer on it that said "Here's a hot chick and a mug of beer for your birthday".  I thought it was right up his alley.  He is out on his boat today-amazing this fall weather. I hope he gets to go to Chuck's for his birthday dinner.  Last week at this very time he was putting Elijah to bed for the first time all by himself and he did amazing!  Happy birthday Dad/Grandpa Bob!

It's been a rough week in our house because Eli and I have both been sick.  Making him happy, comfortable and satisfied when he is over tired, with runny nose and a yucky cough is difficult when I myself had/have a pounding headache.   Poor Andy who is dealing with both of us.  Because of the mild weather today we were still able to get out and Eli was very independent.  He did not want to go with mom and dad. He wanted to walk everywhere and collect acorns and hold 10 of them in his 2 small hands.  Below are some pictures of him in action.  You can see how busy he is and how he is always in a hurry to get to the next place. 

 Remember a while back when I honored one of my hero's on my blog?  Well Solider Joey and his wife Melissa sent Eli a Christmas present last year and it's a cute army sweat suit.  Here he is in all his glory! So cuddly!

 Another Christmas present that came to good use during the Packer games is this farm that Aunt Sarah and family gave Eli.  We pulled it out and he LOVED it.  He loved it so much that he thought he could get inside. I could see the little gears winding, cranking, turning in that little head of his.  The barn was SO much fun he wanted to play IN the barn with the animals.  He turned around and attempted to scoot his little hinder into the barn.  It didn't work. So he turned around and tried to shove his foot into the barn.  I think in his mind it was as if he could just get part of his body in, the rest of him would shrink and suck in and he would be playing IN the barn.   
The 2nd picture is what happened when he realized he couldn't get IN the barn.

At the end of the day, Eli's good buddy Bailee shares a favorite spot-under the coffee table.  Man that dog puts up with a lot!  

Happy October.  More to come in the days ahead as Eli continues to run, dance, grow and is
always movin' on.

Test

My sister is helping me play around with my blog a bit.

Here is a silly picture of Eli in the last week.

And yes Eli....I took you out of the house in this outfit.  Someday you will wonder why you are wearing green pajamas that show off your skinny body with a badger jacket and a blue knit hat. 

Tunes

Tonight I added music to my playlist. I have it on auto-play meaning that if you have your sound up it should automatically play for you. You always have the option to turn it off or skip the songs you don't like. The first one is a recent favorite and some that follow are stolen from my sisters blog because I have to admit it-her playlist is darn good! Enjoy some tunes and have a great weekend. I hope to post some updates on the E-bug and post some pictures.

Giggle

I know I've mentioned that my sister keeps a blog but so does my brother (and my mom!!). Recently my brother posted this video and said some smart and funny comment about it.

I'm not sure what this video really is to him. But....it made MY day. I wish that every morning when I'm "gearing up" for work (which is what I call when I either meditate, listen to loud music or even cry) that I could get up and dance with this man. Who is he? What is he doing? Why didn't he clean up the clothes on the chair behind him before this performance? Did he practice this? Is this his parents basement or where did he find cool shag green carpet.?

I'm sure there is some story behind it. But it makes me laugh and it makes me wish that my co-workers and I could take 5 min, dim the lights and dance together like this man just to get us ready for our looming day.

Enjoy. Watch it all the way through. Then tell me your knee was not bouncing. Tell me you didn't smirk. Tell me you didn't wonder about this guy. Maybe it's just the song that is so damn awesome!