Monthly Archives: June 2022

Last week and weekend were so busy! We were gone Thursday-Sunday, and our internet has been down since we left on Thursday, until today. So I’m catching up.

Our week started like usual- Monday with Grandma- the boys were busy with some birthday card crafting and swimming. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday our nanny Shyanna came to play with the boys. She is fabulous with both the boys and the dogs and I am so happy we have her! The boys continue to swim every day (sometimes twice a day), craft, play games, go to the library, and play with Sam and Abby. It is an ideal summer! It was super hot this week and so on Wednesday afternoon, she took them to an indoor play place.

Tuesday night was soccer. Wednesday morning was Gussie’s golf lesson. Wednesday night was Xander’s tee ball.

Thursday morning, Shyanna came to hang out with the boys while I worked and Nate ran some errands. I had a meeting with my boss that got interrupted by our internet turning off without warning. Luckily we have amazing neighbors, so I was able to finish the meeting at Kelly and Silas’s dining room table. After that, we loaded the van and headed up north.

Regional Training is an annual event for Edward Jones that has been cancelled the last 2 years because of covid. We were super excited it was back! Nate spent mornings in meetings, while the boys and I got to swim and play. Afternoons were mostly family time. It is such a great event and it’s just one reason why EJ is such an awesome company.

Big news to kick off our trip- about halfway through our drive, Augustus’s tooth fell out! It’s been getting looser and looser and he finally yanked it right out! Unfortunately the tooth fairy isn’t allowed at places like Grandview Lodge, so we had to hang onto it until we got home.

Thursday afternoon was a welcome meeting for me and Nate and the boys got to hang out with a bunch of other kids in the childcare area. They got to play games and make crafts and eat snacks. Then it was dinner, followed by the kid olympics.

Friday morning, Nate was busy with meetings and so the boys and I ate breakfast and then went right to the pool. Over the course of 4 days, I think they went down the water slide about 5 million times. They LOVED it.

On Friday afternoon, we headed out for EJ planned fun- we signed up for mini golf and go karts. We had afternoon ice cream and then we went back to the pool until dinner.

Saturday I had a spouse meeting, so the boys got to play in the childcare area for a bit. We had lunch and then, BACK TO THE POOL! We love the pool and Grandview has 3 very nice ones! We utilized all 3!!

Saturday night was the awards dinner, so Nate and I got to get dressed up and enjoy drinks and dinner. The boys got to have a pizza and movie night in the childcare area. Everyone was happy with the night!

On Sunday morning, Nate and the boys went to the pool while I packed and loaded the van. We headed home- all of us exhausted! It was such an awesome weekend! Shyanna stayed at our house and took good care of the puppies while we were gone. We are so lucky to have her.

Internet was still out on Sunday, Monday, and this morning. Text updates kept moving the restoration time out and I was ready to lose my mind. It’s hard to work from home with no internet! So this morning, I called Xfinity and asked if I switched today, could I have internet TODAY? Yes. Easy set up. I picked up the equipment and it was supposed to be just a few easy steps… except that step one was to plug in the coax cord and we don’t have that outlet in our wall. LUCKILY, we have THE BEST NEIGHBORS and Aaron was able to figure it out for me, and after that, it really was a very easy set up. Whew. Internet is restored and life is back to normal.

Summer is so packed with fun things, and this week is just as busy as last week! Sunshine, sports, swimming, lots of freezie pops and ice cream, playing with neighbors and staying up late.

It was our first week of summer and we were BUSY. Our summer schedule is Monday- boys with Grandma Debbie, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday- nanny Shyanna is with the boys, Friday- Nate and Natalie alternate PTO days off with the boys.

Grandma Debbie’s bestie also does childcare for her grandkids, so Monday was a fun day of swimming at the lake, playing and hanging out with Cain and Cora. The evening was all about running back and forth between our yard and the neighbor’s yard to alternate swimming and jumping on the trampoline.

As stated last weekend when we assembled the pool, we had no idea what we were getting into- the pool was a decent price, but this week we spent a small fortune on accessories. We are leaning into pool life and have spent a lot of time cleaning the filter and checking things, and maintaining.

On Tuesday, Augustus slept in until 8:45, which was probably an indication that we’ve had a lot of late nights and jam packed days. It was the first day the nanny was here and all of us were excited for her to arrive. She is a student at St. Thomas. I absolutely have hired her to be a camp counselor. She is wonderful with the boys and ALSO with the dogs, which wasn’t a requirement, but probably should have been as they are a handful and she is awesome with them. Day 1 was super fun- they played a lot of games, did some crafting, played outside, swam and when she left for the day, the boys asked when she was coming back, so I call that a success. We have had several nannies over the years and all of them have been OUTSTANDING. I am confident she will continue that trend and I’m so grateful we have her this summer!

Tuesday night was soccer for the boys. It was SO hot outside, I was advocating for us skipping it, but Nate and the boys were excited, so I got overruled. Augustus scored a goal! Xander is getting better and better each week and both boys really enjoy it. I appreciate that it is only one night a week.

Wednesday was Augustus’s first golf lesson! Nate said he spoke up and had a lot to add to what the teacher was saying. Nate also said he did really well. When he got home from golf, the boys and Shyanna went to the library to use their new library cards and pick out some books. There was more swimming and because it was so hot, there was also a mid-day movie. Wednesday night is tee ball for Xander, which I skipped so I could bake cookies and walk the dogs. Nate said he did really well!

On Thursday, Shyanna took the boys to the park, and they were gone for a long time! When they got home, they were excited to report that as they were getting ready to leave, Sam and Abby showed up, so they ended up staying for another 45 minutes! More games, crafting and swimming. I think they swam twice a day every day this week. So far, this pool has been a great addition!

On Thursday night we headed to Camp St. Croix for their pizza farm night. We met the Nelson’s there and no one knew what to expect. You buy the pizza boxes and get tickets. Then you go around to each farmers market stand and collect your ingredients. Then you assemble your pizza and bring it to the pizza oven for them to cook for you. I LOVE stuff like this and it was fun to support one of the camps I work with.

Friday was a marathon of a day! I had the day off and the boys and I headed to the YMCA right away- I had a personal training appointment and they tried out the Y childcare for the first time. After my appointment, we all jumped in the pool to play for about 30 minutes until their swim lesson started. I didn’t take any photos this week, but Xander swam 50 yards! He is getting SO good at swimming and I am really proud of him. Augustus is also becoming quite a little fish, and I am happy to see them be so confident in the water.

After swim lessons, we headed to the dentist and both boys were fabulous. Xander has lost 6 or 7 teeth and Augustus has 2 loose teeth right now!

We stopped for lunch and then headed home. We did all of that before 1pm! Swimming, playing, and we were ready for the weekend. The dogs have been VERY interested in the pool- they’ve chewed on the cord for the pump, on the side straps, eaten one of the foam mats… so on Friday afternoon, Nate built a small fence to keep them away. Thus far, Hudson has mostly taken the fence as a challenge, so we just keep re-enforcing it. Every time he breaches the fence, he eats something new (a pool noodle, goggles, a squirt gun), so we’re going to continue to battle him until we have a bulldog-proof fence. Stay tuned…

On Saturday, Grandma Debbie took the boys to Uncle Barry’s cabin for the day. They caught 6 fish and swam all day! Nate golfed, I did a major organizing project in our spare room and baked cookies- I think it was the perfect day for everyone!

And today was Father’s Day! Completely on their own, the boys created a scavenger hunt for Nate. They had made fuse bead creations and also had mini Twix bars. They drew arrows and had clues. It was VERY cute and I had absolutely nothing to do with it (except that clearly genetics had a role! I have future camp counselors on my hands!). They were very excited for him to find their prizes.

It was 90+ degrees today, so we decided on an indoor activity. We went to Can Can Wonderland which is a very fun place. There are unlimited arcade games, skee ball, air hockey, etc. and also mini golf (our original reason for going). Each hole of mini golf has a different design and they are all spectacular. So cool! We mini golfed and then spent several hours playing games. It was such a fun place!

Afterwards, we had not lunch/not dinner random time sushi. We had planned to go for dinner, but we were all starving so we went early. That left us plenty of time for relaxing, swimming (with freezies in the pool) and a movie night. Both boys went right to sleep, so I think they were exhausted from a very busy week.

Every week this summer has a lot on the calendar, so we’ve only just begun. Here we go!!

We were feeling festive all week long because the end of the school year had arrived! Monday night was impromptu root beer floats with our neighbors.

On Tuesday, Pre-K went on a field trip to the local fire station. Augustus was very excited and has pointed it out all week long since then. I was in macaron mode every moment I wasn’t working, as I had a wedding order due on Friday. I had to skip soccer to bake, but Nate said both boys did awesome and they are getting better every week!

Wednesday was kindergarten graduation and Xander’s last day of school! Kindergarten has been so wonderful! His teacher was attentive and fun and made every day interesting. He made friends, he learned a lot. He lost a bunch of teeth. He is trying to grow his hair out to look like Thor.

Graduation was at 9am on Wednesday. Before Nate and Xander left to go to school, I hugged him and was having a moment- telling him how proud I was and how much he’d grown. He looked at me and said, “I’ll see you in an hour” in case there was any question of whether this kid is a mini Nate….

When we got to school, his kindergarten room was packed with parents and grandparents. The kids processed in, and then his teacher had a slideshow and spoke about each kid. The handed out medals and the kids sang the school song. They all danced out of the room to “Two Legit to Quit” which was the song their class chose to represent them. We took lots of photos, the kids played on the playground, and then we all headed to a local park to have a picnic lunch and play some more. It was a fabulous morning.

Wednesday night was the first night of tee ball for Xander. He’s actually pretty good at hitting, so I am excited to see him play!

On Thursday, Xander hung out while I worked. It was kind of a boring first day of summer break. At the end of the day, all of us headed to KBH for pre-K graduation. I have loved every moment at Kinderberry and I am so sad to leave. I sent the director a long email thanking her for an amazing experience.

On Friday, I had planned to have Augustus go to school for a short time to say goodbye and pick up his stuff for his final day. But they had a movie and pizza day, so he wanted to go the whole day. That meant he skipped his first swim lesson of this session, but I was glad he got one more day with his class. After school, we had early dinner and then headed out front for an ice cream sundae party with the neighbors. After dinner, before ice cream, I drove to Como to deliver wedding cookies. The photos the wedding planner sent me afterwards were amazing! Sometimes I don’t recognize my own cookies. I got home just in time for sundaes. We were outside until 8:15, the kids running around, the adults having cocktails- everyone very excited for the summer!

Saturday started with a small mom-fail. I was very excited to surprise the boys with a bunch of fun summer things- water guns, chalk, airplanes, nets, etc. I set it all up after bed with a sign that said, “happy first day of summer”. Well, Xander was QUITE upset when I came downstairs on Saturday morning. He assumed it was all fo Augustus since he had already had 2 days of summer. He had written some crabby notes (“No stuff for Xan” and “Here’s your stuff. Happy 1st Day Gus”). We talked about it and I assured him I would never leave him out and while he was right, he’d already had 2 days off, I was counting Saturday at the first since everyone in the neighborhood, him, Gussie, etc were finally done with school. He bounced back once he knew half of the stuff was for him.

Saturday was a party day for us as we headed to Christine’s house for a dia-versary for Evie. A year ago, my god-daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and this was a party to celebrate her, her family and all that they’ve overcome this year. I was excited to go early to be able to help with set up. There was a giant inflatable obstacle course, a pinata, one million kids and lots of good food (and a popcorn maker!). Christine knows how to throw a party! At 8pm, we had to pull our boys out of the obstacle course- Augustus had played every single minute since we arrived, stopping only when we forced him to take a water break every now and then. It was such a fun day! Evie has been so brave this year and Christine and Derek have been super parents, so it was a really nice opportunity to celebrate all of them.

Today was yet another day of fun and activity for us. The boys went to Grandma Debbie’s house for playing and swimming. Nate and I did some organizing and cleaning projects and then assembled our new pool. Last summer we had a blow up pool, but the dogs popped it. So we needed something a little more substantial. I did NOT mean to end up with THIS big of a pool, but apparently we are above-ground pool people now. The water was ICE cold when the boys arrived home in the afternoon, but that didn’t stop them from jumping in. It will be perfect in a few days, but it was fun for them to try it out. Meanwhile, I was at a Sunday afternoon wedding as a plus one! When my friend Becky needed a date, I was happy to join her. I like getting dressed up, I like cake. I like hanging out with Becky!

The summer is officially here and if the first few days were any indication, we are going to be BUSY!

It was our second to last week of school and I am getting so sad that it is nearing the end. I am sure next week will be even worse, so I’ll save my sadness for next week’s post. Plus, this week was AWESOME and I’m just so filled with joy after a particularly great weekend.

Tuesday was field day for Xander. His class won tug-o-war against the teachers and I think it was a very fun day! I heard most about the popsicles at the end, but I know he enjoyed the activities a lot too.

On Thursday, MPA welcomed new students with the Panther Party. They set up a scavenger hunt around the school and each station had very cool swag for Augustus to pick up along the way. He got a bag, a hat, a tee shirt, a book and a water bottle. Xander got some sibling swag as well. They had a nacho bar set up at the end. It was a very nice event and Gussie is excited to do another year of pre-K, this time at the big kid school.

Nate’s been doing a lot of work on our yard the last few weeks and it turns out bulldogs love gardening too. Hudson is obsessed with the hose and doesn’t hesitate to get right in the dirt afterwards. “This is why we can’t have nice things” is a phrase that I find myself shouting often. 2 bulldog puppies… what were we thinking?!? He also added a sun shade to our backyard, which I am SUPER excited about because our backyard gets ridiculously hot, so this will be a game changer for hanging out in the back yard.

Xander’s teacher does such a nice job of sending LONG updates every week and I love hearing about everything he is up to in kindergarten. She also sends us random cute stories about Xander, which I really appreciate and always makes me happy to read. This was the note we got this week-

I wanted to share this sweet and impressive moment today. Xander picked out the melon seed that was in his snack and said, “I want to bring this to the school chefs so they can plant it for us.” I found a good-sized envelope for him and he wrote a note on it. He spelled this out with zero help from me! I wish you could see the confidence and ease with which he is sounding out even tricky words like honeydew using his phonics knowledge and his phonemic awareness skills. He also felt completely comfortable walking up to the school chef Ronnie, handing him the seed packet, and explaining his idea to him. 

This is my hope and dream for all my students – for them to have the creativity, agency, and skill to pursue ideas that are meaningful to them, all because they feel grounded in a community where they are nurtured, safe, and empowered. I really couldn’t ask for more. 

I will miss Xander so, but he is also VERY ready to level up! He’s going to do great. Thank you for all your support and kindness this year! 

How sweet is this note?! I LOVE his teacher so so much. She has been amazing!

The Panther Party was great, but just one party wasn’t enough for us this week. On Saturday it was the Youth in Government 75th anniversary celebration gala and I was SO excited for this event. Nate and I met at YIG and I have volunteered for this program for 17 years. I could write pages and pages about how much I love this program. It just so happens that my new job gets to be involved with YIG- both with midlevel donors and also with alumni. I am so excited to be able to not just volunteer but also work with this program. This event has been in the works for a whole year (before I began my job). I have had approximately 100 conversations (maybe more, for real) about this event. I have enjoyed every minute of the planning and feel so lucky to have a job that includes YIG. Grandma Debbie came to stay with the boys and the dogs, and Nate and I got a hotel room for the night (the event was only 10 minutes away, but I knew it would be more fun to be able to stay).

I wasn’t just a guest, I also got to help, which I was really excited about. We got there early and Nate got to relax for a while, while I helped out at the check in table. It was fun to greet everyone as they arrived and I was really glad to have been asked to help. I like parties, but I like being part of the behind the scenes stuff even more! The event had 315 people and the energy was AMAZING. It was such an incredibly fun night. I got to see so many people from current and past YIG conferences and it was just wonderful. The decorations were gorgeous. The dinner and program were fantastic. It was so gratifying to be part of a million conversations leading up to the event and then see it come together just as we’d all imagined. I was really proud of the staff and volunteers that made it happen. It was a truly spectacular event.

I was wearing a very sparkly dress and I was feeling good. The glitter was floofing off of the dress as if I was a fairy princess- the floor around me, the chair I was sitting on, even my face. I happen to love glitter, so I was ok with it- surrounded by a cloud of glitter- sure! Until midway through dinner when Nate said, “is your eye ok?” It was very itchy, painful and red. I was trying not to touch it since I had make up on, but eventually I had to go back to our room to do some first aid. I took off the make up and then sat with a wet washcloth on my eye. I didn’t take a photo, but you’ll see a screen shot from the video message I sent Christine. My eye was bright red and swollen! Glitter in my eye! I managed to get the itching to stop and I re-applied my makeup. My eye was still swollen and goofy looking, but I went back to the party because I wasn’t going to miss out because of a glitter injury. It was an absolutely wonderful night (swollen eye aside).

This morning, we slept in until 8am (that is basically noon to me!) and relaxed all morning. Then we headed to Holman’s Table for the after-event brunch with the planning committee. I was so happy to be able to debrief with everyone and re-hash the night. And then, as if going to an awesome party with a bunch of people I really love wasn’t enough, Orville gave us all fantastic, beautiful gift boxes. Um… ok! Fabulous event, brunch, presents?! GEEZ!!

I LOVE events anyway, but this one was really special. I have been bursting with gratitude, joy and energy all day.

The boys and my mom woke up this morning and went to her house to go swimming. They had a great time with Grandma and I really appreciated being able to have so much fun without worrying about our kiddos. After I picked them up, they spent the day playing while Nate and I got some things done around the house (mowing for Nate, groceries for me). The week ahead is BUSY, so I’m trying to get organized and ready for everything ahead.