Twinkle Twinkle Rock Star

My dad has been working on a present for my Grandpa and wanted the kids to sing some songs for the background music. About 2 weeks ago, Zach starting singing in what he calls "rock star" voice. He sang for my dad in that voice. Here is 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" - rock star style...

Twinkle_Rock.wav

When I asked him, "Where did you get that from?" he said, "No where. It just came from inside" and pointed at his chest. That's my boy...

Another "Better with Bacon" product

My cousin Katy sent me an email about a product called the WakeNBacon. She thought it would be a good addition to the "Better with Bacon" section of the blog. This alarm clock takes a piece of frozen bacon and cooks it over a 10 minute time so that you wake up to cooking bacon every morning...I do love bacon, but I don't know if I want a piece sizzling next to my head on the nightstand at 7 a.m...then again...

Back to the future

I'm back! Back to the future - to the internet, to satellite t.v., to tivo...not to mention all of my belongings! So, so much has happened over the past two months that I don't even really know where to start. Here is the very short version of the past two months...

We went to Monaco and had the most wonderful time and we loved every minute of it - even the plane ride was fun - it was like a big long date. Monaco is beautiful and it is very clear why it is such a famous vacation spot. The kids had a great time at Gma and Gpa Bacon's house and Andrew even learned to ride a bike while they were there.

We came back to Duluth and kept right on driving to Two Harbors where we lived for about 6 weeks. There we enjoyed the peace and quiet of country life - can anyone say, "not so much". Okay, so I am not a country girl. I think a weekend in the country is really fun, but I could never live out there...I was however very, very grateful that we had a nice place to go and that the kids actually did really have fun.

I took a fondant and gum paste class for cake decorating and had a blast. I made fast friends with the ladies in the class and was sad that I wasn't going to be available for the next course with them. I made some really fun cakes and am excited to put my new skills to use.

We closed on our house on June 20th (the 2502 house - for those of you who have been in the house hunting loop). Greg and I hired a family of 4 kids (11-18) to babysit at their house the next week. We had 12 hours a day for 6 days with no kids and we filled every second of it with work on the new house. At night we would pick up the kids, spend some time together, put them to bed and then keep right on working. At the end of the 6 days we figured out that we had put in 215 man hours of work. It was crazy. We got a ton of work done though and met most of our goals before the people came to re-finish the hardwood floors and lay the new carpet. We are now well past 350 hours into the house.

On July 10th our things were delivered. The boys were so excited to get their toys back - they were also really excited for their beds - just like their mom! I missed the comfort-pedic! That was a Thursday night. I spent Friday trying to get a few things unpacked (Greg had to go into work) and then on Saturday we spent the day gathering our things from the Two Harbors house, cleaning it and doing some final yard work because Sunday was the start of Greg's family reunion at the Two Harbors house and in Hutchinson. We spent a week with his family and got back late last Sunday night. So this week was the first real week to try to unpack. Amy Bacon came over twice to help too and we got quite a bit done - it's amazing what a difference having a second person makes! The toy room is completely done, the storage room and laundry room is done, the kids rooms are all done except for decorations and the dining room is done.

Even though unpacking seems like it would be the priority, the kitchen has really been what we have been working on this week. The kitchen is completely gutted. No floor - nothing! We started to re-construct this weekend and will hopefully be ready to have the cabinets installed on Wednesday and Thursday. Then comes tile, appliances and countertops. All of the components are ordered and in, it's just a matter of being ready for them. We are really hoping that the kitchen remodel will all be over in about another 2 weeks.

Ava turned 16 months today, Andrew and Zach start soccer on Wednesday, we did a little bit of school shopping for Andrew this weekend, I am trying to catch up on the current events and television that I missed while visiting the 80's, and am making paper mache animals in YW for the local zoo that they will fill with meat and then use as "prey" for the lions - yes, that's what I said.

That's it. All caught up. I'll post pictures later, but at least I am Back to the Future!

Stealing Father's Day

This was a story that I couldn't let go unposted...

On Father's Day we went to the lake to have a picnic dinner. Afterwards we were all throwing rocks into the water and having a great time. Andrew and I were seeing who could throw the rocks further and since he is still 6 I was really hoping it would be me. I decided to really put my arm into it - just in case - and when I let go of my rock, my bracelet broke and went flying too. I was pretty shocked and so I gasped (and I did love that bracelet) and my immediate reaction was to want to go into the water to retrieve what looked like most of it about 12 feet out. Greg reminded me that the water was in the high 50's - not really swimming temperatures and that buying a new bracelet was probably a much better option. While we were talking Andrew started taking off his pants and when we turned around and asked him what he was doing he said he was going to get the bracelet for me. We told him the water was too cold, but he said he didn't care. We weren't overly worried about it because we knew as soon as his bare feet touched the water it would cure any desire to keep going. Then the most amazing thing happened. I watched my 6 year old son walk into the water (up to his chest) and then bend down and pick up the pieces to my bracelet - his head was barely above the water. He carefully got each piece he could find and brought them back to shore. His little body was bright red and he was shivering. I just cried. I couldn't belive he did that for me. I told him it was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me and he said that all he kept thinking was that he was going to do it for me - he said he just thought, "it isn't for me, I'm doing it for mom". I cried a little more. There wasn't enough of the bracelet to re-string, but I told Andrew that I was going to keep the bracelet in a special place and that if I was ever feeling sad or felt like I wasn't loved, I would get those pieces of the bracelet out and hold them in my hand and remember what it felt like when he got them for me. I really think it was the sweetest thing that has ever happened to me.

I did keep the pieces and I do look at them and feel loved. In fact, I don't know if I have ever felt more loved as a mother than I did on this past Father's Day!