Update

I understand it has been five months since the last post for our family, but as you can read from the last one in March life gets busy. The kids did fabulous with all their sports and Chris is really stepping into his Mr. Mom role.

The Spring was very hectic with me trying to finish up school which I am now done as I write this post, the kids sports and Chris's past work schedule. We made it through it and now the kids are enjoying their summer break. Jasmine is enjoying her horse lessons and tomorrow she gets to participate in a horse show at Windy Ridge Ranch in Woodbury. She is also finishing up her softball season with a tournament next weekend. Jayna is still in gymnastics and finishing up her first year by moving up a level at Crowleys in Oakdale. She is also the little swimmer and is in level 3 for her age group. Nick is Nick and is just loves to ride his bike and getting a break before soccer starts this fall and hockey around the corner. Tony on the other hand, doesn't know what to do with all the kids at home all the time. I think he is looking forward to them going back to school in a month.

It is hard to believe in a month I will have 3 out of the 4 kids in school and Tony is just around the corner from starting himself. I myself get to go back to school too but in this case I get to be in the front of the classroom again. It is weird to think of working again after taking three years off, but it is nice to be there too. I am currently working with the summer program to finish off my own schooling with the student teaching portion. I think this is great because I get to know the kids and building before starting the official year. I really like this place and the drive isn't bad either...it is right in district 622 about 15 minutes away at the worst.

The house is coming along slowly and I think Chris (as well as the rest of the family) is getting sick of this house project. So once we get our Electrician into the house we should be in good shape. Right now I think Chris is trying to get it roughed in so we can get it heated correctly this winter. So all in all nothing much has changed here in South Maplewood.

Keeping Busy

It is hard to believe that it is March and Spring is just around the corner. I just finished signing up the kids for their Spring activities and if the gas prices don't kill me the scheduling might just do that.

Jasmine = horse lessons (Fridays), softball (2x a wk practices, plus games and tournaments)
Nick = Soccer (Tues & Thurs), Swimming lessons (Wednesdays), Hockey (weekend games)
Jayna = T-ball (Mon. & Tues.), Swimming lessons (Wed), gymnastics (Fridays)
Tony = Swimming Lessons (Wednesdays)
Chris = building the house (Everyday)

I know this schedule is crazy, but at the same time we told the kids that they could participate in two things. I want to encourage them to do just that and I am grateful to have people surround me that are supportive and mobile as well. Thanks grandparents for carpooling for me.

I am really excited for Jayna to be able to play a sport. She has been waiting for this for years so this year will be very exciting, because she has been talking about being like her big sister. Finally she gets her chance and when she is 7 she wants to ride horse too.

I think it will become harder and easier as the kids grow up because they will be able to choose their sports rather than getting suggestions from Chris and I. I have a feeling that Jasmine will make horse riding her passion and softball will just become a hobby. She is already talking about joining the JETS at Windy Ridge Ranch, and the owner Mark said there would be spots open in October. So she would be practicing on the weekends with the drill team then.

Nick on the other hand has thrown himself whole heartily into soccer so if hockey doesn't work out I might be looking into indoor soccer for him to keep him busy. Who knows he might surprise me and want to go in a whole other directions too.

Jayna on the other hand is going to be my busy little girl. She is already talking up hockey next year with the boys, but LOVES her gymnastics classes too; in addition to her T-ball and horse interests. She told me she would play soccer this year with Nick if she was too young for T-ball, so maybe next fall she might want to try out soccer too.

So where does this leave Tony, he is might just have to take up knitting or something he can bring along where ever we take him. The poor little guy has been and will continue to be drug along to the various events his siblings are involved in. He seems to enjoy the change of scenery though.

Warrior Dash 2011

Call me crazy but I signed up for my first 5k in MY LIFE and it is the Warrior Dash www.warriordash.com out in Afton in summer. It is an obstacle course 3k so not only do I have to run a 3k but also do events like a rope wall, mud crawl, tunnels, and anything else they throw at us. I am excited to do this and it is great motivator to get my butt off the couch, I just wish I could convince Chris to do it with me.

I guess it is the first time in my life that I actually felt old. I realized that I wasn't 20 and eating everything I wanted too wasn't going to help my health. So I really hope to stick to a fitness plan that will help me get in shape for this event. So watch out everyone, because on July 23 I will be a warrior.

Oh if anyone wants to do the Commando 5k, which is the same type of race as the warrior let me know because it is on June 25th. Take care everyone it is a new year.

Christmas Holidays 2010

It is amazing that another Christmas has blessed this house. The holiday's started with the traditional events around this house like decorating the house and this year we added the advent calendars to the daily count down to Christmas. The oldest three loved the daily surprise they got and Tony loved that he got to eat chocolate everyday, even if he thought he was sneaking them. The kids decorated their gingerbread houses again and put them out for display. As the days went by, the kids noticed their houses were losing their candies thanks to Tony's sweet tooth. Chris reminded me that next year I can have a 15 foot tree in our bedroom if I wanted too, and I would love to try it but who gets to climb the 15 feet to decorate it?

The kids love the small things we do every year like baking and decorating cookies. This year Jayna got into the sugar cookies and rolled them out all by herself. Santa is a spoiled guy at this house because the kids baked four times to get the perfect cookies for him, but for some reason each batch never lasted long in this house. Instead Jasmine helped her siblings type out letters to Santa thanking him for leaving them a gifts. Jayna had her normal questions about how Santa was going to get into the house and if he was traveling to all the boys and girls houses. Nick on the other hand might only have another year left, but Tony enjoyed it to the fullest.

Christmas Eve arrived and after enjoying a hearty breakfast of Santa pancakes we made the journey to North St. Paul to enjoy Christmas at the Zientara's. It is chaos when we get all the kids together there, but after a wonderful meal prepared by my mother the kids got right to the heart of the matter, gifts. Tony wasn't quite sure what to expect but after the first gift, he understood and we got to enjoy his squeals of pleasure with each gift. "My toy, my toy...My Thomas, MY THOMAS" (he got a Thomas follow me toy). This year the kids got a few toys that were very exciting and I hope the excitement of them last them the year.

After all that excitement I wasn't sure if they would fall asleep early enough for Santa to arrive to the house, but they were off to sleep fast than I thought. Santa arrived, but for some reason the kids let Chris and I sleep in. I awake to the sound of Nick playing in his room and the others running up and down the hall. I thought for sure they opened the presents without us, but nope they waited for us to come down stairs. Santa used his traditional method of gift wrapping and as soon as the kids figured out which wrapping paper represented them they were quick to figure out the gifts. This year Santa even found Bacon wrapping paper to represent Jasmine's love of BACON.

Once all the gifts were wrapped, we were off again this time to Grandma and Grandpa Carvelli's to celebrate with family again. So again the mighty silver truck made the trip to North St. Paul and I was wondering if we were going to have a Christmas baby (Baby Herr?). Nope but the excitement was just as prevalent and the kids love playing with each other and Nick was able to contain his own excitement with out displaying it on the kitchen floor this time. The brunch was delicious and I could have ate all day long, but the kids had other ideas in store for the adults. The gifts were exchanged and everyone out did themselves again. Nick has shown everyone his remote control snowmobile he received and with the help of the freezing rain he has been able to take it outside in the yard too.

The holiday season is wonderful and everyone enjoys the time together. I love getting together with the family and I think the kids are even excited to go back to school tomorrow too. I know Jayna has been waiting a long time to show Ms. Marge her holiday dress and start her gymnastics again on Friday. Nick is missing his friends and I pity Mr. Mealey having to reign in 20+ boys again, and I don't even want to think how the early morning is going to work for Jasmine...she is still sleeping right now @ 1:40 in the afternoon. Chris on top of it all I think loves his holiday present the most...a GPS system for his snowmobile, so he doesn't get lost when he makes the Canada trip in February. Geez...boys and their toys!!!

Santa Pancakes

Whenever we get a chance to relax and just hang around the house, I like to break out all the fixings for breakfast...pancakes, french toast, sausage, bacon, hash browns and anything else the kids or Chris can dream of to eat. This is usually a Sunday morning feast for us, but for Christmas Eve I am going to make this part of our tradition with Santa Pancakes. It is a really cute way to serve the pancakes and get the kids to eat their fruit too, even if right now the little ones don't eat the whip cream or the cherry nose. For me it is the fun of making the funny faces and getting to see my whole family around the table, this is the only time I don't get overwhelmed with the noise because everyone is chewing.

House Update

Chris has been hard at work getting the plumbing roughed in so I figured I would take this time to update everyone on the house progress. Please have patience with me it has been six months and I think the last time I posted a picture the house was still getting walls. Now I can tell you that all the walls are up and the interior walls are up too.

Chris is building the staircase to the basement with my brother Justin and so far they are still up and functional.

In the midst of all the construction, Chris decided to add a bit more cement to the drive way, which has been a blessing with all the snow we have been getting, but this didn't go without a hitch. The day the cement truck came out (the second one I believe) we had not one but two city inspectors come to the house; courtesy of our neighbor's phone call. One was to look at the cement going down for the driveway (our on going fight over the property line) and the second one was to look at the height of our house (I guess the neighbor thinks it is too high), but both left without a qualm and told us the project was looking good.

Here is a shot to the trusses going up with the help of Chris's former high school buddy he reconnected with on facebook (Yeah social networking). Mike M. came down with his father's lull and we were able to get them up easier than imagined.

Not only did the lull help with the trusses going up but with the transportation of the over hang, which looked like the wing to a small plane when Chris built them.

Here is a shot of Chris riding in the basket to get the final piece of the trusses in place, which finished off the look of Chris's vision to the house.

One of the last pictures are of the house getting the windows in place, which drastically reduced the wind coming into the living addition in the back. The front of the house is taking shape and now we are focusing on the interior and getting that going.

The last picture is where the house sits right now on December 24, 2010 @ 3:20 in the afternoon and instead of getting ready to go to my folks house to celebrate Christmas Eve I am updating the blog. I also hear we are in for another whopping snow storm in a week...bigger than the 17 inches we got before. OMG...where will we put that snow. That will be a very interesting post if and when the snow comes. To Be Continued....

We Are Back!!!!

I have internet officially back at home. This is the first post since that day so many months ago. It is hard to believe that it has been six months and so much has been done. I don't even know where to start. I guess with the current house situation would be the best...right now as I type Chris and Tim are wrestling with getting the wirzbo on in the front of the house. For the past few weeks we have had to let the water drip, but now with the temperatures really dropping Chris figured it was time to get the heat on.

The front of the house is entirely up and lovely with all the windows (not looking forward to actually cleaning them), but it is a fabulous site. Chris is working hard getting the plumbing ready and this project is steaming ahead. It is hard to believe that we have been in this addition for almost a year already.

A short recap of the last months goes kind of like this...

Disney World in August with the kids and my parents...a very long drive (5 days down, 4 days back) & very very very HOT, but the kids loved it.

September was the start of school for Jasmine (Middle School), Nick (1st grade), Jayna (preschool) and myself (grad. school) so that meant a lot of changes to the schedule for everyone. Most days are crazy but the schedule is good for everyone too. Jayna is excited that she gets to ride the school bus with Nick next year.

Side Note: somewhere in there Tough Tony broke his collar bone horsing around upstairs with his big sister Jayna.

Halloween was the typical chaos around here. Jasmine was a devil (along with her horse @ the Halloween fun show at Windy Ridge Ranch), Nick was a jail bird, Jayna was a lovely ladyBUG, and Tony was a puppy dog. This was the first year that Tony really got into the spirit of getting candy but his little legs got worn out really fast; good thing we had the wagon.

Now that the holidays are in full swing, it is hard to believe that 2010 is almost over and I got to blog only half of the year. Just also to let everyone know that the updated videos of the house project and other interesting videos can be found on our flip share site...

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