Author: Melissa

Today is Valentine’s Day and time for some major catch up!

Let me recap.  Winter has finally hit Michigan with some wicked cold temps and the kids haven’t had a full week of school since. During one week we had temperatures with the wind chill at -40.  Insane. Even Husker refused to go outside.  We kept busy and two days the kids even did a day time camp at the local karate studio. They had a ton of fun and now Noomi is obsessed with purchasing a Bo Staff. Yes, she has several picked out on Amazon.  Ajax was thrilled because they got to have a Nerf gun fight, which meant running around the studio, leaping over make shift bunkers, and dodging foam darts.

We had a Girl Scout event and I took both kids to the Breslin Center for a MSU women’s baseket ball game.  Both kids enjoyed that a ton.  We also went to a friends house for a Super Bowl Party. In total we had 11 kids running wild, hyped up on sugar with Nerf Guns.  Eventually there were tears, but before that everyone had a great time.

Noomi and I went to a baby shower in Livonia for a family friend.  She loved looking at all the baby items.  The guys stayed home and did… I’m not sure what?  Noomi and I also did a local tour around Williamston with our Troop and they got to ask the Mayor several questions about her job.

It also seems like the kids took trips out to visit each set of grandparents, leaving Dave and I kid free.  We celebrated by hanging out with my sister and Adrian and sleeping in till 8 am.  Ajax seems to be getting up earlier and earlier these days and now 6 am is his wake up time.  Ajax is getting ready for the 4/5th grade play. He is on the marketing committee.  He refused to try out for a speaking part in the play, but he’s very excited with his committee.

On the planning front we also booked our vacation to Disney world for last 2019.  Lisa and Doug are now engaged!  And we thinking of heading to South Carolina for a graduation party!

Back to today.

This morning I loaded Noomi on the bus and took Ajax to his 8 am Doctor’s appointment in Fowlerville. It was supposed to be just a quick in/out visit regarding his medicine, but I also asked the doctor to check on a cough he had developed earlier in the week.  The doctor listened to his chest multiple times and stepped away saying, wow, there’s a rasp, he has the very beginning of walking pneumonia.  The doctor prescribed a serious antibiotic and instructed me to keep an eye on the cough. If the cough gets worse to page him ASAP and he may need breathing treatments.  I couldn’t believe it.  Ajax also couldn’t believe it as he didn’t have a fever and overall felt ok. He was devastated that he couldn’t go to school for his holiday party.  I did drop off the donuts for his party and Valentine box and cards.  His teacher sent us an email saying the class missed him and were worried and they had passed out his cards and collected his.

I was able to run to Noomi’s party briefly when I picked up his medicine, but other than that we had a quiet day at home.  Dave ended up having to work late, so I ordered a pizza and we watched The Three Musketeers.   Both kids loved the sword fights.  Because swords.

On the planning front we also booked our vacation to Disney world for last 2019.  Lisa and Doug are now engaged!  And we thinking of heading to South Carolina for a graduation party!

And that concludes Valentine’s Day 2019.

This year we hosted New Year’s Eve and had friends over. The kids ate a bunch of sugar and then ran around the house screaming for 4+ hours.  Everyone made it to midnight before crashing, actually that’s not true. Dave fell asleep at 11:30 pm in his chair, but woke briefly to see the ball drop.  Husker had no idea what was going on.

New Year’s day was quiet. I had a headache most of the day which left me bumming on the couch.  Dave and the kids did a little blacksmithing and made a small 4 inch knife.  They all had a great time.

The rest of our week was pretty quiet. Noomi had a friend over. We went on lots of walks with the dog and enjoyed some crazy warm weather for January (low 50s, no snow).

The holidays were lovely this year and now we’re recovering.  Noomi and I are binging Fuller House and Dave’s banging on metal with his new forge and Ajax just beat some monster in Zelda. He’s pumped.  So let’s recap.

The Saturday before Christmas we headed to Allegan and helped Rod and Dara move into their new house!  It’s beautiful!  Since everyone was there helping we worked all day and then did our family gift exchange in the evening.  I realize we worked so hard that we didn’t take one pictures.

On Sunday I cooked all day because on Monday we hosted Christmas Eve.  We had a lot of fun and family over.  The weather was nice enough that we even got in a few games of laser tag outside. Husker was even excited because his bestie, Bruin, was also over.

On Christmas morning everyone was up at 6 am.  It was dark outside and Husker was confused as to why the whole family was up and about so early.  Everyone had a great holiday and we even surprised Dave with a 90 lb anvil.  He’s really getting into this forging.

The rest of our holiday week seemed to fly by. Dave had to work unfortunately, but we did lots of bumming around and playing with new toys.

For New Year’s Eve we had friends over and the kids actually made it to midnight.  I was surprised as they all seemed to run in circles screaming for about three hours straight on a pure sugar high. Husker was again confused.  And that brings us to today.

Dave and the kids made a knife with the forge, about 5 inches long. No handle, but they are still learning lol.

On Saturday Ajax was up bright and early so by extension I was up early as well.  I decided to take advantage of my early morning and went grocery shopping. Of course this close to Christmas everyone else had that idea and was also grocery shopping.  It was packed.

By the time I got home we had time to unload the car and then set off for Detroit (after dropping Husker at daycare and eating lunch at the slowest McDonalds).  We made good time downtown and arrived at the Fox Theater.  This was the kids first time there, as well as Daves, and they were impressed.  It’s been so long since I’d been there, I was just as excited.  We met my parents there and we saw A Charlie Brown Christmas.  It was pretty cute.  Both kids loved it. Noomi sat on my lap and kept leaning over saying, this is the happiest I have been in a long time.  Gesh kid.  The kids loved the old school cargo elevator which took us up to Balcony C, the official nosebleed seats.

Afterwards we met everyone at Mexican Village for a family dinner and gift exchange.   After dinner we headed home.  Neither kid slept as they both had a ton of pop with dinner and were pretty wired.

On Sunday, Noomi and I headed to my cousin’s house in South Lyon for a lunch/cookie exchange.  Dave and Ajax stayed home and Ajax had a friend over to play.  Ajax said he and his friend had a lot of fun playing Legos and Fortnight.   Noomi had fun decorating cookies, eating cookies, and generally running around with cousins.

Sunday night was easy, we ordered pizza and I found a silly show on Amazon that my family watched when I was little – Young Riders. It’s corny, the kids and I enjoyed it, Dave tolerated it.

This past weekend was busy and fun all rolled into one.

On Saturday morning we were up and had breakfast with Santa in town sponsored by the Williamston Schools Foundation.  We ate a lot of pancakes and had an overall good time.  Noomi brouht her notebook with a written list of her wish list items and went through each one with Santa.  Ajax grudgingly spoke with Santa (but really only to hedge his bets on this whole Santa thing).

After breakfast we took Husker to Pet Smart and he got to meet Santa as well.  I then did some shopping while Dave and the kids did some house work.   We also tried our hand at making homemade marshmallows, which were wonderful!

On Sunday, we were a lazy family and did very little.  We cooked and cleaned, did laundry, played video games, and took Husker for a walk in the woods.  We also wrapped presents and ate a bunch of junk.  It was a great Sunday.

Today after dinner the kids and I headed into Okemos to volunteer for a packing session for Many Hands, a local nonprofit. Both kids worked hard and did great.  Driving home we talked about what we did and why.  Noomi then launched into a story about how she played tooth or dare with her friend, Sophie. Noomi said she chose dare and Sophie dared her to eat one Goldfish cracker and one slice of a clementine at the same time and she did!  Ajax said, Noomi, it’s truth, not tooth!  Noomi argued with him a bit until I chimed in that it was in fact truth and not tooth.   Kids.

Busy weekend per usual.   I finally decided that I had to re-do the bathroom ceiling (as the paint was peeling and flaking and looking a mess).  It involved scrapping, sanding, patching, priming, caulking, and painting.  Way more work than I ever anticipating and beyond the scope of my home improvement skills, as I always stay way clear of anything related to drywall.  Now that it’s all finished, it ain’t pretty, but it looks better than it did!

On Saturday, we put up the tree and decorated for Christmas.  We were supposed to go to the Williamston Light Parade, however, Dave had a cold and it was pouring rain.  We stayed home, ate pizza, and watched a movie.   Earlier in the day, Noomi and I did venture out to the grocery store, but that was about it.  For some reason Noomi will hardly let me out of her sight and insists on going with me everywhere.

On Sunday, Ajax made the family waffles for breakfast (all by himself with only minimal input from me).  They turned out great and he was so proud!  We cleaned up the house, did some laundry, and then Grandma Mary and Grandpa Gordy came over to visit.  We went up to The Commons and donated some toys.  The kids also got to decorate gingerbread houses and see Santa.  Afterwards we all went out to dinner before heading home.

That night the kids were playing and I heard Noomi say (as she swooped a robot dinosaur/bird down over Ajax’s head) – “this is baby Jesus and I am the Queen of God!”  Ajax rolled his eyes.  We don’t know much about religion in this house.

Well Monday we were hit with our first snow storm!  We got about 4-6 inches in about 3 hours (from 2-5 am). Schools were closed, though Dave still made it to Dearborn.

We all slept in, made breakfast, and then headed out to clear the driveway.  Husker ran outside with the kids nonstop.  We then went for a hike behind the house and checked out the fort we’d made the week prior (when there was no snow!).  We then got warmed up and had lunch and then headed out for some holiday shopping.

When we got home Ajax got in some video game time, Noomi played on the fitness equipment like it was a jungle gym, and I got in a jog.  Overall a great first snow day.

Thanksgiving this year was spent in Allegan (or actually Dorr) with Aunt Theresa and her family, along with Grandma Dara and Papa and a whole bunch of dogs.  Noomi was a great helper in the kitchen – she cut up veggies and helped knead the dough for rolls.  Dinner was great and afterwards we went over to see the progress on Rod and Dara’s new home.  It is beautiful, simply lovely!  The kids can’t wait to explore the property this summer.  We drove home that same night and everyone got to bed just before midnight.

On Black Friday I went out and hit up Kohls and the grocery store, but that was the extent of my shopping.   On Friday night the neighbors had a bonfire so we all sat around the fire and talked about the future development coming in behind us.  No one is looking forward to it.

On Saturday, Noomi and I took Ajax into town for a haircut.  He’s looking quite polished now.  Inside the barber shop is an additional room made of glass where a tattoo artist works.  When we got there she was setting up her tools for an early appointment.  Both kids were fascinated and swore they would never get tattoos.  By the end of Ajax’s haircut, however, Noomi was fully invested that when she turned 18 she’d get a tattoo.

Noomi and I did some shopping in Williamston and then Papa came over so that Dave and I could go to my cousin Pete’s wedding in Utica.  The wedding was at the Packard Proving Grounds and it was a pretty awesome venue.  The wedding was lovely and I was very happy we got a hotel room and didn’t try to drive home.

On Sunday, we got home and Papa hit the road.  Noomi and I went and did a bit more holiday shopping.  Ajax and Dave stayed home and played video games, lol. Now we’re having a quiet Sunday getting ready for our week.  Though a major winter storm is supposed to hit us tonight.  The kids may get one more day home.

 

I’m playing catch up. We’ve been busy, but again everyone is busy so I guess that isn’t a surprise.  In the beginning of November we had elections and everyone is quite happy that is behind us.  I was a poll challenger for the Democratic party and found it to be very interesting.  That same day (Tuesday), Dave had the day home with the kids and after the polls, I headed to Fort Wayne with my dad.  We met up with my aunt and uncle for dinner and a Joe Bonamasa concert.  Front row seats, it was awesome and very loud.

We also had parent-teacher conferences and both kids received good reports.  Both are doing well in school academically and seem to be enjoying learning new things.  In fourth grade it seems Ajax is going on a ton of field trips – Impression 5, the capital and historic museum, and the Wharton Center (though in all fairness all kids go see a performance at the Wharton).

This past weekend, Noomi and I went to a pottery show and bought a few little pieces.  Afterwards, the whole family took Husker for a hike in the woods. We did about 3 miles.  At one point Ajax, Noomi, and I were standing next to the river and all of a sudden Noomi slipped and fell into the river.  Needless to say we hustled the rest of the way back to the car.  We went for dinner in Old Town and hit up Meat (a bbq place).  We also looked in some neat shops, including Preuss Pets.  It was a nice weekend.