So I bought a store

Two weeks ago on Thursday I did my usual perusing of facebook to see what's up.  That is when I saw that my very favorite second-hand maternity store was closing!  Oh no, but we might want another baby!!!  First, I considered going and buying everything I thought I might like, then I read a comment where someone asked "would you sell the store?" And I thought, hey, maybe I should buy the whole store.  So first I texted Stacey, "what do you think about owning a second hand maternity store?"  She thought I should do it.  I called my mom, who I expected to talk me out of it, and she said "that could be a great thing for you."  So suddenly I got a little more serious, I could really actually do this...own my own store!

I e-mailed the owner to tell her I was interested and then we started texting with each other while I asked a million little questions.  When I woke up on Friday I got everybody loaded in the car and went to check out the store, but by this time Bryce had told me that he did not like this idea at all.  Small business is a huge risk and it didn't make any sense that I would all of a sudden and out of no-where decide I wanted to own a store.  I talked to the owner, she showed me the books, told me about the store, she has it open Wednesday-Saturday 11-4, pretty great hours for someone who hasn't worked in almost 4 years.

Mom and Steve drove into Spokane ready to check it out.  But Bryce still wasn't buying in, he had LOTS of very good reasons why we shouldn't do it, and I agreed with him.  And then I disagreed, and then I agreed again.  So we told her no, we couldn't do it, and I cried for a while.  Then we went out to dinner with Mom and Steve.  After we went to bed I disagreed again and we stayed up until 1:30 in the morning trying to decide if it was something we should pursue or not.  On Saturday morning I told Bryce I really want to do this, I don't know why, but I think it will be great!  He of course agreed because he's great, and also maybe tired of arguing with me.  So I sent her a text, "I want it, we will buy it."  And there was no response.

So I got in the car and drove over there and she had 5 other people in the store interested in buying.  Two women ready to swipe their credit cards to buy it.  I got her alone for a minute and assured her that whomever she decided to sell to would be the person right for the store.  That I wouldn't be hurt and I would understand whatever she needed to do.  Mom and Steve stopped by to see it, they liked it and still thought it could be a good thing.  They were both very supportive, however things might work out is meant to be! Later that night the owner texted me and said, "the store is yours!"

It is has been a whirlwind of business licenses, resale permits, bank accounts, lease agreements, phone, electric, washing, cleaning, rearranging, putting things in storage and planning a grand opening!  I kind of can't believe we are doing it, and sometimes the anxiety and uncertainty is hard to deal with, but we are almost there and I am so excited for this new adventure! I am excited to be challenged and do something I have never done before.  I am so lucky that I have some pretty amazing support people to help me with everything from getting the store ready to watching kids while we work on things.

So on a whim, I decided to buy a small business, and in the wise words of the three year old in my house, that is how it works...

Just keep swimming...

This is week three of swim lessons.  A co-worker of Bryce's told him about swim lessons at the community college for $20!  That is insane!  Anywhere else we have looked it's like $60  and the lessons at the community college are 4 weeks long, 2 days a week.  She told Bryce that the teacher is great and by the end of the 8 lessons they are actually swimming a little bit.  Last night, during the 5th lesson, Dietrich swam the length of the entire pool (supported by a noodle) and then jumped off the diving board into the deep end!  It was so exciting!

I cannot believe how big he is, how much he has grown, and how much he continues to grow and learn everyday.  Yesterday before swim lessons he was in a big argument with Lenorah, I finally said, okay stop yelling what is going on.  He informed me that Lenorah said he didn't like swim lessons but he LOVES swim lessons!  This morning he asked if we had preschool or swim lessons today and was disappointed to learn that we do not.  I am so glad he is enjoying it and I cannot tell you how much my heart wants to explode watching him do something new like this.  And to have success and be having fun.  It must be one of the most exciting and fun things to witness as a parent!

It's happening

When I found out I was pregnant with Lenorah, Dietrich was only 15 months old.  My due date was just 5 days before his second birthday.  And since we all know that my kids like to be prompt (both born on their due dates) their birthdays are 5 days apart, there are exactly two years between them.  When I told people how close they would be everyone would tell me "two years is perfect!  They will have so much fun together!"  My Grandma has children that are 6 years, 2 years, and 4 years apart.  She told me the two years was best because they played together.  When Len was first born I was so nervous about having two kids but I remember telling my friend Shawna, it's not as bad as I thought it would be!  Then Lenorah started moving at only 6 months old...then it got really, really hard.  A friend that Bryce works with was pregnant with their second, they would be less than two years apart, he worried they were too close in age, Bryce told them "yeah, they are."  Someone announced on facebook that they are pregnant, the kids will be 18 months apart, instead of congrats I want to say "that's going to suck.  Enjoy this time now, you will be so tired, stressed, etc."  But I know that's not true for everyone.  Everyone does this parent thing differently, and no matter how close or far apart our kids are, you just do it.  It's not like you can say, oh no, this isn't what I wanted, re-do.  

And then one day it happens, they DO start playing together.  They have games that they play together and Dietrich wakes up and asks where Baby is and Len wakes up and wants to take a "yum-yum" (vitamin) to her sleeping brother.  And suddenly it makes that time of exhaustion seem worth it.  They have a built in play-mate, someone they get to share everyday with.  After swim lessons last night Dietrich asked Lenorah "Did you see me make a big splash?"  I thought he was talking to me and I hadn't heard him so I asked him what he said, he told me he was telling Lenorah about his big splash.  All this sweet playing together and amazing loving and fighting going on between them, almost makes me think I'm ready for another baby...almost.

 I know this is so blurry, but you can still see those big smiling faces as they run past me!  So much fun!

It's pretty awesome seeing these two together.  Everyday a friend ready to play a game with you.  How great is that?

Our own park!

It seems like we spend a whole lot of time thinking about and listening too and being hurt by the horrible things that people say and do to us.  Sometimes we forget that their amazing people out there doing amazing things.  And while this might not be up there with those curing cancer and feeding the hungry it sure means a whole lot to our little family.  Our neighbor, two houses down, finished his run by our house the other day while Bryce was putting up the gutters.  He stopped and said, "I know you have little kids and we were wondering if you would want our play structure?"  He has six kids by the way, all girls, and they have outgrown the toy and are ready to move it on down the road.  

Earlier in the spring I looked into buying one of these, although nearly impossible to find on craigslist, they still sell for at least $300, one this nice could probably go for more.  Brand new on sale at Costco my mom found one for $800, the point is they are expensive.  When Bryce told me the neighbor was going to give it to us I just stood there staring at him.  That can't be right.  But we went next door to check it out and it was true.  The kids jumped on it shouting, they have a park at their house!

So on Saturday morning we rounded up the troops (Brother and sister-in-law and cousin) to help us move it while Grammy and Papa took the kids on a fun outing downtown.

 The swings moved to our house first, then the slide.

 Rock wall down...

 stairs and ladder down...

 how will this fit...

 remove the gate!

 All the pieces are in our yard!  Now where to put it...

 I don't have any pictures of us carrying it down the street because Bekah and I did a lot of the moving of the smaller bits while the guys took it all apart and then we all had to help with the big pieces.  But I'm sure it looked awesome, this crew of people carrying a play structure down the sidewalk!

 All together in our yard!  The adults had to try it out first of course!

Lenorah was asleep during the big reveal but Dietrich said "oh wow!  We have a park now too?" They are both pretty excited to have our own park in the backyard.  I'm not sure if Dietrich thinks that means we can have anything in our backyard or what because that night he asked for a horse to keep back there too...

We could not be more grateful to our neighbors for passing their great toy on to us, we feel completely spoiled and so fortunate to have such nice people living next door.  I know our kids (and quite a few friends and nieces and nephews) will enjoy this toy for years to come!

crying all the time

~showing off the boots they picked to wear to church

I read a blog post this morning and the woman said how everything makes her cry and then a bunch of her readers posted how they had children and they cry all the time too.  I was seriously starting to think something was wrong with me because I cry so easily and so often.

There is all this government drama going on and people on facebook are yelling back and forth at each other about how BAD/GREAT "Obamacare" is.  And they are being MEAN to each other, to people they like and respect.  I believe if they had the conversation in person they would never be so mean, but it's not in person, it's on social media and they are mean.  And then I start thinking about how someday people will be mean to my kids and I sit there and cry.

Lenorah says "HI" and waves to literally everyone she sees.  Most people see her and say HI back, but occasionally the person doesn't say HI, or maybe they don't notice her.  And again, I cry, because she is so sweet and innocent and she says HI to everyone because that is what comes naturally to her.  One day it will not, because she will "learn" that people are scary and not to be trusted and that you can't talk to strangers and they don't say HI back anyway, so she will stop.  And I cry because I wish she could be this happy bubbly adult who says HI to everyone she sees in the grocery store, wouldn't that be lovely?

Lenorah is the little sister and I was never the little sister.  Yesterday I watched as Dietrich and his friend told her no and didn't allow her in their "clubhouse".  I know this is how it works, I did it to my little brother too (oh yeah, I also cry about being mean to him when we were kids) but I cry, watching her try to figure out why her brother who plays with her all day long won't play with her now that his friend is over.

Dietrich has been telling me he doesn't want to go to preschool and we have had a couple of days where we fight to get out the door, and then I cry because I just want to sit with him all day at preschool like he keeps asking me to do over and over again.

When he gets home from preschool I question him trying to get out of him what he is doing all day long, because for the first time in his short life, I don't know.  And I cry because he doesn't remember and only tells me bits and pieces and it is the beginning of a time when I am afraid I will know very little about what is going on in his little life.  How he feels, how he is being treated, how he treats others, it will all be somewhat of a mystery.

I cry and cry and cry when I learn of someone I've only met once whose baby died at 37 weeks and she had to deliver her precious baby girl and may never know why she didn't come into the world crying like she should have.  I cry and cry and cry for her, her baby, her family, and the hole that is in their hearts.

I cry when I read about people doing amazing things for others, because people can be so amazing!  I cried when my friend's mom finished her second Iron(wo)man race.   I cry when Lightening McQueen gives up the race to help his friend across the finish line...I seriously have a problem.  This whole being a mom thing just puts those tears right on the verge and they come spilling out all the time! So if I try to tell you a story, happy or sad, I will probably cry.  I probably cried while writing this post...

Kate's Veil

So we are smack dab in the middle of another pre-wedding week (sister-in-law Bekah) and the pictures were just finished from Paul and Kate's wedding.  So I have been spending nap time looking at them over and over because oh my gosh my brother got married and I was there (most of the time) and it was just so wonderful and beautiful!  

Kate and her mom invited my mom and myself to go cake tasting with her a few months before the wedding.  We also got to go to the winery where the wedding was and help pick the wine that they would serve.  Then we helped her pick out a hair piece and since that place was right across from the bridal shop they let her take the piece and try it on with her dress.  So I also got to see her dress!  It was great to get to spend some time with her since I feel like I don't know her that well and they live so far away!  Anyway, they brought out a birdcage veil for her to try with her dress and it was so pretty, but also $50 (or so) and I looked at it and figured I could make the same thing for a lot less.  So when we were down in Winnemucca in June I talked to Kate about it to see what she was looking for exactly and offered to make her a veil.  I wasn't sure at the time if she wanted me to make it or if she preferred to buy the one from the store (which I wanted to buy for her if she did, to give her a little something for taking great pictures of the kids this spring!)  

Kate's mom found her mother's veil and took it off the hairpiece it was attached to, washed it and passed it on to me.  I'm not going to lie, I was a little panicky holding onto an old piece of veil and needing to turn it into exactly what Kate wanted.  I felt a little bit of pressure to not mess things up!  The veil came to me in a perfect circle which made it really easy to work with.  It only took me a few minutes to gather the back of the veil and sew it onto a small hair comb.  There were a few holes in the veil and fortunately I had just bought a really heavy duty stiff thread for mending our tent that was exactly the color of the veil.  I tied tiny knots around the holes pulling the veil back together and hopefully looking like it did originally.  

When the veil was taken off the original hair piece there was a big white spot where the veil was gathered together.  This spot sat right toward the front of the veil and would be very visible.  I showed it to Kate and she really liked the veil, then I showed her my idea of covering the white spot with some thread I had that looks like peacock feathers (peacock was the theme of the wedding), she loved it!  So the morning of the wedding I attached the little blue bit of feathery thread over the white spot on the veil, I think the whole thing only took me maybe 20 minutes to fix up but I think it turned out great, she seemed to really like it and I think it's very special to wear this piece that was her Grandma's (I wore my Grandma's hairpiece in our wedding too).  She even mentioned in her program that I had made the veil for her. And since everything I did was tied on it could be taken apart and used in a different way in the future, if somebody wanted too. 

It turned out to be a very pretty and unique piece!

~photo credit: ginnytaylorphotography

Thanks Kate for letting me be a part of your day in this special way!  

Bye Bye MiMI, MiMi Bye Bye

When Dietrich was born I had decided that I would try to avoid giving him a pacifier, because I had read that they can interfere with nursing.  But by day three my mom said just give him one, and oh the freedom!  No longer was he nursing every 30 seconds for 45 minutes at time!  And since he nursed until he was almost 18 months I can safely assume it did not interfere with his nursing.  We called it his Binky.

I thought his first word was "mama" and it sounded like "mimi" and then I realized that he was saying binky, not mama.  Henceforth we called that plug in his face a MiMi.

 When Lenorah was born he was two and he still had a MiMi, and I knew he was getting too old, but he didn't sleep well and then I had a new baby and so we made it a bed/naptime only thing.  We watched an Elmo video where they sang "bye, bye binky, binky bye bye" and I switched it to MiMi and I would sing it to him whenever he wanted it during the day and the transition to sleeping time only was easy.  And now he is just shy of 3 1/2 years old and you can go ahead and judge me for letting him still have a MiMi because I judge me and have totally caught myself judging other little kids who still have one and are younger than Dietrich, which I rationalize by saying you don't see his in public, womp womp.  I'm a bad person :(  We all have our things, things that we allow our children to do, continue to do, secretly do (heck, some of us have things we do ourselves that we would never want anyone to know about!) bottles, blankies, binkys, thumbs, sometimes they just love them so much and it is so hard to break their tiny little hearts and say "hey, I gave you this, you fell in love, and now I'm taking it away."  So last week we started the countdown, which might have been just as much for my benefit as his, 7 days with MiMi, 6, 2, 1 more night with MiMi...  

Yesterday was the day, I picked him up from preschool and we headed to the store.  We went straight to the toy section and I let him pick out whatever toy he wanted.  He fell in love with a Thomas the train and track, and I threw in some train cars because trains are more fun with cars and he is about to give up his best friend!

Then he handed this bag with his last two MiMi's to the cashier and he did it like it was no big deal, here is my best friend I have Thomas now.  The cashier was awesome, asking him "are you a big boy now?" "Yes I have Thomas the Train!"

 He was totally fine and we walked out of the store and I wanted to burst into tears!  Partly because yes giving them up for a toy is not that hard but how is he really going to feel about it at bedtime, and also I just made him give away his best friend, and I somehow let my three year old still have a binky, and also he is not a baby anymore, blubber blubber in the parking lot.

He did great, he loves the train, he asked me twice where his MiMi was but he wasn't even upset when I reminded him he used them to get his new Thomas toy.  At bedtime he was a little sad, but mostly because he was tired, and he laid down with Thomas and he fell asleep without his MiMi.  It wasn't a great night of sleep, he woke up four times crying, but he never once asked for his MiMi and this morning he woke up and said he slept all night without it!  Yay you! So we did it, and it will be a few days I'm sure before he is sleeping easily through the night again, but that is okay, it is his best friend that he is missing after all.

This one is for Paul and Kate

I tried to post this all last week but for some reason this website wasn't working.  I'm so glad it's back up, there is much to talk about!

My little brother got married!  It’s been almost three weeks ago and I just haven’t felt able to write about it until now.  It was a fun crazy week and weekend and I think it took me a long time to process it all.  Plus it always makes me super sad when my brother and Kate leave and this time we don’t know when we will see them again.  For sure next spring/summer when we go to visit but that is a LONG time from now…

Paul and Kate arrived the weekend before the wedding and we were busy getting things ready (painting the house, cleaning, etc.)  On Tuesday Uncle Steven and Una arrived and I met everyone in Ione.  Unfortunately, Bryce missed out because of work, that pesky work!  We spent Wednesday playing on the pontoon at the lake and then the kids and I rushed back to Spokane to really get going on the festivities!  I spent Thursday cleaning while Darby watched the kids and Uncle Steven and Una showed up in the evening.  We took a fun walk to the park and relaxed a bit.  Friday we woke up running, picked up tuxes and made it to the rehearsal at 1:00.  Then we had dinner at 3:00 and stayed at the NoLi Brewery until late in the evening visiting with all the friends and family.

Of course the day of the wedding was crazy!  While Paul and Bryce ran around town picking up beer and other last minute items I took in the flower girl dress and finished the veil.  Then I found a dress for Aunt Dana, bathed the kids and got everybody dressed.  After discovering that the ties for the tuxes were the wrong color I called the dress shop and tux shop and got that straightened out.  We arrived early at the wedding site so that we could help with set up and be ready for pictures.

Everything was beautiful and went perfectly.  They had a really amazing day.  And since Paul told such wonderful stories at my wedding I was ready to tell some on him, I thought this would be a fun way to remember pretty close to what I said in my toast, but since I didn't write it down I'm sure it's not exactly what I said…

“I can’t believe we are here at my little brother’s wedding!  It’s especially amazing to me because I spent most of my life believing I was an only child. It’s true.  I’m almost six years older than Paul and I always wanted a sibling.  I used to ask my mom, ‘is there a baby in your belly yet?’ And finally I got a brother, but since I wanted a sister that was a disappointment.  

The fun thing about being so much older than your little brother is that I remember his whole life, although that may not be so great for him.  I got to help him learn to ride a bicycle, and then he surpassed me and learned to ride a unicycle.  I saved his life several times.  Once he fell off the top of a big toy at the park and I grabbed him, he still cried but I saved him from falling!  If you are from Ione you know the pond at Box Canyon Dam where everybody swims.  Paul wasn’t quite big enough to swim to the dock by himself yet so he had a paddle board.  And he had just gotten new snorkel gear for his birthday.  I could not wait to use the snorkel gear but mom said he got to first since it was his.  Out by the dock he lost his paddle board and it kept floating away from him.  He started to panic and pulled off the snorkel gear, I jumped in and saved him.  That snorkel gear is still at the bottom of the pond and I never got to use it! 

When I was little I would lay on the floor drawing, like most little girls I thought I would grow up to be an artist.  I adored my little brother but he would grab my pictures and rip them up!  I always thought he was just being a mean little sibling but then he grew up to be an amazing artist so really he was just ripping my pictures up because they were terrible.  

Last night at the rehearsal dinner Paul was telling us about all of his attributes.  In high school he worked in a machine shop learning to weld, and then he started the shop on fire.  He’s really great at helping out around the house, and then he started the orange bridge on fire.  And then he became a firefighter!  

If you  have been around Paul for more than 30 seconds you know that he is hilarious!  Even when things are really sad.  After Dad died we were all laying in bed and Paul was telling us about how he wishes there was something to sleep in besides boxer shorts.  They get all twisted up and when you get out of bed they rip.  All I could imagine was my brother leaping out of bed like a super hero, his boxers ripping off!  I can still remember my mom in the morning we were laying there crying and Paul got out of bed, through her tears she said ‘don’t rip your boxers.’  

Kate has been around forever, I just kind of always knew who she was.  I was gone to college when her and Paul dated in Junior High so I didn’t really get to know her then.  She worked at the Dam with my mom and I would hear all about Kate and everything that was going on with her through Mom.  Mom could not have been more thrilled when they started dating.  They dated long distance while Kate was still in college and Paul was in Winnemucca but it worked out that they were both home over Labor Day weekend.  All of my friends from college were here visiting and Paul and Kate came over.  She must have been kind of nervous because she drank a lot of wine and blamed it on my fish bowl wine glasses, so Kate, beware of fish bowl wine classes, because they lead you to Paul I guess!  

Paul I am so proud of you, the work you do, and who you have become.  I am so happy that you found a great girl who is willing to move to Winnemucca with you. Kate,  I am so happy to have you in our family, obviously my mom loves you, and my dad loved you too.”

I had a dream the other night about the wedding and I woke up thinking oh good all that craziness was just a dream, but then I remembered that the wedding is over and it made me sad.  It was such a fun time and fun times end all too soon it seems!  Congratulations Paul and Kate we love you!!!

The final reveal!

I realize now that I probably should have been blogging about this through the whole process because now I have so much to tell you and oh so many pictures!  When we moved in the home inspector told us that the T1-11 siding that is on the house was recalled at some point but ours had not been replaced.  We could see where previous owners had not kept up on the paint and the bottom of the siding was rotting away.  But it was a small thing to worry about at the time we were buying the house, and even still, the deal we got was worth the need for new siding.  Finally, we decided this summer was the summer to replace the bad siding and paint the house, so of course we will start with the obligatory BEFORE pictures:

Front:

Back:

East side:

 We started in June with Bryce slaving away on removing bad siding.  And of course under the bad siding was.....MORE bad siding!  Yay!  So he had to put up new plywood in those spots and cover it with new T1-11 siding.  And then I had to paint it.  This first picture is the back of the house where we did not have to do any new siding, but still had to prep.  I especially love this picture because at this point the house was about 7 different colors between the original, old, and new siding, and the four different colors I painted on the house to try and decide what the new color would be!

Of course Dietrich helped with the pressure washing

We strive to look our best when working outside...

 And always make children help

 Here you can see the original siding that was under the siding we had when we moved in.

 I painted and painted and painted, I stood on the roof of this giant house and painted.

 I painted in the hot hot sun, in the dark, and today I painted in the rain.

 I wanted to make sure our fruit and veggie box made it to our house! A little purple duct tape (it's still there, but under the beautiful new siding).

 The back was the first side done and it was pretty exciting to see the new color!

 After replacing the bad siding on the sides of the house and the chimneys Bryce moved to the front.  When he removed the trim around the front windows he discovered that the sill plates under the window were rotten.  We had a window company come and estimate new windows, $500-$700, so we decided to take out the old windows VERY CAREFULLY, replace the sill plates, and put the windows back in, VERY CAREFULLY.

 Of course Bryce was successful, although it was incredibly scary...to me anyway.  This lovely scaffolding lived in front of the house for far too long, but then Bryce put up beautiful new lap siding on the front of the house.  Bryce helped me choose a totally different color for the lap siding, which made me very nervous at first, but the guy at the paint store said the colors went together well and I decided, it's just paint, I could do it again if I HAD too...

In case you were wondering, this is what happens when you try to paint with a three year old around.  Green paint on my fresh brown paint...

I took this picture because I was so proud of myself for moving the ladder from one side of the house to the front and setting it back up.  It wasn't pretty and I may have hurt myself, but I did it.  Only this once, after this I tried to only paint when Bryce was around to move the ladder for me.  Or if I only had to slide it around not totally move it.

After months of siding and painting, bruised shins from standing on ladders, Bryce needing to see a physical therapist (hence the backbrace) and paint permanently adhered to my skin, we thought we were done!

After Back:

East side, West side

The shed, so cute!

And Finally, after one small color change above the garage we are DONE! (you know other than the front porch needs painted and the red door isn't really the right red now...)

So finally, here it is!  

This goes down as the LONGEST most difficult project in the history of Our House.  Bryce spent weekends and evenings whenever we were home working on the siding, putting up trim and still to come, new gutters.  Grammy and Darby watched children so I could paint for hours, I woke up at 6 many mornings to paint before the kids woke up, and sometimes I watched them play from the top of a ladder and asked them to help "paint" with water and their own paintbrushes. Today our neighbor told us the house has "never looked better" I couldn't agree more!