Summer has come and gone. *sigh*

Generally speaking I don't care for summer. I hate the hot, the humidity, the trying to fill days with things to do for the kids so they're not "bored". I'm not terribly creative. Parks and museums can only go so far. This summer has been ridiculously hot and humid. Which stuck us in the house quite a bit. Couple that with major renovations, kids who learned how to fight with each other about everything, and it was going to be a long summer.

However. Here I am. The very very end of August. And school just around the corner. And yes...*sob* Claire is going to Kindergarten this year. I look back at our summer and think...."Shit! That was fast!!!" So....here is a photo representation of our summer. After our big trip to the BWCA, we did a lot close to home. With the exception of a trip to Iowa. For Ryan's work. NOT for fun and relaxation.

There were 2 birthdays. A huge ridiculous joint birthday party at a roller rink with 25 kids ages 5-7. Korean Culture Camp. A few playdates with friends who we love. And of course the Minnesota State Fair.

Tomorrow will be back to school for both kids. Did you see that? BOTH kids. WAAaaaahhhh....




This girl with Miles was his "camp girlfriend". She was the teen helper in his class and she always held his hand. He loved her. And cried the last day of camp because he wouldn't see her again. It was sad.









Claire HAS to have her Cotton Candy. It's the only thing she asks for at the fair.





Well happy summer all. Next post...will be one of two things. The finished upstairs, or the sobbing mom of 2 school age kids.

*I made the photos tiny because there are so many. If you want to see the larger version, just click on it.

Things Claire says and does.

"Nothing like a cool breeze in my enchanted forest!" (She says this shaking her butt. I have NO idea where she learned it. No one's happier about it than Ryan. Hee hee)

"That is some funky junk brutha!" (She says this to Miles when he's saying..........stuff)

"You're trapped in my secret love potion!" (She uses this one when I put her to bed and she hugs me)

Something something happened..."back in 1987" (All things occur in the year 1987 for some reason)

Then there's this.....


It's her dream to be a blonde. My girlfriend says she looks like Donatella Versace. You decided.



And this......Oh yeah..the kitchen looks crazy. Not done at all.


5 years old is going to be VERY interesting!

Drunk house painting.

We're painting the house today. Another step in the VERY long renovation process. Our friends are coming to help us out. One friend in particular is VERY, how do I say this...um...he's very.....well....PARTICULAR, about every aspect of painting. Which I love. Don't get me wrong. But I was instructed to NOT do the painting myself. Ha ha..cause he's particular.

But the prep is what's killing me. They are due to come over and get started fairly soon this beautiful Saturday morning. Ryan and I spent until about 11:30 last night spackling, sanding, and washing walls. And we have vaulted ceilings. So...the stretching that was involved...oh Lord my back is screaming at me. We had the kids overnight at my parents house. The dust alone would have killed poor Miles.

But I should know what I'm getting into with THIS project specifically. When my friend said he and his partner were coming over, I was instructed to have Bloody Mary's available. Whoa. Guess things could get a little...well...more to come I guess.

How dare you Google!

Well...I was fully intending on blah blah blah-ing about nothing important, but when I logged into my account here, Google asked me for my phone number. They actually told me if I didn't add it, I "could" lose all my stuff.

Like...a cyber threat, but not really. Kinda like do this or "THIS"/ "YOU" could get wacked. What the hell?

Why do they need my phone number? What are they going to do with it? How will they locate my "stuff" if they have my phone number? Isn't the fact that I have an individualized email account username AND password enough to find my stuff if lost? Or maybe not?

I don't get it. Google. You're taking over the world. Why do you need my little old phone number? I don't know how I feel about it. Maybe someone could "Google that for me."

The week from hell

We've had Korean Culture Camp this past week. Both kids' birthdays. Multiple sleepovers. 3 birthday parties thrown by me. And.....more trips to the Mayo Clinic this next week. Ugh. I need a vacation from my summer vacation.

The house is coming together. We have furniture in the living room. Still looking for a dining room table. But the 90 year old Finnish table from my GG grandmother is useful, as well as the 4 folding chairs we have to sit on. And....that's about it.

We are headed to Iowa again this next weekend. (Help me Jeebus!) It was almost impossible to get a hotel room as they have their State Fair going on this weekend. Goody! (insert livestock and farming joke here) And Ryan will be working pretty much the entire time. I should really just stay home. But.....the kids love to travel with him. Hopefully things will slow when school starts again. Birthday party and Camp goodness coming soon. Happy August!

A good laugh

I've been dealing with A TON of Asian women this week due to Miles being at Korean Culture Camp. And let me tell you what. From what I've seen this week...THIS photo is true. Damnit!

Awwwww snap!

Well. Here I am. Our construction project is seeming to take longer than expected. Even longer than I allowed for it to BE longer than expected. Boo. But we keep moving forward. I'm currently without a computer as well. My awesome MACBOOK that I purchased not more than two years ago has broken.

It's pretty much for shit now. The worst part is nothing was spilled on it, no viruses, and no one dropped it. It just decided, " What the fuck. Let's break down and completely stop working for shits and giggles!". And so it was.

Those smug little Apple store fuckers told me, "Blah blah blah. $200 - $500 to repair. They are just so rude over there. AND they always treat you like you ARE the dumbest thing on two legs. When in reality, they are geeky nerds who probably at 40, still live in their parents basement. Jerks.

But, I'm out a computer. So I am currently coming to you via my cell phone, which is not actually that easy to do. I'm convinced there'll be many many typos. Oh well. Isn't there a website called DAMN autocorrect? Well I am battling it as I type. Grrrrrrr. Apple. And I now use their product name as a swear. It works for everyone.

So blogging will be minimal until I can get a new computer. Sorry Cindi. But you know me in real life.
Stop sending me threatening emails. Ha ha. Sisters.

I had no idea.

I didn't know, when you hired people to do stuff, construction wise to your house, that they work on their OWN schedule.

I thought if you paid someone to do the work, it was in your time frame. Not so much. It gets frustrating and annoying and my patience is running thin. But I have to say..things are looking beautiful.

The only work that has been on time is the floor installation, and Ryan. Ha ha..Ryan. My computer geek of a husband has hung cabinets like a crazy man. He and my father in law worked like mad and they are done and they look fan-freaking-tastic. Now...the floors he did not do. I told him if he attempted to do that, we would most likely fight. A lot. And the house is really echo-y right now because of the cathedral ceilings and the no carpet floors. There would not only be fighting, but LOUD fighting. So he agreed to have someone else do them.

And let me say....our floor guys are awesome. I love our new floors. They are stunning. Aside from that though..ugh..delay delay delay. One guy even told me he was going to "cut out early" because his band has a show. WHAT?!?! I don't care! Get my freaking stuff done dude! Unless you're famous and doing work on the side, cause you want to know what it's like to be a "real person" get the shit done. Seriously.

Here's the kitchen before. It looks like a grandma kitchen kinda. We are slowly working our way out of the 1990's.


More to come when we're done. But that's probably not for at least another 3-4 shows. Because CLEARLY the dude has to rock!

Renovating my house has shown me who the TRUE hoarder is in the family

So...we've decided to tear up the entire upstairs of our house. Yep. And it's a DIY project. Well...I suppose if I'd had my way it would have been a call-the-contractor-move-into-a four-star-hotel-and-after-two-magical-weeks-it's-done project. Oh yeah, and with new furniture and paint too.

But we are not that fancy OR wealthy. And Ryan likes to get his hands dirty. After demolition, apparently I do too. Who knew? Anyway..that's why I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy tearing out walls, ripping up carpet, prying up staples, and floorboards and cooking in a makeshift kitchen. All the while keeping my 2 kids entertained because YOU KNOW RYAN'S BEEN OUT OF TOWN!!!

I will, however, tell you how Miles is a huge hoarder. And when I say hoarder..I mean...holy shit he has a lot of stuff.

First I started off gutting out his room. We have to put hardwood in his room because he has horrible allergies. So I started there. And of course Ryan was out of town. See the things I pulled?

Miles saves ALL of the packaging to ALL his Star Wars action figures.


I found 10 of my old spice jars filled with candy canes. It's July now.


I also found, what I like to call, BAGS o' CRAP. Which is basically any bag and or backpack filled with, well...all kinds of crap. And MAN was there a lot of crap in them.



Lastly...his collection of actual Star Wars playsets and "stuff", plus only half of his lego collection. Keep in mind..this was all in his closet and under his bed. There was more, but I couldn't even photograph it I was so annoyed at the sheer amount of shit.




I'm completely annoyed right now just looking at all that stuff. I was in the process of throwing most things away. Such as the old toys he got with his Happy Meals from McDonald's, and all the pieces of things that no longer had other pieces to match. But as I was doing this, I noticed my guy pacing up and down the hallway. Back and forth. Back and forth. And then the panic set in. He started eyeing the trash bins to make sure I wasn't throwing things he deemed important.

For the love of God! It almost killed me. I just wanted to get rid of the stuff and it was giving Miles an ulcer. So I stopped and took the kids outside. They swam with friends for a few hours, and then Miles gave the neighbor boys his Transformers. It was awesome. Charity at it's very best.

And now the construction has begun. We tore up the house and now they're laying the hardwood floors.
Back to trying to "not" kill my children. I'm having issues with them not listening. To anything. At all. EVER. And it's killing me. It's a slow painful death. And like I said on facebook today...they're lucky there are construction people in and out of my house all day.

Moms can say all the wrong things sometimes

A few days ago I had a MOST inappropriate conversation with my kids. Keep in mind, I was sick, and really very exhausted from the 13 loads of laundry. And Ryan was at some happy hour getting drunk.

CLAIRE: "Mom. I don't want to be a girl. Well...I want to be a girl until I get my period, then I want to be a boy. And then when my period's gone I want to be a girl again."

MILES: " Ha ha I'm a boy! I'll never get my period."

(The kids asked me about some items that were in the bathroom one time, which lead to a puberty discussion. I don't lie to my kids. I tell them truth no matter how uncomfortable it is for me.)

CLAIRE: "That's mean! Don't tease me! It's gonna hurt and I'm gonna cry a lot!"

ME: "NO you won't. It'll be fine."

MILES: "Ha ha! You're gonna hurt and I'm gonna be fine cause I'm a boy! Ha ha ha ha ha....!!!!!" (finger point and all)

ME: (completely fed up with this conversation) "Well boys get Blue Balls." (see...inappropriate. Ugh. Sometimes I should just not say anything.)

MILES: "Claire look! (lifting up his shirt) I have BOOBLES!!!!"

Claire was out of the conversation at this point because she was laughing so hard she could barely catch her breath.

I don't know what happened. But we all decided we were done talking about periods and "boobles"

The BWCA!

Once again we've battled the elements and lived to tell the tale. Our annual trip to the Boundary Waters has been quite a success.

As I sit listening to Smashmouth, singing on a Scooby Doo episode, (kill me please) I miss the time we had with NO electronics. I know I can just shut it off, but it's raining, and my kids have been so good, they deserve some tv time. But look at this!



Our trip started early in the AM. We drove to Two Harbors and lunched there. Last year, we stopped in Duluth and had a long leisurely lunch in Two Harbors. This year, we ate fast food and high tailed it to the wilderness. Not sure what the difference was this year, but we knew we wanted to get up there.

Once there, it was overcast yet lovely. We set up camp and when we were done it looked like a shanty town. No kidding. We had 3 tents on our site as well as a screened in tent for eating. It was ridiculous, but trust me....having an extra tent for the 5 kids to play in was fabulous. Best idea I've had yet. Although Ryan disagreed. He felt it was excessive. But he wasn't complaining on the 3rd day when all 5 kids were STILL playing nicely (no fighting at all) and we could sit and chat around the fire or read books. Also it's a nice place to store the chairs and stuff at night. Cause you know it rained like a mother fucker while we were there. It always does. Notice the 3 tents all in a row? And ours isn't even in the shot. I know you're jealous.


The first night was great. Korean BBQ on REAL wood fire. Yum!!! Miles had his VERY FIRST S'more. No kidding. His first! He loves them. Claire however loves anything with toasted marshmallows. So....she put down a few. And then bed. We noticed the mosquitos were a bit worse than last year too, but not terrible. The next day we quick grabbed the site across from us, as another couple was joining us that night.




Ryan and Glenn took the kids fishing. And by fishing I mean, throwing a fishing line in the water and not catching anything but little Ellie's neck and Ryan's nipple. All courtesy of Claire. There was blood. And some yelping. But everyone survived. Miles was the one who was the MOST excited. Until he realized it was in fact NOT like shooting fish in a barrel. He bored quickly. He said, "this waiting is boring." But seriously. The kid was so excited about doing it before he actually went. It was sad to see his little almost fishing spirit crushed. But I have to say both Ryan and Glenn were happy they didn't have to clean any fish. They were youtube-ing it before we left, just in case. Nerds.


Fishing proved to be a bust, so we let the kids roam in the water. They were practicing for our big canoe trip the next day. It was hysterical. There were lots of wet butts, and psuedo pushing from Cameron the youngest of our group. To be fair, Cam was trying to jockey himself better positioning on the big rocks, but the bigger kids were in his way damnit!



Later, the "men" (including Claire) went off to gather more fire wood. And Lor and I read books at camp. It was nice. Oh and the kids left behind...they played in the kid tent.

Our friends got up later that night about 11:30. Which was crazy as hell because it was black out, and there's only a dirt road that leads to where we were staying. But our friend Dan is in the military and has been for several years. I was convinced all that training had to have helped with his navigation skills. Me? If it was me...I would have pulled over, got into the fetal postion and cried until dawn, when I could see the road again. But they set up their camp and went to bed.

The next day was rainy. Of course it was. No Boundary Waters trip is complete without rain several of the days. But we soldiered through and spent the day out on the water. Last year Miles complained the whole time about being bored. I told him he could read if he wanted to this year, and if I heard complaining, I would toss him overboard and he could float behind us by tow rope. Harsh? Maybe. But the complaining drove me crazy last year. And if anyone was going to bitch and moan about anything, it was going to be me bitching and moaning about how sore my arms were after 4 hours of paddling.

Dan and Rachel


Glenn, Lor and the kids




Anyway he didn't complain at all. He actually paddled with us and seemed to really enjoy the day. He told me he loved canoeing now. Thank the LORD! And Claire...well...Claire loves water. She told me she's a mermaid, that's why she always has to be in the water. And step in every puddle. And play in every patch of water in her periphery. And pretty much be ON or IN all water all the time. So she was in heaven. And she fell asleep. Something about the rocking and waves......

Well..she fell asleep and so Ryan and I had to portage carrying the canoe with her in it. So you know Ryan can't just flip it up over his shoulders like you're supposed to do. And I fell on rocks. AND the mosquitos were swarming us. My poor kids look like they've been attacked by some horrific virus that leaves big, red, puffy, pussing, sores on their foreheads. It's gross. But we made it. Probably 5 hours of canoeing for 3 miles. Not to shabby. *eye roll* AND I STILL have yet to see a fricking moose. UGH!

Our last night at the campsite was nice. We had to use up all the fire wood, so we had a rager! And then the rain came. And came and came and came. It didn't stop at all. So we packed up our last morning in the rain and reserved ourselves to getting breakfast on the road. But really? On the last day? It was just fine. We were leaving anyway. We headed out and bid good bye to Dan and Rachel because they didn't have kids and thus didn't have to sleep with 4 of them on one queen sized mattress, and also didn't mind the rain, AND didn't wake up. So there was that. And we headed home.

It's amazing what 4 hours and a few hundred miles can do to the weather. It was a 40 degree difference when we got home. I was not happy about the heat and humidity that we returned to. But I wasn't looking forward to the 13 loads of laundry either. No shit...13 loads. And I still can't get the campfire smell out of my hair. It could be worse. Ryan still has a horrible mustache. He's been trying to grow it for over a week now. I hate it. It's gross. He's blonde and it looks stupid.

But great trip really. And the two things I'm taking away from this trip as a learning experience....1: Bring a small tent for the kids to play with their shit in. This way you don't get dirt and pine needles and dead leaves all in your sleep stuff. Nothing worse than being poked with pine needles in the middle of the night. And 2: Use a paper plate to fan the fire. It's easier than blowing on it to get it started. Ryan almost passed out blowing on it in the rain to get it started. But the paper plate? Genius! All my ideas too. Ha ha!

Now just a bunch of random things to look at. Cause I took way too many photos for my own good. I have a problem.

Insomnia...I think

I have it figured out.

This past week I have been going to bed super late. It's annoying. I WANT to go to bed earlier, but I can't seem to. I attributed it to insomnia. But...as I think about it, I'm pretty sure it's something else.

Since the kids have been out of school, they haven't gone to bed earlier than 9pm. And during the school year they are asleep at 7:30PM...which means...I have "me" time then.

"Me" time consists of no kids, no sound but whatever I decide to hear, and some kind of sweet. Maybe a piece of chocolate, or a cookie. Anything I stash from the kids and Ryan so I can have it and not have to share. Yes yes...I'm THAT mom. But whatever.

So I have been going to bed around midnight or 1 instead of 10. And today in my morning haze, I realized what is causing me to be up so late. So, no no it's not insomnia. It's my selfish need to be alone, kidfree, for 3 hours at night.

How ridiculous for my body to demand 3 hours of time in the evening no matter how tired I am. Seriously. I will be so tired, but yet, I can't fall asleep. Stupid body. Stupid head. Stupid kids staying up until 9pm or later.

Oh wait...that last part is my fault. It must be because I'm so fracking tired! And don't get me started on my short term memory. It took me 15 minutes to remember what I was going to blog about once I opened my computer today. Ugh. So...new title to this post...Insomnia? Or old age. GAH!

Good bye LADC

Well, it's over. After 6 years, my kids and I are no longer part of the Lake Area Discovery Center.

It's quite possibly the best preschool I've ever known, in all the land, of all the world, in the whole of the universe. Miles was there at the age of 2 and he's going into 2nd grade. And Claire started at 2 as well, and is now moving onto Kindergarten. *sigh* It's kind of tough for me. I have been super involved with the PTO these past 2 years. And have made very good friends. Ah well....kids get older.

Claire had her graduation and this is what she looked like DURING the graduation ceremony.


Seriously. She was THAT stoic throughout. After the ceremony at the cookie social...THIS is what she looked like.


After graduation the school hosts a potluck picnic with all the kids at a local park. It was madness. The wind was whipping. And there were millions of 3,4,and 5 year olds trucking around. But it was fun. They played games and sang songs....and then it was time to go.




After the picnic we got icecream with Claire's BFF and another friend.


This will be truly a hard transition for Claire. She's going to start Kindergarten with NO kids from her preschool. We went to a school that was in a whole other city from our district. But she's young. She's resilient. She'll be fine. Now me on the other hand...I needed MY BFF to come to graduation with me. I was not going to be the lady sitting in the crowd crying by herself. Thankfully, there were many other crazy ladies crying too. But it's nice to have a bestie to laugh at you when your make up is smearing. That and she'll tell you if you look stupid.

Waiting, waiting, waiting................

Apparently summer can't come soon enough for my kids. This photo was taken LAST year at Harriet Island.
While scrolling through my plethora of photos, Claire said to me, "Remember that day mom? I LOVE summer!"

Yeah...well the countdown has started. Claire officially has 2 days left and Miles has 5. And then..sweet sweet summer break. And an upstairs remodel. But more on that later.