Getting Comfortable Here

We're really starting to get settled in our new home. We don't have anything hung on the walls yet, and we still have a lot of boxes of books to unpack, but we're starting to find a place for everything. I'm done painting all the rooms that I have paint purchased for. I still have to do all 3 bathrooms and the master bedroom. Child's play compared to what's already been done!

Here's a brief virtual tour:

The kitchen/ dining area:

The storage closet between the kitchen and garage (laundry's behind me as I took this picture):


The piano room (view from stairs):
The stairs (we have "one long staircase just going up, and one even longer going down"- Fiddler on the Roof)


Upstairs living space:

Wow, this really needs some work!
Master bedroom (still needs new bedding and paint on the walls):


Master bathroom (the walls will be a light mocha color):
double sink- one of which I fixed this morning...

Master closet (one of my favorite features! because of the size, not the huge picture of me):

Downstairs common area for the kids (I changed that wall sconce out myself...):

Maia's room (her headboard will eventually be painted white):

Xander's room:

Kids' bathroom - I think I'm going to paint the walls a tangerine orange in here:
So now you've had the nickel tour. Like I said, we're feeling like it's home, but I've still got a lot of work to do!

Reutrn of the Missionaries

I got a phone call from Mom when they arrived in the Washington DC airport yesterday afternoon, they flew from Odessa (Ukraine) to Vienna (Austria) to Washington DC, to Chicago, to Omaha. I don't know if they're home yet as of this morning, there was a good chance of an overnight delay in Chicago. At least they stayed in a hotel with soft beds and -very important- air conditioning last night, whether in Chicago or Omaha.

Mom told me some of the low-lights of the trip included temperatures of 115 on average every day they were there, and of course, NO A/C. Also Jim had a little mishap and wound up needing stitches in his head, so they got to visit a Ukrainian hospital emergency room, which was an interesting adventure.

I didn't get much about the rest of their trip, but I'm sure that will come. The positives are bound to come out eventually, right?

We're glad they're home, and in one piece- even if the piece is sewn back together.

Ukraine Mission Team

My mom and step-dad are in the Ukraine (somewhere near Odessa, if that means anything to anyone else) on their first- ever missions trip.

They left from Omaha Thursday morning, and I got an email from them Sunday afternoon that they had arrived and BLESSINGS! Their host family just built a new house with an AMERICAN TOILET! No squatty potties! Mom seemed especially thrilled about that because of her bad knees.

I don't know any more than that, but you can join me in praying for them. They'll return on the 25th or 26th (just about the time we'll leave for vacation) and their primary mission involves running a day camp (like a morning VBS) for kids. Jim's supposed to be helping put in a new boiler too.

New TV

As of today, we are the proud new members of a 26" LCD flat screen HDTV.

We have been selling off a lot of stuff during the course of our move, and saving the money for this TV exchange. Our old 19" TV is starting to do funky things, it doesn't always agree with the VCR/DVD player, and sometimes it just fades out to black.

We decided it was time to make the change to HDTV and since we're using Matt's old wardrobe as our entertainment center now (because of the huge closet in the master bedroom), we needed something less than 18" deep.

Matt spent the evening fiddling with it, and drooling over the picture quality. Mind you, we don't have cable, but anything that is broadcast in HD comes to us as clear as a bell. We have a few fuzzy stations (which we couldn't even get before), but most things come in so clearly it's mind boggling. Matt spent most of the evening watching a special on Les Paul on Public TV, and enjoyed the nature broadcasts that followed because of the clarity of the picture.

Exciting times in the Morrison house, I tell ya!

The "Not Yet Famous" Bassoon Band

I have joined a very interesting and exclusive club. I now play 9th bassoon in the "Not Yet Famous" Bassoon Band. Here we are, with our own sign!

I think I am the only person in this group who did not major in bassoon performance or music education with bassoon as primary instrument. This is indeed an interesting (and extremely nerdy) group of folks! The fact that I'm playing 9th out of 11 just means that the lowest parts were probably too hard for me. The middle of the instrument is much easier to play. I got pretty good for a while in college, but I haven't played regularly in years.

We had our first "gig" as street musicians Saturday evening in downtown Sioux Falls.
We were notified and invited to join this bizarre corps of musicians (and they're all EXCELLENT musicians) by my former bassoon teacher, Lorrie Thomas from Vermillion. That's Lorrie in the front row on the right.
I love the lady walking by in the upper right-hand corner of that shot... "what on earth?"

Apparently, we all thought it would be fun, because we have members of our little band from as far away as Waverly, IA (way over on the east side of Iowa), and some others from Sioux City and the surrounding areas. I was actually the only member from Sioux Falls, but that's because Mindi, who's the principal in the SD Symphony just had carpal tunnel surgery and can't play for a while. She came and supported us, however!

We played all kinds of fun music, from the sublime to the ridiculous. Since not many things are arranged for 11 bassoons, we played a lot of duets, trios, quartets and sextets. But one of our members did some fun arrangements just for us, including "Buglers' Holiday" which of course, became "Bassoonie's Holiday" and "Sleigh Ride" for a little touch of Christmas in the hazy days of summer. My bassoon has a stocking cap and scarf for just such occasions, and doesn't get to wear it often.



One thing we didn't really count on, was that for some reason, the Downtown Sioux Falls people scheduled us the same evening as "Hot Harley Nights," a Make a Wish Foundation fundraiser. As far as I can figure, they must invite every person in the US who owns a Harley to come to Sioux Falls and ride down main street. I believe someone said there were an estimated 5,000 bikes there.

They had a parade.

Yeah.

We couldn't really play during that, so we put a pause in our program for 45 minutes while 5,000 Harleys rode past. It was a rapid parade, but 5,000 bikes take a long time to go by. Amazing how fast a parade can go when you don't have to wait for a marching band. Not much variety, however. Just a lot of motorcyles going past really LOUDLY. I can't figure out why anyone might want to go see such a parade.

Once the "parade" was over, we were able to play. But we were frequently interrupted by loud motors. It was difficult to stay together outside and with so much background noise. We're supposed to go play again in August (the 18th in front of Minerva's if anyone wants to witness such an amazing event), but we may need to get a conductor, because phasing was a big issue for us.

The idea of being a street musician appeals to your bohemian side, and we were even encouraged to open our cases for donations- putting a sign out with a clever remark.

Here's mine:
If you can't read it, it says, "CELEBRATE MEDIOCRATY Support the 9th Bassoonist!"
(Just as I suspected, Mediocraty is not a real word. I didn't have a spell-checker!) In this wonderful world of slackers, I made $4.68 and a button for 2 hours' work. I think I'll stick to teaching lessons!

We're In!

My blogging has suffered from neglect the last week or so, because we've been moving. I am happy to report that we are in our new place!!!

I will take some pictures when we get things a little more organized. We had a great work day with Mom & Jim and Bruce & George (Matt's folks) on the 4th of July. Bruce took some pictures of that, so here's some of the progress...

The kitchen area:

The stairway (won't this be beautiful all decorated for Christmas?)

The piano area- view from upstairs. George is climbing a ladder right by the front door:

Martha came over and helped me with the yellow paint on Tuesday. The parents helped with the kids' rooms (really fun colors) and the upstairs living space. I don't have pictures of those yet. I still have a lot more yellow paint to go before I'm done, have to do both the up and down stairways and there's kind of a common area for the kids at the bottom of the steps. Our bedroom and master bath have not even been started yet. I have a vision for both, just ran out of money and energy at the same time. Dead in the water!

Our internet got reconnected yesterday, so we're finally able to email again. Whew! Xander was starving to play his favorite online games, so he spent most of the day on the computer yesterday... He's hovering right now, so I'm expecting that's how he thinks he should spend his day again today... He is agreeing.

Poor Matt! He's been dying to read race results from the Tour de France, which started on Saturday. He finally got to get all caught up last night and this morning. He works 9-5 shifts the next 3 days, then is off for the weekend, so we'll have him with us a lot more over the next few days. We're counting down the days to vacation! 15 days left!

I'll post more pictures once I take them and once I get the computer back from the boys.

I Should Be Working

We're getting down to the wire. Moving day is less than a week away, and I would like to spend 3 out of the next 6 days painting in the new apartment.

Of course, I have to get access to the new apartment first, but that's another issue.

The main issue is that I should be working, not blogging. Hey, I just got up. Give me a break.

It is a beautiful Friday here, the sun is shining, it's going to be a very mild day in the low 80's, not quite hot enough to go swimming, which I promised to the kids, but maybe they'll forget? (Fat chance)

So this is what I've been up to lately.

Not blogging (obviously)

Packing- Nobody wants to hear about it, nobody wants to do it.

Painting Furniture- I sanded down and refinished two dressers, one for each of the kids' rooms. They both look really nice, however, I'm concerned about keeping the tops free of scratches. One actually already has a scratch, leading me to believe there might be a rodent in our garage, which would be horrible because I have our two new couches sitting out there waiting to move into the new location.

Buying Couches- I wrote about this already, I think. When we went to pick up the couches last weekend, I found a coffee table too. It's going to look so classy!

Selling Off Stuff- I put an ad in last week's free circular and so far I have sold a refrigerator, 3 air conditioners, a table saw, porch swing, and Matt's old mountain bike. I'm trying to get rid of our blue sofas and a stove yet. We may have a lot more living space in the new place, but there will be much less room for storage. We've been using the whole basement here for storage, but the basement at the new place is finished and full of bedrooms and a bathroom and stuff.

Going to Plays in the Park- You can't JUST work! There's a theatre company that does children's plays in the park every week. We can walk down there, getting a little exercise, then sit and watch a play and sing silly songs and just act goofy. It's lots of fun. At first, Maia didn't really get it, but she's starting to enjoy it more and more. Xander loves them. So far, we've seen, "Puss In Boots," "The Jungle Book," "Star Ship I" and the babysitter took the kids to see a company called Page to Stage that does storybook adaptations. Yesterday, Matt took the kids to the library to see the Zoo Man, who had a couple of snakes and a lizard and some other creepy things. Next week, Cinderella Goes Disco!

Getting Ready For The Weekend- This weekend, there's a big art festival at Falls Park called Art Falls. I think I've written about this before. Mercy church is manning the water/pop booths for the events in exchange for the opportunity to slap a sticky note with info about the church on each bottle we sell. We also get to do our church service there Sunday morning, but to our great chagrin, cannot find a drummer to play for us. We probably tried 8-10 drummers and everyone is out of town this weekend! Grrr. SO, we're going "unplugged." We'll have 3 acoustic guitars, a hand drum (yes, I'll be our drummer- scary!), bass and my little Irish flutes. We practiced last night with 3 out of the 5 members and I think it'll be nice. Very soothing and hippie.

Getting Roped Into Playing/ Singing for a Wedding- Yes, as if I did not have enough to do, I'm going to help out Pastor Shel by playing piano and singing with him for a wedding tomorrow, which meant a rehearsal yesterday and the wedding rehearsal this evening. I just couldn't help it, they really needed some guidance, which was all I planned to offer, but Shel must have really made the other girl singer mad, because she quit. The poor bride was up in arms and ready to kill her groom because, after all, this was the ONE THING that he was responsible for and it was a disaster! Then Shel gave her a little crap and she ripped him a new one (I can't say I blame her), so now he just refers to her as "Bridezilla." I'm just trying to help this poor young lady (whom I've never met) have a beautiful wedding day. If I can act as a buffer for Shel, all the better! :)

Swimming at the Wading Pool: We still have not used our swimming passes, which we got a good deal on, but so far, we've paid $25 for our family to go to the free wading pool 4 times. I tried to get the kids signed up for swimming lessons Tuesday morning, but apparently I was not fast enough. Registration opened up Monday evening and that's when I should have gone, because by the time I got there on Tuesday morning, all the classes I needed for the kids were full. So... we're "home schooling" swim lessons this year. Water readiness for Maia and some stroke basics for Xander. So far, we've worked on flutter kicking and a little bit on diving. We should probably get into a bigger pool before we focus on diving much more!

So we've had a lot going on, but mostly good summery stuff. It just seems like moving, Art Falls and now this wedding are creating the perfect storm for this weekend.

Breathe.....

Spa Experience

Yesterday, I cashed in on my Mothers Day gift certificate to Spa 2000.

Fancy!

I have never experienced anything like this, so it was all so fun. I was ushered into a waiting area (way in the back of the center, not out by the front windows), and given a warm buckwheat pillow/ pad to put on my neck while I filled out my paperwork. And I enjoyed a cookie.

My first "event" was a "Contour Body Wrap." I have been calling it an herbal body wrap all along, thinking I'd be made into a salad, but no leaves or poultices were involved. I was ushered into this dimly lit room (gorgeous colors in my palate) with serene music and a water fountain bubbling in the background. I was rubbed down with a skin exfoliant from my ankles up to mid-torso, then that got brushed off (the least pleasant part of the experience). Next she took measurements at various places around my calves, thighs, hips, and waist so we could take measurements again after to see the difference. Next, she put this cellulite cream on that's supposed to eat away your fat while you chill out for a while. I was completely mummified in Saran Wrap (well, from mid-torso down), and had to maneuver myself onto this little "hydro-therapy bed," a mini-waterbed with jets inside it. The bed was heated, the cream heated up on my skin, and they put a nice soft blanket over me, then left me there to marinate for 45 minutes. Mom, you would have burst into flame! I enjoyed the experience, it was very relaxing and I did fall asleep for a little bit. Mostly, I tried to figure out how to decorate our bedroom (I'm singularly focused these days).

I had fallen asleep when I startled awake because I was sure I heard Maia screaming from another room. It was a false alarm, of course, no kids are even allowed in Spa 2000. What I heard was the faint music under them noise of the water jets in the bed. A wooden flute was playing one particular motif that - in all the other noise- sounded like Maia screaming from another room. Very calming. :)

After the timer on my bed shut off, the lady (Katie- mother of 4, grandmother of 2) came back in and cut me out of my bonds. I felt like jello must feel when it gets out of the mold. I stood up and toweled most of the rest of the cream off (it's a kind of lotion that absorbs into the skin and doesn't have to be washed off), then she took my "after" measurements. I responded really well to the cream and lost a total of 8 1/2 inches. Usually a half-inch to 2 inches at any given measurement. I thought maybe it would all just bounce back by nightfall, but last night, I noticed that my squishy mom belly is looking a lot less squishy. Might have to get some of that cream!

I ordered my lunch, had a glass of cold water, then went in for my facial. My facial lady (Jamie) was much less chatty, so I didn't get any personal info out of her. She came in and did her job- and she did it well. I laid down in what looked kind of like a dentists' chair, but it was way more comfortable. I was completely flat, and she sat behind my head and pulled my hair into a towel and massaged my face, and applied cleaners, exfoliants, lotions, did a massage, and then put on a mask that sat for 20 minutes while a steamer blew right on my face (like 2 inches away), and finally a toner. I have a glowy face now.

I had my light lunch next, a turkey cucumber sandwich with a light lettuce and what must have been a lemon-horseradish spread. Had a little zing to it! Very delicious.

Next, I was off to my Swedish Massage with Mickey. (Katie, Jamie, Mickey... did I have the Mickey Mouse club working with me?) She put me on a nice heated massage table, covered with a sheet, and she worked me over. The masseurs must be the strong ones of the bunch. I had to ask her to lighten up a couple of times. Particularly in the area of my lower legs, where I stress-fractured 20 years ago. And on my left thigh where I have a big bruise from running into the bathroom vanity about a month ago.

I was hoping for my headache to be relieved, but it was pretty much the same when I left as when I went in. But the rest of me felt great!!!

The only thing left on me that needs attention is my feet, so I'm going to give myself a pedicure this morning (before I begin the painting project listed below). Might as well get everything all shaped up at once, right?

What a nice Mothers Day gift. This would be a great experience in the winter too, so anyone who wants to give me another gift certificate there would win the best gift award for my birthday or Christmas! :)

Painting Furniture

I got tired of packing. I started thinking about the kids' rooms, and decided that we can make do with the furniture we have for them, but some face-lifting needs to happen.

Maia's going to have a princess room (surprise!). Her walls will be a light pink, and her furniture will be white. I am putting an old dresser of mine in her room, and this week, I sanded and painted it all white, and it looks like a completely new creation. I'm also thinking I'll move her into the full-sized bed that we have (out of the toddler bed she's ignoring in favor of Xander's top bunk), and paint the headboard for that white as well. She's got enough stuff to fill up the rest of the room, so I think she's set.

Xander wants a bright lime green color called, "Zippidy-doo-dah" in his room. I think the walls will be a little less intense than that, but we'll accent with bedding for him (this poor kid has had this cool bunk bed for years now, but not so much as even a bed spread to put on it). And all his furniture will be black. We've got some black and pewter-looking shelves, and I'm planning on painting his dresser black.

I'm going to start that project today. I can't figure out how to get the drawers out of the dresser, which seems odd. Maybe it's because it was actually purchased at a furniture store (not by me- I was a hand-me-down from some classy friends), it seems quite solidly built.

We'll see how today goes, trying to keep the kids out of the black paint.

The Big Move is Approaching

I bought a sofa set this week.

Real furniture, that you don't have to take out of a box and assemble.

I feel so grown-up!

Let's back up a bit. When we move, we are going to be able to decorate in our new apartment/ house- including the use of INTERIOR WALL PAINT!!! If you ever saw my house in Indiana, you know that I love to paint and decorate inside. I'm a little scattered when it comes to decorating, however, because I kind of focus on each room separately and not on the total flow aspect.

Because of this, my mom was a bit apprehensive about letting me paint in the new place, which they own and we will rent. Jim said, "beige walls, white ceiling. That's it." Yeah right!

Anyway, I promised to get some advice from people with a decorating gift, so I talked to my friend, Anne, who is an artist. She said you should think about painting the inside of your house- all of it- as one decorating project. Pick a color palette and make sure that each room flows from one to the next, so that you don't have any sudden jarring experiences as you enter a room.

OK, so I went to the paint store and picked out some colors that I like, mostly in the "honeyed almond" category, and added in a nice deep orangey-red and a sage green and dark brown. Then I started comparing these colors to things that we already have and came to the conclusion that the blue couches must finally make their exit.

Our blue couches are really nice, they're La-Z-Boy brand, the loveseat is a double recliner, and the couch is a hide-a-bed. Of course, the couch didn't fit in our current place because we needed room for the piano, so it's sitting in our garage (our guest room). These are navy blue and were hand-me-downs from my mom and Jim. They have served their purpose well, but I don't like blue. So it's time to bid adieu to the old and make room for the new.

Monday, Matt had the day off from work, so we went furniture shopping after lessons. We took the color palette along and discovered that we could go either dark brown (leather or microfiber), red or gold. We looked at 4 different places- with the kids in tow, which got old in a hurry. Finally, at the last place we stopped, there was a place to dump the kids and let them watch a movie so we could shop in peace. We almost bought a couch there just because of that!

We waited before making the purchase, because there was another place we wanted to check out that is going out of business, but was not open on Mondays. I went back there on Tuesday, and discovered a really nice couch and loveseat- almost the same colors as one we we were really leaning toward the day before- for 60% off! I paid for them, but I'll have to pick them up myself, and unfortunately, I can't wait until we've got the moving truck (less that two weeks away), because the store won't exist anymore.

So we're borrowing the church's trailer, and my folks are going to come up tomorrow with their truck and we're going to load them up and put them in our garage, as they patiently wait to move into their new home. Matt is excited to finally meet them.

Princess Overdose

I think Maia OD'd on princesses yesterday. She woke up puking this morning and has a slight fever. We will probably NOT be camping as a family for the Tour de Kota this evening. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

On the up-side, somebody FINALLY came to work on our A/C, though they haven't gotten it fixed yet. Hopefully by the end of the day, we can be back to a comfortable temperature.

I'm happy to report that most of my headache is gone, and I'm not feeling as awful as yesterday. Good thing... Have to run the infirmary here.

Happy Birthday to Maia

We celebrated Maia's 3rd birthday in a grand way this weekend.

Things started on Saturday when we had a Morrison family gathering at the park down the street. Grandpa Bruce and Grandma Georgie came over, so did Cassie & Lexi and Aunt Rena. Maia was excited to get new princess tennis shoes (let's begin the tally of Disney Princess things she got, shall we?... this is 1), a princess nightgown (2), some princess pencils (3), some hair pretties, a princess wall adhesive with removable princess stick-ons -like Colorforms (4), makeup, and a play vanity. That was just the gifts for day one! We had a little mini princess birthday cupcake for her (not official Disney, just some made-up goofy thing that I threw together). The rest of us had pink cupcakes and pink ice cream cones.

The kids played at the park a while, then Grandpa took us all to McDonalds- where they changed the Happy Meal toys from those hideous burping Shrek dolls to nice quiet penguins. (Insert Mom happy dance here)

When we got home, we had a couple of hours to play, and Maia spent the entire time at her makeup mirror getting beautiful:

(Note the princess tennis shoes above)
Vaguely resembles war paint... if you were in a fairy princess glitter army.

Matt had to go to work at noon, so he missed out on McD's as well as worship team practice in the afternoon, however, his parents stuck around, did some shopping, then came and watched the kids at church while I rehearsed the band for Sunday. That was a BIG help, because lately Maia has discovered how much louder she can sing if she uses a microphone. So that's fun.

After practice, we wetn over to the fortress, and helped Mom & Jim with a work day. I re-laid a brick patio (leveled it out with gravel and sand, then put the unmortared bricks back down), Jim hung a storm door and changed out the front porch lights, and Mom painted trim. Like any project, they discovered that there's more to do than they originally thought, but the place is shaping up nicely. We got home at about 9:00, so I bathed both the kids quick and got them in bed before a busy Sunday morning.

Sunday (Maia's actual birthday), we got up early for church as usual, did 2 services, then loaded up all the band's gear and headed to Mitchell for "Rockin' on the Ridge" at Casey & Heidi's church. While we drove through a little storm system that included some hail on the way there, it was sunny, HOT and windy in Mitchell for our outdoor concert.

OK, when did I get to be such a whimp? I developed a migraine headache from the heat. This was a particularly vicious headache that hit me in about 3 waves and was unmoved by my attempts to medicate it with 4 Excedrin. I was a barrel of fun.

Our band did well, we were pleased with their performance, and glad that we brought some of our guys along to help out with the sound system set-up because Northridge's sound guy was at an absolute loss as to how to set up such an event. There were about 5 groups or solos that performed all together. Casey's group did a great job too, though I had to listen from inside with ice on my head because I couldn't stand the volume outdoors.

After the whole event was over and the stage was unloaded (about 8:00), we took a little time for cake and presents. Grandma Marilyn brought a princess birthday cake (5) with 4 princess dolls on top:

I cut and served the cake with a plastic spoon. The haul this time included: a dress-up crown with earrings and more makeup from Rylie (purchased by her mom & dad), tons of stuff for Maia's room from Grandma Marilyn including: a rotating carousel princess night light (6), a small princess pillow (7), a princess saucer chair (8), a reversible princess pillowcase with Belle on one side and Cinderella on the other (9), two princess curtains (10, 11), and a shelf with pastel knobs on it. Xander got Maia "Mary Poppins" which she calls "supercagifrasi...llkigveggiehalitosis" she loves that movie. We got it from the library last week and have a new favorite! After all that loot, Grandma Marilyn said, "Let's see if Grandma Marie can outdo that!" Which, of course, she did. (Grandma Marie has a special knack for always getting the right gift, which kind of irks Mom, but she's a good sport about it) Maia opened the last box to reveal a Cinderella dress (12) with glass slipper play shoes, a crown, wand, earrings and necklace and a Princess storybook with stickers (13). She had to don the costume right away for everyone, and though she was sweaty and grubby from the hot afternoon, she was transformed into our little princess. How sweet!

She didn't sleep all the way home, even though we didn't leave Mitchell until 8:30. She sang. She got to wear her costume home, and that's what princesses do- sing. Xander got immersed pretty deep in a chapter book that Mom gave him, so he read. I closed my eyes and tried to recover, and Matt drove. Whew! What a day!

The Latest Pics

Here's some pictures from our recent adventures.

I've taken the kids swimming exactly once so far this summer. It's been cool and rainy or very windy most days but last week we snuck in a trip to the wading pool down the street, when the air was borderline warm enough to swim (78), but the water was VERY cold. I looked, but didn't see any slush floating in the pool. Luckily, the kids kind of played together for the first little bit until Maia got adjusted. I did spend a good portion of my time knee deep in the freezing water holding Maia's hand.

Awww.... aren't they cute?

At the top of the little slide

Bottom of the slide (only about a 3 foot difference)
Strike a pose

Xander wound up walking around the outside of the pool for the last hour we were there.

This week, the kids decided to make their own fun, and one afternoon they put their Halloween costumes on and played in the front yard. Goofballs.

Our neighbor came home and mentioned that his hunting dog loves to chase rabbits... (even grubby grass-covered ones?)

At some point, Xander took off his mask, so Maia had to give it a try. We then had a bionicle bunny on our hands!

After a while, it was just more fun to play in our regular clothes, so the kids took off the costumes, but resumed the rough housing. What fun!Awww.... what a pretty little maiden

Nice pose, Xander.Yesterday, while I was working at the church, Xander made this amazing creation:
And lastly, I've begun packing. We're getting pretty excited to move into our new digs. Xander & Maia packed themselves last night.

Potty Quotes

Maia always has such a unique way of putting things. She pooped in the potty the other day, stood up and said, "Look Mom! Stinky corn!" I guess it did sort of look like a corn on the cob....

Yesterday, after every time she "put yellow water in the potty," she stood up and proudly announced, "I'm a big boy!"

What a nut.

Church outside

Last weekend, we had our church service outside, and a Summer Celebration with German ethnic food, a concert and inflatables for the kids. Xander & Maia had so much fun! It was kind of a cloudy, overcast afternoon, though the morning was bright and clear and moderately cool. It did rain a little later on, around 2:00, but most people had gone home by then- including me and the kids, even though our band was supposed to start playing about then... They didn't really need me for the few songs they did for the few people who stayed to listen.

The food was wonderful: weinerschitzel and saurkraut and potato kugel and küchen for dessert (I'm so amazed I figured out how to type an umlaut!). The kids had hot dogs and there were some rolls with little pop-off tops that you could fill with either strawberry-rhubarb or raspberry-rhubarb jam.

We had something like 175 in attendance, between Good Shepherd and Mercy and visitors- I think 15-20 of them. I made a special effort to spend time talking to people I didn't know, and met a nice guy from Salt Lake City, UT, who was in town for the weekend on business- he said that he's on the worship team at his church and really enjoyed the morning, so that was nice. Another guy, Jason, is a non-traditional USF student (psych/ poli-sci) who was in the Navy for 6 years before getting injured, and is an active pilot and involved with missionary pilots.

It was nice to see the two churches actually interacting, not just tolerating each other. It's starting to feel a little more like family.

I took this attitude of hospitality with me this week, and met a nice young single mother at the park yesterday. We were having a lovely conversation, while watching our kids play, but Maia peed all over the park and I didn't have a spare outfit for her, so that was the end of playtime for us. It was a nice chat, regardless.

Fun at Grandma's

I get two weekends this week. On Wednesday, I took the kids to my mom's and helped out with Casey & Heidi's kids for a couple of days. Casey's in Nevada doing some computer-y, business-y thing. Heidi was taking a class (teacher continuing education) at Sertoma Park here in Sioux Falls. Mom thought she and Jim were going to be able to cover the schedule between the two of them, but then some things came up, so they needed a little extra help. Of course, my extra help meant extra work as well, because I brought my two crazies along.

Actually, this is the first year that we're starting to see the cousins on this side of the family really getting along. Rylie & Maia paired up and did girly stuff together, and Chase just followed Xander around where ever he went.

The girls and I played princess dress-up party, which was fun, we grabbed a couple of my old dresses from the downstairs closet, my prom dress from my junior year, which is white and lacey with lots of layers and ruffles (for Maia), and my orange semi-maternity bridesmaid's dress from Casey & Heidi's wedding (for Rylie). I made some major adjustments in both dresses so they could wear them without tripping over them. Then we went up to grandma's closet and found shoes and scarves and jewelry to complete the ensembles. They were so cute! Jim, email some of those pictures so I can post them!

When it was time to go on Thursday afternoon, I loaded all 4 kids in my car, then took them to Sioux Falls to meet Heidi. Xander got to sit in the front seat, which made him feel pretty special, and both Chase & later Maia fell asleep, so everyone was ready to get out and play when we got to the park. Matt met us there, then Heidi finished up with her class and came and met us. We played for a while, then went to Cici's Pizza for supper together. Fun couple of days!

Now it's Saturday, and we have another weekend ahead, but it's just raining.... Yuk. Matt already went for a 40 mile ride this morning. Boy, was he a mess! We might go to the Cinedome at the Washington Pavillion and see the I-Max movie they're playing there- all about the Tour de France. We've got a bunch of little things to get done too. We have an outdoor service for Good Shepherd tomorrow. Hope it quits raining. The forecast is somewhat ambiguous. We're doing a service in the morning, then having a German ethnic food festival that afternoon, with music and inflatables for the kids.

Hopefully it will be a fun day, not all waterlogged. It's funny, here in SD, we complain about being too dry all the time, but when it rains it messes up all our plans...

Potty Training Update- Week 2

It's going remarkably well. We've had a few embarrassing moments: wetting the floor at the Christian Bookstore, as well as the oil change place, but generally, she's doing really well. Last night, Mom & Jim were in town and we went out for a celebration dinner in honor of the closing on the fortress. We went to a kind of fancy restaurant called Carnival Brazilian Restaurant. They have a HUGE salad bar and hot bar, which is one menu option, or you can go all the way, and add their meats, which means that you can get a slice of meat or a piece of kabob from these "gauchos" that travel around from table to table with things like chicken wrapped in bacon, pork tenderloin, lamb, sirloin, swordfish, barbeque ribs, and prime rib. Mmmmm! Very delicious! At one point, I asked Matt if he thought you had to have an outrageous accente to apply for the job.

It's not a super kid-friendly place, so I was quite surprised to see that they had a family restroom with a little potty, fun art on the walls, and a step up to a brightly colored sink. Maia made 4 visits to the bathroom, in which she pooped, peed, then just messed around the other two times.

This is only the second time she's used the toilet in a public place, (not that we haven't tried many of them!) and we spent the last two days at my mom's where I took the potty chair along, and she didn't have a single accident! We still have her wear a diaper at night, because she never wakes up dry yet. She did go one night dry without a diaper, but I can't get her to go before bed (if it's not her idea, she's not going to do it), so we'll wait with that step.

I've also noticed that if she's wearing a diaper, she'll use it. If she's not, she's getting pretty good at holding it- and doing a lot of potty dancing, while telling me repeatedly that she does not have to go.

Anyway, I feel like it's going pretty well. I've held my patience relatively well (I did loose it a little at the oil change place- I had just sat her on the potty not 30 seconds before she let loose on the floor only 10 feet away), and I did NOT buy new diapers at the grocery store yesterday. I think we're almost officially past the baby stage. Not that I didn't like the baby stage, but everybody has to grow up, and we'll enjoy each phase as it comes.

Even potty training.

First Day of Summer Vacation

We're not off to a very good start. Xander says he hates today because I'm being a pain.

I'm not sure how to be in a good mood when Maia defies me at every turn. She is SO DISOBEDIENT. I have not felt very patient or kind today. I had to stop the car on a very busy street because she took her seatbelt off and refused to let Xander help her put it back on. She hits Xander repeatedly, just for the sport of it, which really offends Xander more than hurts him, but succeeds in making him really mad.

I'm trying to be patient on the potty training front, and to be honest, as long as we are home, she does a pretty good job. At Wal-Mart today, I took her to the bathroom 3 times before I finally just gave up and put a diaper on her. Sure enough, about 3 minutes later, it was wet.

If she does not get her way, whether it's having a toy, candy, eating a certain thing for dinner, blowing bubbles or whatever, she throws a huge screaming fit. It's great.

Meanwhile, Xander's shut himself in their room and refuses to eat supper because his whole first day of summer is ruined. My fault, of course.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I'm feeling pretty fruitless about now.

Xander's Future

We all have dreams for our future. Today, on our first day of summer vacation, I was sorting through Xander's school work that he brought home yesterday. Amongst the usual bazillions of math pages and spelling homework, I found a treasure trove in what I can only label as a creative drawing folder. This is so far the only booklet that was sent home that had more than 3 pages filled. All kinds of starter thoughts like, "Draw your dream house" (which has 7 floors, a swimming pool with fish on the 3rd floor, and a dangerous bear on wheels on the 6th floor), and "If you were a superhero, what would you look like?" (not surprisingly, he looks a lot like a Bionicle, but he's shooting a fireball at a turkey, which is his dinner.)

I thought this page was particularly funny.

It's really small on this blog page, so here's some explanation. The question is, "Do you see your future in this crystal ball?" It's a picture of Xander's future car and Xander with his driver's license, handing it over to the police because "once in college, I accidentally speeded." There's a speeding ticket on top the car.

I guess I know what we're looking forward to. He's going to have to pay his own insurance.

Melissa

I just found out that one of my dearest friends, Melissa had a miscarriage on what would have been her 4th baby.

I don't know how to pray except, "Jesus help them!" I love Melissa and miss her terribly, but we still talk about once a month or so, and we just talked last week right before her doctor's appointment. She had mentioned that she was hoping they would find a heartbeat, because she didn't really "feel" very pregnant. I think she was in her 11th week.

I'll call her today, as their family is heading to Ohio to visit her sister and parents. You're not supposed to avoid people who are in suffering or grieving, even when you don't know what to say. At least her hubby, Kent has switched his plans and is accompanying the family on this trip, so she doesn't have to be driving.

Please join me in praying for this family, their two oldest kids are also broken-hearted about the loss of their unborn baby brother or sister.

Lord, I pray for healing for this family, for Melissa, as she heals not only physically, but psychologically as well. Thank you that Kent has become extra-attentive to her during this time, which she really needs. I pray that you will be a soothing balm on his heart as well, as it is as much his loss as it is hers. May this weekend be a time when they are away from their regular setting, and can find comfort in You and in each other. Thank You that they have loving, supportive friends and family to help them through this. Give us wisdom as we love them. Carry them, Jesus.

Maia's Manicure/ Pedicure

My daughter is such a girly girl. Frequently, she wants to have her nails done, and I oblige, but recently, she's decided that she should be painting them herself. So I supervise. I guess this is fine motor skill development. Here's pics.

Pictures from the weekend

We went to Bruce & George's last weekend, they sent some pictures of our trip to the O'Brien County Nature Center (where Bruce has done a LOT of work on the displays). Here, the kids are being junior archaeologists:

Maia pointing out the buffalo head over the door

And here's a picture with "Frank" the central attraction:

We left the kids overnight Saturday night, and Grandpa & Grandma brought them to Mercy Church on Sunday morning.

Preparations:

Pretty as a princess

They all stayed for the recital. We were glad for the support, and I really appreciated the help!

Xander after the recital- Proud to have done it, glad it's over!

Success!

Maia has officially peed in the potty!

Potty Training Week 2

This week, I've decided to take potty training to the next level. Maia is just wearing a dress, no diaper, no underpants (but she did find an old pair of Spiderman snowboots, and a pirate flag and hook for a hand, so it's an interesting fashion statement).

No accidents so far, and it's been a couple of hours. No potties yet either, though. We need to go to the library today, but I don't want to go until after her first potty.

At least she's showing that she can hold it!

Salesman of the (1/2) Month

Matt won't write this on his blog, but it's kind of neat. He is the #1 salesman in the Scheels corporation for the first part of May. Not bad for only being in sales for 3 months! Too bad he started after the first of the year, because they give away trips (big ones to places like Cancun) to their top salesmen each year- but only if they've been selling from the 1st of January. I'm proud of him!

Xander's First Recital

Yesterday was a big day in the Morrison house, I had my end-of-year recital, which is usually not that big a deal for anyone but me, but this year, Xander sang on it. He did a good job, but you could tell he was a little nervous. He jumped his entrance on the first song, then forgot that he needed to do his second one, so he went to put the microphone away before I got his attention and he went back.

He sang just great, however, and I was very proud of him. He was one of 2 or 3 students to actually take a bow afterward. Everyone else just ran back to their seats thinking, "Whew! Glad that's over!"

Grandpa Jim and Grandma Marilyn came, so did Grandpa Bruce and Grandma Georgie, so that was a treat. Maia did not want them to leave after it was all over... she cried, "I want my grandma!!!" (which could refer to any of them) all the way home.

We had a reception afterward, and apparently it was a hungry time of day, because people really loaded up with food! I was very lucky in that some friends left their leftovers from a graduation reception on Saturday, or we would have been woefully short on food. As it turned out, we had just enough.

I was glad that Matt didn't have to work yesterday, I really valued his help in all the preparation, moving the piano, running sound and corralling the kids once we got home.

Potty Training Update

Maia just pooped in the potty for the first time!!!! I'm way more excited about it than she is.

Recital Season

I am winding down the end of the school year in my voice and piano studio. I had my college students' recital a couple of weeks ago at USF. Played for 17 students! Some of them did an excellent job, others- well, they did it, and that's what matters.

Sunday, I'll hold a recital for my home studio, which includes 4 piano students and 7 voice students. One of my piano students already did recital, she played on the college students' recital because she can't come this Sunday. One of my voice students is suffering from the same junk as me (gunky throat), and she's not a very good singer anyway, so we'll see if she'll be able to sing on Sunday.

The ages of my students range from 7 to 27, so it will be a pretty diverse recital, as all of mine usually are. I'm excited to have a church to do the recital at for the first time since I've been teaching lessons (over 15 years). Good Shepherd, where our church meets, has a grand piano and a small but echo-y sanctuary which will be perfect for an intimate recital. Most of my voice students will sing without the aid of a microphone, however if they sing a pop-style or worship song, I have them use a mic because it is appropriate for the genre. I also will have my two youngest singers use the microphone for amplification purposes. If grandpas and grandmas are coming, they'll want to be able to hear them, right?

I am playing a Beethoven sonata on the recital. Just part of it. It's very crashy and dramatic, but the whole thing might be a bit long for a young audience, so I'm playing the introduction and jumping right to the recapitulation. (translation: I'm playing the good stuff at the beginning and end and skipping the boring stuff in the middle)

Xander's singing on the recital. He's so cute! (Don't tell him I said that, "I'm COOL, Mom."). He practiced with the at the church the other day, and knows exactly what to do in a recital setting (when and how to bow, acknowledging his accompanist and everything). Not that I'm biased or anything, but he's a pretty good little singer. He'll look especially good considering where he is in the program, after a much weaker singer.

Breakin' the Lease

So, when we move, we are going to have to break our lease. We are contracted to stay here until October 1, but that ain't happenin'. Not when we have to opportunity to move as early as July, which granted, is a very hot month to do heavy labor, but we would much rather move in the summer, when my schedule is very flexible, than in the fall once school starts.

We mentioned our need to break our lease to the landlords, who are apparently new and don't remember any conversation we may have had with the previous landlord about the possibility of getting out of our lease in the summer, and they were rather rigid about it, saying we would have to pay a lease-breaking fee, every month's rent until the place is rented, and any advertising costs associated with finding a new renter- which according to my calculations could come to almost $2400. Mom said that the most we'd have to pay is the extra 2 months rent, and let them worry about trying to find a renter in October.

Matt suggested we talk to our upstairs neighbor and let her know that we are leaving and need to find someone to fill the place. What do you know.... last night, just as supper was coming out of the oven, we got a knock at the door. A young couple and her mom who wanted to look at the place because their relative, Alissa (the upstairs neighbor) had told them about it!

So I'm a little panicked because I would have preferred the house to be spotless when someone comes through to look at it, but they didn't seem to mind and really liked the place. They are very favorable to moving here and their timeline is flexible! YEY!!!

Anyway, we've got someone to rent our place when we move out. Sweet. Please join me in praying that the family that is currently in our new place (the "fortress") will find an even better place for them very soon and will not begrudge us kicking them out.

Matt to the Rescue

Matt's going to have a greater appreciation for me by the time the day's over. He's going to do the grocery shopping. With Maia.

We have a new grocery store in town that is HUGE!!! Not only can you get your groceries there, but they have a liquor store attached, a bank, a medical clinic, a gas station (just out front with discounted gas with grocery purchase)... anyway, it's really big. Matt's never been there, so I typed out the grocery list and categorized the items according to aisles. Aren't I sweet? (And a little anal...)

But the grocery store's not the biggest treat. Going shopping with Maia is the real treat. She loves to use the child-friendly carts in the shape of a school bus or a firetruck or a police car or whatever, but she refuses to stay in the driver's seat. She will hang off the back of the cart, crawl all over the front, walk (slowly) next to the cart and generally make herself very inconvenient. And sometimes she just lays down in the aisle and screams. That's fun too.

My advice to Matt is to take a snack along and sample anything they're giving away free. Food is a good motivator for her. (this could be a problem later, but we'll get past age 3 before we worry about that!)

So we'll see how he's faring at the end of the day. Today is my day at Xander's school, so I'll be gone all afternoon.

In other news, I got two gifts for mothers day: a really luxurious spa package for this swanky spa downtown which includes a facial, herbal body wrap and swedish massage. I also got laryngitis. I'm finally starting to recover my voice, but it was gone completely for a couple of days. Rather inconvenient for a voice teacher!

I'm thankful for one of those gifts. :)

Open Windows

Spring is so nice! I love the very few weeks of the year that we can open the windows and air out the apartment. They are rare... last year, I think I opened the windows about 2 days. This year, I am attempting to use less household energy and allow nature to cool the house. In the late afternoons, we lose our view out the front window, which faces west (though for some reason, I insist on believing that it faces south)- so every afternoon, the sun warms our living room (about half the house) to the point of intolerance.

Last winter, I put plastic on all the windows to keep the breezes out, then took it off in the spring, and opened the windows exactly once before the heat of summer necessitated the use of central air. I never got around to getting plastic on the windows this year...

Anyway, the point is, the weather is so nice!

Here's the big news: Potty training has officially begun at our house. (with Maia- hopefully that was obvious!) Yesterday, we wore underpants with no diaper under them for most of the afternoon. Having My Little Pony or Care Bears on the underwear is really a good idea- she doesn't want them to get wet. She wet the first pair and was very upset about it, but I played it cool, went and sat her on the potty- she didn't go, but the next time she had to go, she let me know beforehand, I sat her on the potty again- she didn't go, I put a diaper on her, she peed, then put underwear on again. I'm taking this as a positive step! She's still afraid to go on the potty, but she's gaining control, so that's good. Any bets on how long this will take? I have a positive attitude about it now, but I HATE POTTY TRAINING, so I'm anticipating that it will take all summer.

This evening, we go to Mitchell for Miss Rylie's first dance recital in the Corn Palace. Hopefully, she'll be early in the program because Sundays are busy days for us! I think we are going to go down early and have supper with Mom & Grandma Leigh Anne and anyone else who wants to join us.

Next Sunday afternoon is my home studio recital. Xander will be singing his first solos- "I've Got No Strings" from Pinocchio and "Waitin' for the Light to Shine" from Big River (about Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn). I think several family members are coming for that, so he's getting excited. I think. I'm playing a piano solo for the recital. I like to either play or sing as the last performance of my studio recitals. It's a little tricky to sing classical voice kind of stuff when I don't have anyone else to accompany on the piano, so I'll be playing a portion of a big dramatic Beethoven Sonata. Only a portion for 2 reasons- I only decided to play something last week, so I'm learning the piece in 2 weeks, and it's probably 7 minutes long in its entirety, and that's just too long to ask a young audience to sit through.

Yesterday, got a phone call from the current landlord asking how early we wanted to get out of our lease because he has a guy who's looking to move to this neighborhood June 1st. Too soon, but encouraging! Apparently, our property management company has been sold to a new owner. He doesn't really remember the verbal agreement with the last landlord about no lease-breaking fee if we chose to leave in the summer.... grrr.... but the guy that I talked to first (Lee) was talking ridiculous fees for breaking our lease early- totaling almost $2400! The call I got yesterday, apparently his partner (Mark), sounded more like he's willing to work with us to find a renter in the summer. I guess that's good news. I might call him and ask if he needs any appliances for his apartments, because we are not going to need our refrigerator, stove, microwave, washer, dryer or portable dishwasher when we move to our awesome new place.

Our awesome new place has not had the lawn mowed all year. It's not officially sold yet, but the new owners (Mom & Jim) don't want the place looking like crap, so they have asked us to go over an mow the place. No problem, except that we don't have a mower, so we have to try to find someone to borrow one from for this first time before the new electric mower arrives from walmart.com.

I'm slowly updating my kitchen accessory decor in anticipation of moving. All my dishes are black and white, so I can accent them with any color. When in Marion, my kitchen was 100% sunflowers. No other accent was necessary. Here, it is all white in the kitchen, so accent colors took on a new identity. I kind of went with green & yellow because that's what I had, but then I got all this light yellow stuff for Christmas, because I had asked for it, and it's not the same color yellow as the sunflower yellow. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago when I was shopping at Hy-Vee, I noticed that they had some cute drinking glasses in a light yellow, orange & red stripe, so I picked 8 of them up. Turns out it's the same color as my new yellow stuff, and gives a salsa-y feeling to the kitchen (or maybe citrus-y). So I got the dish towels and an oven mitt yesterday (a mothers day gift from... Xander. Maia got me a gerbera daisy plant) :) A fairly inexpensive way to "cuten" up my kitchen a bit.

I had caffeine this morning. It's obvious. I'm typing really fast. I have a house to clean (in anticipation of the landlord potentially wanting to show it- good motivation!), and Xander's anxiously awaiting the use of the computer, so I guess I'll wrap up.