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.

Visit from Grandparents

We had a fun day today, Dad & Marie came over from Mitchell for the day. We had church this morning, which they came in time for, then went to Falls Park with a picnic and had fried chicken, potato salad, Asian summer salad, fresh fruit and veggies and dip. It was all really good, and worth the hours of effort I put into it yesterday.

It was really hot - around 90 degrees, so once we were done eating, we sat in the shade and talked for a while, while Xander climbed on rocks and threw a frisbee at his sister. We had some ice cream before we left.

Maia was kind of funny with the ice cream. She wanted "the pink kind," so she got strawberry ice cream. She liked the ice cream part, but was less enthused about the actual strawberries in the ice cream. She solved this dilemma by licking around the big chunk of strawberry on the top of her cone. After she had been at it a while, she was left with a pillar in the center of her cone with a strawberry balancing precariously on top. We tried to convince her to eat the berry, but the answer was a resounding "NO." I rescued her by eating the offensive fruit, and she proceeded to finish her cone with no more issues- except a lot of pink all over her face.

After the park, we drove over to look at the fortress, and show Dad & Marie where we will be living starting in July. Then we went back to the house- had to turn on the A/C! and had some lemonade and Dad set me up with my "new every two" phone. I now have the same kind of phone as Matt. He downloaded a cool ring tone (Queen singing "I Want To Ride My Bicycle")- perfect for him. Maybe I'll do the same... if I can figure out how. I did figure out how to take pictures, and use the voice dial command. Kind of cool.

Called Mom, and we did our usual weekend chat. It looks like we're going to get a couple of weeks of leeway between the current renters having to move out and us moving in. For cleaning and painting. (Painting! Her words, not mine! Yey! No more white walls!)

We're just hanging out at the house and vegging for the night. Nice to have Matt home for the weekend!