Door County 2014

We try to take a trip to Door County at least once a year.  We LOVE Door County!  The beach is beautiful, they are super dog friendly, and we love to hike the trails.

love the doggy heads out the window

Marley thought she was the driver

Had to make a quick stop for an Oprah Chai.  Yummy!

This year was especially exciting because it was Remi's first time enjoying the great outdoors in Door County.  We were a little worried about bringing her with because she still wasn't walking great on a leash for us and she wasn't a big fan of swimming.

Lovin' life in Door County

Well she proved us wrong!  Not only did she start swimming on her own, she also hiked a difficult trail through Peninsula State Park without stopping once!  That means she had to climb rocks, which did give her a bit of hesitation, but in some spots, she was pulling me along.

Waiting for her sisters

The water was FREEZING!

We did a little shopping and got a few things for the house.  We had some great meals out (minus one terrible experience!  Don't go to the Log Den, their service was the worst ever!).

We've been doing this every year and we always feel like we should stay for longer.  We are even considering getting a pop up camper!  I'm not a huge fan of camping, but it would be much more affordable and I think it would make it easier for traveling with the dogs.  We will see!

We saw this while we were eating lunch...  Hilarious!

Marley was hopping through the water like a kangaroo!

 The dogs slept for two days straight after getting back!  They were so worn out!!

Exhausted!

Can't wait for next year!

while mom was away...

me and grams had a little get together last week while we were watching mom's cats.  she wanted to go shopping at Peebles (a small version of Boston Store) because it is her favorite, so i tagged along.

i found these super cute shoes on clearance with an additional sale for $20!  they actually have a wedge, which isn't something i would typically wear, but i love how they look.  these will be better for wearing in fall though.

grams was bummed cause she didn't find anything.

after shopping, we headed for lunch.  we decided on Culver's, because it was better than our other options of McDonald's or Taco Bell.

we were very happy when we discovered that 10% of the sales for the day went to the veteran's!

i love days that i get to spend with grams!  isn't she just the cutest?!

five on friday: Easter weekend!

1. finally picked out some furniture and ordered it!  it will be here monday!!  i can't wait to get it!

2. can't wait to celebrate Easter with my family and Mark's mom's side!  always awesome to spend time with family.

3. we are going to the Soos's tonight to decorate eggs with the girls!!  can't wait to see them.

4. our newest foster is fitting in just fine around here :)

5. i decided to put my nose ring back in.  we will see how long that lasts...  so far i'm not loving it.

and a picture of Lily, just cause she is awesome! 

home tour: guest bedroom

the guest bedroom, aka my sister's room, is almost exactly the same as it was in our previous home.  i used most of the same furniture and decor as in our previous home.

this room is mostly used by my sister or the kids when they visit, so that's why i call it my sister's room. the bed in the room is the same bed she had when we were growing up.  i added a few touches of things that she likes throughout the room.

the guest bedroom is located towards the back of the house, because we wanted our guests to have a nice view of the backyard.

for now it has a full size bed, but eventually when we get a new bed for the master, the guest bedroom will have a queen.

the bedding is from Target.  i got it on clearance a long time ago.  it works well for now, but isn't my favorite look anymore.

at our previous home, the bedroom was lavender.  this time we kept it more neutral with the same gray as in our living room and kitchen area.

on the nightstand is a photo of my little grams.  we miss her a lot and i wanted a picture of her somewhere in the house.

we moved the TV that was in our bedroom into this room and added a different TV stand than was in our old house.

the flowers next to the TV are light up.  my sister has some in her home, so i thought they would be a good addition to the guest bedroom.

the closet doors just got installed recently.  they ended up being a bit small for the opening but we are going to just try to make it work.  they still have to be painted and need knobs to be able to open them!

things that still need to be done:

• paint doors and trim
• add knobs to closet doors
• shorten blinds
• headboard
• dimmer for lights
• art
• new bedding and curtains
• eventually queen sized bed

foster to adopt

we thought we would give it one try.

we got the call about 2 weeks ago that there was a child that fit our criteria.  she had the perfect name and was a "ham" and had quite the personality.  what could be wrong with any of that?!

we had no idea what we were getting into.

things have been...difficult.

based on her history, i'm not surprised that she isn't the easiest child.  any child who has had a rough start from the beginning could be difficult.

but we thought with love and attention, things would get better.  if we gave it some time, her mood would change.  she would understand boundaries, and not to be naughty for attention.  she would stop crying uncontrollably.  she would play with us and spend quality time with us.

maybe that was too much to expect in 2 weeks, and maybe it was too much to expect from a toddler.

all i know is that it's too much for me.

i've nannied and been through the ups and downs with children before.  i've been around many kids her age and they all loved me.  i just don't know what else to do...

and now i feel guilt.  unbelievable guilt that she has to find a new home.  that she has to move again.

and i feel like a failure for not being able to make it work.  for not helping her.

week with my loves

i am beyond happy when i get to see my sis and the kids.  and this last week was the best ever, because they decided to spend their spring vacation with me!!  i'm so lucky!

i'm super sad to say that i didn't get many pictures :(  along with this being one of the most stressful times ever (which is a totally different story), i was just trying to soak up every second i had with them.

they got here on wed and stayed until sat.  wed night the kids stayed at doms (aka grams; their favorite thing to do!).  we had some take-out chinese before they headed to doms.

thurs morning, we made a stop at the new Hobby Lobby.  then, we had lunch at Panera and made a stop at Trader Joe's.  my sister doesn't have a trader's by her so we try to stop there if we can.  it worked out well because i desperately needed to go grocery shopping anyways.

my mom asked us to go to "Art in Bloom" at the milwaukee art museum thurs night.  i have gone for the past 2 years, but sara had never been.  i thought it was a GREAT idea to go because you don't truly appreciate the designs unless you see them in person.  she completely agreed and we really enjoyed it.  we even made a stop for ice cream on the way home.

basically the idea behind "art in bloom" is the designers are given an art piece at the museum that they sort of interpret and replicate in flower form.  here's mom's...

mom's design (which was also featured on the news!)

friday we headed to woodman's for more grocery shopping and a stop at target.  can you tell what me and my sister like to do when we are together?!  shopping is our favorite pastime.  haha.

she went to visit a friend in the evening, so it was game night for us and the kids!  we played monopoly, which was kind of a dud.  then we got to see the kid's favorite movie "Frozen"!  it was really cute.

saturday morning, mark made everyone breakfast and then it was game time again.  this time we played "heads up" and "spot it".  such a fun morning!

and before they headed out, i requested that the kids put a new design on my chalkboard!  wyatt drew a "love tornado" and adalai drew a flower with a message that said she loves me.  they fill my heart with so much joy!  i love those kids so much!

it was an amazing time to spend with my family, and i'm so bummed that they had to leave!  i wish they lived here so we could spend even more time together.  so happy that they will be coming back in just two weeks!!

3 years...

it's crazy to think that 3 years ago we were on the beach in the Bahamas saying our vows.  

3 years ago seems so long ago, but at the same time, it feels like it was just yesterday.  time sure does fly when you're having fun!

this last year has been the most trying.  definitely the most difficult year as a couple, by far.  

building a house is not fun...at all.  luna passed away, which was hard on the both of us.  trying to bring a child into our family and deciding that fostering wasn't really for us.

i feel like if we could get through that, we can get through anything.

happy anniversary to us!  hope this is the best one yet.

photos

I have been trying to learn how to use my hubby's fancy camera.  I'm currently reading a book called "Beyond Snapshots".

Beyond Snapshots

The pictures in the book are beautiful and it has made things make a little more sense, but I'm still working on it.  Marky Mark has helped a bit, and if I still can't figure it out, I might try and take a class.  Anyways, here's some pics of my girls from the last week...

setting up the nursery

Although the nursery was nowhere near done when we had our little visitor come stay for the week, we still had it to where we could use it.

Our good friends gave us their daughters crib!  It was such a blessing!  Their daughter was the last child I nannied for, so it was really special that they were able to give her crib to us.  I was so excited when Marky Mark put it together.  The room had sat pretty much empty since we moved in, so I was happy to see it finally coming together.

We put the cubbies in here, because I thought it would be good to use for organizing toys.  It did a pretty good job, but it could use some baskets for diapers and other supplies.  It was pretty convenient to just go in a grab a toy as needed.  Although, I'm not sure if a dresser might be a little more practical in the future.

My mom knit this gorgeous blanket!  This was definitely my favorite Christmas present this year!  It matched the green chevron sheets for the crib.  Our little visitor used it while she was here :)

I LOVE Scentsy! I had always loved these warmers and was so bummed when they stopped making them.  My mom, Grams and I went to a craft fair and there was a lady that was selling some of the older warmers for much cheaper than they originally cost.  Luckily, this was one of them, so we snatched it up!  I was too worried to put wax in it, so I just put it out for decoration.

I really wanted to get the Cloud B nightlight, but at $50 there was no way I was going to spend that much money on it!  I was so excited to see that Walmart sold an off brand for only $20!  This is the one that plays music and lights up.  I thought it was important to get a nightlight, because a lot of foster kids will even ask to sleep with the light on because they are scared.  Little girl LOVED this!  She would turn it on every time before nap and bedtime.  I had it set to run for 30 min and it worked awesome!

I picked a lime green paint for the nursery.  I wanted something neutral since we are open to either gender, but I thought that yellow was too girly for a boy.  Green was my favorite color when I was little (lime green still being one of my favs), so I thought it was a safe choice.  I love how it turned out, although I don't know that everyone agrees with me (ahem...my husband).  I was going to make it gray and green but since we have a lot of gray in the rest of the house, I'm thinking of adding some black in.  Originally I wanted a black and white nursery with lime green accents, but I don't know how great that will look with brown furniture (I was originally going to buy white furniture).

Anyways, that's how the nursery looks for now.  I have a lot of things I would love to add...

• curtains and rod
• dresser (?)
• baskets for cubbies
• rocking chair
• art
• shelves for decorations or pictures
• more crib sheets
• better toy organization
• fun rug (?)

And there are still a few things that need to be finished in the room...

• paint the trim
• paint the door
• closet doors installed!!
• shorten the blinds (they are too long and WAY too heavy) and cords (dangerous)
• closets hung correctly (a lot of our closets were installed incorrectly)
• dimmer

Adalai and Wyatt's visit

After Christmas, my niece and nephew, Adalai and Wyatt, got to stay with us a few days.  I wanted to make sure they had a fun time at our house so we planned a lot of fun stuff to do.  It also helped that they had a ton of Christmas presents here to play with.

On Thursday, the day after Christmas, we decided to hit up Discovery World in Milwaukee because I had never been there before and they love it!  I've always wanted to take the kids there and they were finally old enough (6 and 8) where they could really appreciate it.

on a submarine

looking out the 'scope

on a pirate ship

lifting 300 lbs!

laying on a bed of nails!

just hanging out

 After we were all exhausted from playing at Discovery World, we headed home.  Adalai took a nap in the car to recharge for Grandpa Jeff and MaryLu stopping by for dinner and opening presents!  We decided after having to make dinner on Christmas, we would take the easy way out and get take out.  The kids asked for Buffalo Wild Wings so that's what we had and it was SO good, like always!  We opened presents after dinner, and played some of the games they received.  We had a blast!  Haven't laughed that hard in awhile!

Headbanz

duck face

fibber

 We played "Headbanz" first.  This is where you put a picture on your headband and have to ask questions to figure out what the picture is.  Even though this game is for kids, it is NOT easy!!  Although it is in our house when you are surrounded by glass.  Kids figured out really quickly to check their reflections, which the adults couldn't see as easily.  So after some cheating... we decided to try "Fibber", which is exactly what it sounds like.  If you are caught fibbing you have to add a nose to your glasses, kind of like Pinocchio.  It was hilarious!  The kids really enjoyed it!

Friday morning, Adalai asked if we could all go to Zumba!  I, of course, loved this idea.  Wyatt wasn't so sure it was for boys, but there ended up being a lot of kids at the class.  Adalai made it through the whole hour, like a champ, and Wyatt joined in a bit at the end.  Adalai got applauded and told she is the Zumba Champion!  She was so excited!  After Zumba, we hung around the house until the Soos's came over for dinner.  We have a tradition of decorating gingerbread houses every year, so this time Adalai and Wyatt got to join in on the fun!

they turned out great!

After dinner, we played some games with Hanna and Lilien.  The kids had a lot of fun!   And then after they left, it was time to Zumba again.  Grandpa Jeff and MaryLu got them the Zumba kids WII game.  Uncle Mark even got in on the action.

 On Saturday, we headed to Kenosha to the Jelly Belly Factory.  It's a free tour, where you take a train around their warehouse and learn about how the candy is made.  It was OK, but the kids really enjoyed it, and that's what really matters.  Plus, at the end of the tour, you get a free sample pack!  We let the kids each make a bag of their favorite flavors to take home with them. 

Saturday night, we took the kids to church with us.  They went to play with kids their age, and seemed to really enjoy it!  When we got home, we just hung out and let them watch a movie in bed.  Sunday morning they headed to Doms!

We had so much fun with them, and I missed them so much when they left!  Can't wait for their next visit!