Hello 2016

Happy New Year!! :)

There is so much that's been going on since my last post.  I can't believe that was September 2015! 

Yikes!! 

Let's start with the holidays....

Delanie spent Christmas in Texas like usual.  When we moved to Minnesota back in 2011, she asked to spend Christmas Day with her dad's side of the family.  We all agreed and the last few years have seen her flying to TX for Christmas and spending New Years Eve with us.  

Since that leaves Jim and I kid-free on Christmas day, we've started a tradition of our own.  Every Christmas Eve, we go shopping together.  Yep.....we brave the busiest shopping day of the year at the mall......and we love every second of it!!  Together, we pick up any last-minute gifts and shop for each other.  Instead of buying gifts for each other, we spend the day picking out our own presents. Win-win!  Christmas Eve usually ends with a movie and popcorn.  :)  

Christmas Day is spent in our pajamas wrapping presents and being lazy!! 

 Even Bailey got in on the action.  (That's my sweatshirt she's using as a blanket......goofy dog!)

While Delanie was in Texas, she spent the day with Bea & Lauren.  They always have such a good time together!  Lauren took them all for a spin in her new Audi.  The spiffy new ride has built-in wifi so Bea face-timed me while Lauren was driving.  They were soaking up the sunshine with the top down while I was freezing my behind off up here in the arctic tundra!!  

  

Cute little suckers.  :)

Garrett joined them a few hours later and they exchanged presents and just hung out.  

   

Meanwhile back in Minnesota, we had our first real snowfall of the year......finally!

Garrett and Maci road-tripped it from Texas to Minnesota the Sunday after Christmas.  They surprised me with that news a few months ago and it's taken all I have to not explode with excitement.  

They packed up Sophie - their new puppy - and headed north for an 18 hours adventure.  We thought for sure they would stop and spend the night half-way.  Nope, they drove straight through!

Sophie is such a sweet puppy!  She is super lovable and wanted so bad to be Bailey's new BFF. Bailey wanted nothing to do with that idea.  After trying her best to get Bailey to play, Sophie settled with resting close to Bailey.   

Sophie is nine months old and is the cutest thing ever.  Garrett and Maci rescued her several months ago.  She has one ear that stands up while the other lays down.  

On Monday night.....Jim, Garrett, Maci and I went to the Red Wings game at the Excel Center.  How perfect was it that the Wings were playing the Minnesota Wild while the kids were here?!

Even though the Wings lost, we had a great time!

Tuesday saw a ton of excitement.  Our sweet Maci broke out into an itchy rash from head to toe.  She went through tons of Benadryl and two tubes of cortisone cream to try and get some relief.  

That same day, I slipped on the ice and fractured my left wrist.  So.......Maci, Garrett, Jim and I ended up in the emergency room.  Maci was in one room trying to find an explanation for the rash while I was in another room getting x-rays.  There should be a Maple Grove Hospital Friends and Family discount.  

We finally figured out that Maci was allergic to our laundry detergent.  Bless her heart, between the sheets, towels, blankets, etc......she couldn't get away from it.  She was such a trooper, though.  If that had been me, there was no way I would feel up to going to dinner and to the casino.  This tough cookie was totally game though (see what I did there?!).

We picked Delanie up from the airport on Wednesday and went to dinner and a movie.  The night ended with the girls were coloring.......

While the boys played video games.....

I had all my favorite people together in one room.  Life is good!! :)

Garrett and Maci had planned to go home Friday morning but decided to stay until Sunday. 

Woohoo!!!!! That made me one happy momma! :)

On New Years Eve, we had a fun hibachi dinner and wrapped up the evening with ice cream.  

Happy New Year!!  

Sunday morning after the kids headed out, Jim and I ran our normal weekend errands......

As I was taking that picture, Jim gave me his trademark "what the hell are you doing?!" look.  Sorry ladies......he's all mine!

Hope your holiday was as wonderful as ours!  It's back to the real world tomorrow.  Check out my new Etsy 2016 planners.  I customized them with pictures of the twin-sister trip to New Orleans.  Check out that post here and here and here and here.

Have a great week!! :)

Happy Saturday!!

Summer loving

Check out these gorgeous kiddos!!  I am one lucky momma.  Yep, they are all mine!! :)

  

The whole gang in Texas for Summer break........Sarah, Delanie, Maci & Garrett.

Father's Day

I've definitely been slacking on the blog lately.  That migraine completely knocked me out!  I've got so much to fill you in on! :)

Father's day was the perfect time to celebrate the love of my life.  This guy......let me tell you.......he has brought so much love and wonder into our lives.  From the very beginning of our relationship, he was 100% onboard to jump in as the "bonus dad" to Garrett and Delanie. 

Not too long ago, Garrett sent me the text below.....

He asked me if I had ever heard Brad Paisley's song "He didn't have to be".  The song is all about how a stepfather stepped into life with a woman with a young son.  Definitely worth a listen.  The video is amazing!  :)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjO1F6oCab8

This is what Father's Day at the Richardson's looked like. Jim put his grill master skills to good use.  His steaks are better than any steakhouse I have ever been to.  No joke!

Happy Father's Day Jim!!  We are so lucky to have you in our lives. 

Migraines suck

Migraines suck! 

That is the understatement of the year.  You would think that, after living with them since the 1980's, I would be used to them.  Nope......not even close!

I went to the dentist a few weeks with a toothache.  The dentist thought I needed a root canal redone - joy! - so he sent me to an endodontist.  After the endodontist took x-rays, he determined that I was dealing with a sinus infection instead.  Antibiotics were prescribed but it was too little too late.  Everything went to Hell in a hurry. 

That damn sinus infection led to one of the worst migraines I've ever had; TWO migraines in fact. 

After taking antibiotics from Thursday - Sunday, I woke up Monday thinking I could power through the work day.  I made it until lunch time then had to call it quits.  I ended up in the emergency room Monday night.  After a few hours, my pain went from 9 (on a scale of 10) to a 3.......enough progress to send me home to sleep it off.  Sixteen hours later, I was back in the emergency room and we had to start over again. 

Nine days after that ER visit, this is what my arms look like.  On average, it takes about 4-5 tries for a nurse to hook up an IV for meds.  Seriously......I look like I've been beaten with an ugly-stick. 

In the end, I missed 2.5 days of work AND slept for no less than 12 hours every day since then.  All I can say is THANK GOD FOR MY HUSBAND!  For a while there, I didn't know what day it was or how to spell my name. 

All because of a sinus infection. 

Through this entire ordeal, I keep thinking about the people who have it much worse off than I do.  I'm trying to be thankful that this is my only health issue.  So.......this week it was back to the neurologist to adjust my "game plan".  We will continue to do the Botox injections every 12 weeks (35-40 injections all over my head/neck/shoulders/upper back) and keep adjusting the recipe of meds for maximum relief. 

Stay tuned for more details. 

Firepit

Jim and I finally broke in the fire pit over Memorial Day weekend.  Let me tell you, I have been DYING to get down there!  It was a perfect evening for a fire.......temps in the 60s and just a slight little breeze.  My husband has serious fire-building skills!! :)

Delanie had several friends over so we loaded the s'more bucket up and got everything ready.  It's surprisingly quiet in the backyard even though there is a school and a busy road right up the hill.  Honestly, it felt like we were back at Madden's (click HERE to see that post)......only this time we were in our pajamas and about 100 feet from another cocktail. 

A roaring fire + my handsome husband = HEAVEN!! :)

Part of the reason I love love love a fire is because it instantly relaxes Jim.  Once he brings that fire to life, he sits back with a beer and you can literally hear his deep sigh. 

Don't let this photo fool you......that fire was HOT!!  The picture below took several tries.  We could barely keep our feet by the fire long enough to take it!

Side note:  We have a new batch of babies!!  Check out those adorable little goslings!  We have three or four families who call our backyard home.  :)

June goals

Dang......it's already June! 


I've always written down monthly/yearly/life goals but last month I decided to put it out there for the world to see.  By "world", I mean the whopping six people - all family - who read this blog.  :)  Click HERE to see that crazy brave post. 

To keep myself focused, here's how I did in May.....

Goal #1:  Focus on my health

I made it to half of the Monday yoga classes and about half of my Wednesday night Moms on the Run classes.  No excuses.....life just has a way of getting in the way.  Since I'm a glass-half-full kind of girl, I consider this a win!  Sure....I could've missed a band concert to get to another yoga class or ignored an on-coming migraine to walk a few extra miles.....but let's get real, that is not going to happen.  So, I'll take a pat on the back for the classes I was able to go to and try again next month. 

Goal #2:  Time management

I have to say that I enjoyed this task.  The lunches I actually spent at home (again, this didn't happen every week), I sat on the deck and enjoyed the sunshine.  I am proud to say that I did not visit Chik-fil-a or the shoe store one time this month!  It's the small victories...... :)

Goal #3:  Have fun and be creative

I put my big girl panties on and went to the all-day crop with the Maple Grove Scrapbook Club.  Good grief......I was as nervous as a cat.  Honestly, it was a little disappointing.  There was supposed to be 10-15 girls there but it was only me and one other scrapbooker.  It was a little awkward but I did it! :)  Awkward.....but productive.  I worked on the cards I'm going to add to my Etsy store next month. 

Goal #4:  Etsy store

Speaking of the Etsy store.....my goal was to create three new designs.  I'm on track to have this one done.  In fact, I'm taking it a step further and looking into becoming a "vendor" for a store downtown.  More details to come (I don't want to jinx it!).

Goal #5:  Enjoy more family time

This is the update I'm most excited about.  That birthday party I was so hell-bent on having this month?  Delanie asked that we wait until June.  Check!  That weekend in Texas I was so excited about happened and was AWESOME.  (Click HERE for those details.)  Check!  Enjoying the deck/firepit .....I'll post pictures of our first fire next week.  Check!  Done, done and done! :)

Onward and upward......hello June 2015!!

What I am NOT looking forward to this month:  Doctor appointments
 

June is the month for our annual physicals, etc.   Every year I vow to spread these out but then June comes around again and ....... yep!  It's time for checkups with the neurologist, asthma doctor and the "lady" doctor.  Yahoo.  And it's time for Delanie to check in with the orthodontist.  Thank goodness for hour-long lunch breaks.  :)

What I AM looking forward to this month:  Parades

I am stoked about Marching Band season!  During June, Delanie has several parades each week.  PLUS, the band goes on a four day retreat.  I love love love watching these parades.  I'm going to soak up every single second!

What I'm NERVOUS about this month:  Vendor applications

As soon as this is done, I'll post all the details.  All I can say right now is......YIKES!  Tons of prayers are going into this one.  It's a big step for my Etsy store and, one way or another, it will work out the way God wants it to.  Just thinking about it puts butterflies in my belly.  :)