Olivia's birthday party

Lots of people came up from Decorah, Rochester and surrounding communities. We had a lot of fun in the blow up castle and opening presents. Elena had blown up a lot of balloons and filled the castle and the kids danced and spun in that thing up to their ears in balloons.

I haven't noted on here recently because I've been too busy filling the bird feeders. Lots of different varieties but no mockingbirds yet. Olivia gets a kick out of saying chickadee. It is also one of her stall techniques from going to nap by saying that she wants to see the birds.

Zach has been having major troubles with his teeth coming in. He has been waking up quite often at night just the saddest little boy. He'll stand up in his pack-n-play (it is in our room) and stare at me and scream as loudly as he can.

Some Updated Photos

Playing with new birthday toys




Enjoying birthday cake and ice cream




So serious




Just a happy guy




Just layin' around




Going opposite directions




Just lookin' around



posted by Elena

Birthday party

Last Sunday we had Zach's first birthday party. It was a lot of fun with family and friends from all over coming up. We watched playoff football and played the handheld poker game that Mark gave me. I, since then, have finally beaten it once. There were lots of presents and toys flying everywhere. I had wanted to spend some time with Cassidy but she was too busy playing in the blow-up castle the whole time. That castle was the big hit of the party. Kids were in and around that thing the whole time. Zach had a fun time eating his cake and ice cream. It was the typical all over his face, head and hands deal. He reached for the candle but we caught him in time unlike Olivia's first.

We've had water troubles. Our toilet upstairs which I thought had fixed started leaking from another place. Doh. So the kids and I worked on that yesterday and we fixed what was wrong but now it needs a new fill valve. And I was thinking to myself the other day that I should have picked on up but didn't. Oh well.

Our water softener died as well. So that was another big project yesterday. I bought the water boss 900, some fittings and said a little prayer that this would work and went at it. Magically it went together as it should and it seems to be working. I haven't tested the water yet with the test strips but we should be good to go. Now what to do with the old one.

We have the day off today and Mark is coming in from California to the Twin Cities so we'll see him as he heads south.

Just sitting around

I'm in a long undershirt, sweat shirt, long underwear, sweat pants, two pairs of socks and a down blanket and still a bit chilled. Olivia is in her diaper and happy as a clam. There is something wrong with this kid.

Had a nice day up here in MinnesOta... and Happy Birthday!!!

Weather is good so took the kids, wife and dog on a little walk. We tried to go on the trail but the snow was hard and the deer tracks made it hard to walk on so we went on the street. Olivia had the darndest time trying to squash her shadow. We built a little fire and put up a new swing on the set that both kids enjoyed.

Our bird feeders are empty again. Lots of cardinals, bluejays, and different finches. Elena saw a squirrel at the sunflower feeder the other day. Time to buy a .22. Or not. I'll go to the old stanby of snowballs.


P.S. written by Elena

It's Zach's 1st birthday today!!! Happy Birthday! I can't quite believe he's a whole year already. That went by soooo fast. And he's just moving about like a pro now: crawling all over the place, climbing up on things that he shouldn't be (like the TV stand - argh), and you should just see how proud of himself he is that he can do all these things - he just beams ear to ear! We'll try to attach a birthday picture here soon...

Zach and crawling

He's been a little go-er recently. He really likes his newfound mobility. He gets sneaky sometimes and will hide behind corners or chairs and think that he is so funny. Last night around 8, his parents were a bit slow at getting to bathtime so without anyone bringing it up he crawled through the living room, down the hall and to the bath where he stood up next to the tub and started pounding on it.

Olivia has been a caring older sister with says of, "Zach, whassa matter?" and "Zach-a-wee, what doing?" The way she says it in her little voice is just too much sometimes.

Getting over the holidays

The drive from St. Louis was a bit of a bear. Olivia wasn't much for sleeping but didn't complain that much. Zach slept a good amount but was sick and grumpy when awake. We went to Decorah for the weekend and opened more presents!!! Olivia is getting good a ripping the paper.

We went to AJ and Linda's new house and played cards. They bought a house next to Mr. Berland and it is really nice. Hardwood floors, large finished basement and a big upstairs bedroom. We played no-limit for fun with AJ's new poker table. AJ and I went all in on the first hand with two pair and he caught a full house on the river to win. So dealt for a while. After that AJ and I split winning.

The family went to Ben and Steph's for the New Year. There was a lot of food. We played Garbage and I was lucky enough to draw a lot of wild cards and won for the first time in I don't know how many years. Then we played a strategy game that I don't remember the name but it dealt with castles, roads, farmers and churches. Paul won that very handily and he had never played it before. We then played Decorah which is like Monopoly only with places in Decorah as properties. We started that around 11 PM. Elena took the kids back to my parents so they all could get some sleep. I was lucky enough to complete a quick 4 property monopoly and rode that to a long drawn out victory. Paul, Steph and I seemed to always be on the verge of bankruptcy and then we'd get good money then down again to mortgaging properties. Ben was always high with cash and properties but the game ended with me on a high that was just a bit higher than his total. Go me. Those guys definitely have above average IQ's so I feel pretty good about winning (even if there is a good amount of luck involved).

Then we went to Wykoff for another Christmas. We had a nice meal and then opened presents. Robert beat me badly again in EA sports college football. Lots of people took naps then. It was getting late and I went with Erin home and Elena and the kids followed. It was nice to be home after so long.

I drained the water heater. It came out all clear. I don't know if that means that there isn't any sediment in there or that the sediment has hardened and will never come out. We'll find out when the thing dies and if it weighs 500 pounds.

Our toilet flush valve has been driving me crazy the past few weeks. Sometimes is just doesn't seal and you can hear water trickling down the drain. I had bought a new washer for it but that didn't work so yesterday I bought a new flush valve and put that in. I tossed the kids in the bath and worked away at it. They took a long bath. I had it all in and set up and it had the wrong kind of flush handle for the new one. Doh. I said a little prayer and checked out the downstairs bathroom. Fortunately for me, someone had messed up and bought the wrong handle for that one but the right one for the valve I put upstairs. I took the bad one from upstairs downstairs and now they are both happy little toilets. Or so I thought. As I was screwing on the supply line the plastic nut split and was spewing water everywhere. Crud. So I salvaged the one from downstairs and put it upstairs so now our downstairs one is shy a water source. But the upstairs one works like a charm.

I filled the bird feeders today too.