Mcclure's Apple Orchard

Well over Labor Day for a fun activity we took the kids to the apple orchard, which is near our house.  We thought it would be a good time and the bonus is there’s a winery there and they have free wine tasting so bonus!  So we went to the orchard and the kids play at the park, rode horses, and pet the animals.  Overall it was a good day.  But I wanted to share some pictures from our adventure.  So enjoy!

ACL Surgery & Dream

So it’s time to update my blog.  Sometimes there are lots of things to say and others there are lots of things to report on.  So I’ll do my best not to be too wordy but at least you know… me. 

Any who.  So I had my ACL surgery last week.  Luckily it was on the first day of school for the kids.  Yeah I’m not sure if that’s sarcastic or not, can’t decide.  It was very painful the first day.  The second day I was on pain pills and slept a lot.  By day three I was up and moving.  I did have to go to the doctor for Nikolai on day two.  Strep and ear infection.  That made it a great day.  The on Day three we went back to the doctor for Maya.  Yep Strep.  So other than those minor hiccups we are on the mend.  All of us.  So I’m doing okay.  I’m a little stir crazy so I went back to work full day today. I had a good time at work I managed to get all my work done today and I have a little bit to do tomorrow.  This will be good.  I am off crutches… Mainly because I just don’t like trying to hobble on them.  I think I’m just as reckless on my own two feet as I am on crutches.  So I’m just running with it.  It’s fine.  My instructions from the doctor (which I have to say were very scarce) were to walk on as tolerated.  So I’m tolerating.  I was trying to explain to Tait that the worst part is it feels like my calf has a huge Charlie horse… my calf is just tight… like a huge knot.  Then the top part of my knee I have a “pain” which I’m starting to form a bruise and I don’t know what’s going on the inside but it’s kind of Ouchy on the out.  I have slept more in the last few days then I have in the past year.  It’s hard for me to even stay awake when I’m seating in a chair.  Tait just says “your body needs it” I think it’s just my mind just bored.  I want to do something with my hands.  Reading doesn’t appeal right now.  Even though I have a book to read.  And well I just am bored.  I thought about counter cross stitching… but I don’t have that kind of supplies… that would require a trip to the store… and payday isn’t until Wednesday… then there’s the whole getting there and buying and blah blah blah… yeah not so much.  So I’ll just complain I guess. 

I did get up and clean the house on Sunday.  I just couldn’t take it any more just sitting.  So by the evening I was tired.  My leg was sore… but I managed to get to my bed (upstairs) and sleep for the night.  Nothing like your good ol’ bed to make you feel better.  The issue is now getting the two year old BACK in his bed.  We made the huge mistake of letting him sleep in the bed with me for the past 5 days and well now we have a third bed mate.  And let me tell you… I am ready for him to move back to HIS bed.  This weekend we are planning on moving beds around and giving him his own bed.  So maybe he’ll be excited about that and want OUT of our bed…  I don’t know a couple more trips to his bed after he’s fallen asleep and we’ll be good. 

So with all this time I have been sleeping I had this dream the other night.  It was probably one of the best dreams I have EVER had.  I woke up the next morning feeling so good and refreshed.  So I thought I would share it with you. 

Enter Dream Sequence: 

So we were at a lady of our churches house I, Tait, Nikolai, Lehna, and Maya.  So we were there visiting them and the lady we were visiting has been really sad.  And after pulling her teeth to find out what the problem was she finally told us that.  She and her husband have really been struggling with the loss of their three children (this had happened over a course of 15 years, not all at the same time).  And the issue that there was having was they felt that the children that had passed on were not agreeing with some of their life choices they were making.  Now this wasn’t like some creepy thing.  They just had these feelings that they weren’t getting the same support from the spirits of their children.  And they just didn’t know what to do about it.  They had prayed, and felt like they were talking to them about their issues but still just didn’t know what to do.  Well we were taking pictures and it just so happened that their images were captured in the camera like in mirrors and windows.  Again NOT creepy.  Actually normally this kind of thing would have freaked me out and probably turned into a night mare but not this night.  This was actually one of the best things that could have happened.  Because in the images of her children they were smiling and were happy.  This gave the couple GREAT comfort and felt that they finally had their approval that they needed.  Then the husband had a strong feeling or urging to go outside.  So we all followed and we watched from the sky (they lived in a house in the middle of a corn field) this blue smoke and kind of like Blue balls of smoke coming to the earth.  And the urging for all of us to find out what it was.  There were HUNDERDS coming from the sky.  And as we got closer we could see that they were people.  In fact everyone that I saw was people I knew, but didn’t know their name, but the felt so familiar to me.  Well as we walked farther.  There came my father and Teresa.  And we gathered around them and hugged them.  Then I realized that all of these people were spirits and again most of them I didn’t know, but they ALL felt so familiar to me.  Well they said that they needed to speak to all of us.  So we walked with them up to the house.  And we just walked along and we talked to them about how much we missed them and how much we loved them and they said that they loved us and they were so happy to be able to see us.  Well as we started to talk to them they were talking about being across the veil and what life was like for them.  And they kept saying it’s just like being here but it’s very different.  And we asked, “How is it different but just like this.”  Well they said well for one you don’t have to worry about things there.  Like food, shelter, jobs, money, roofs on the house, none of that matters where they are because all of those things just don’t matter where they are and they just aren’t needed.  It sounds so foreign yet familiar to me but strange all at the same time.  So as we talked a little longer they kept telling us.  That what really matters in this life is showing those around you that you love them.  They love being able to still feel our love that we give them even though they are not here with us in body any more.  They said it gives them the greatest pleasure.  And they kept saying.  It doesn’t matter where you end up.  Their example was you could be a millionaire or you could be dirt poor, but how did you live your life.  Where you kind to those around you, were you giving in everything you did?  Did you always do your best were you honest and kind or did you cheat your way to where you were?  Soon the left after we talked and Nikolai came into the room and he said to all of us the purpose of this life is to show you love one another.  That simple.  It just struck me as amazing that he could remember so clearly what the purpose of life was since he was so young and he could remember being on the other side of the veil.  So then one of the spirits came and said that sometimes we put spiritual blocks in our way.  And how we do that is we put things, ideas, people, or even thoughts in our way of growing and loving.  So we have to be really careful and making sure we always have a clear road/path to our spirits that are on the other side of the veil because they can help us and we have to make sure that we remember to live clear of spiritual blocks.

End dream sequence:

So it was al little long but I have to say I woke up knowing the I spoke with the spirits of my parents.  I felt so good and so refreshed.  They made me really think about the things I’m being “worried” about like my career and really put it into perspective.  So that really helped.  So I just really enjoyed my dream.  Hopefully you enjoyed reading it as well J

Update and news

Well the updates on my is I tore my ACL on Sunday due to the trampoline.  The MRI results were that it's completely gone and they will have to replace it with a cadaviers... which the idea... yuck.  I'm schedueld for reconstructive surgery next Wednesday.  I have been put on hold with all my workouts for "several months"  I'm really disappointed.  But what can I do my freaking body just wants to be fat... no I knwo that's not true but I'm just frustrated right now.  I'll update more about this soon enough.

The girls are getting ready for school.  Thanks to my grandmother's school supply closet we only have two bottles of glue, expo markers, and two backpacks to get then they are set!  So Yippee to that.  We are planning on taking them school clothes shopping this weekend.  I'll probably use the wheel chair just to help me getting around.  The girls are all registered and ready to go.  Maya and Deklyn are going to be in the same class, which I think will be really fun for them.  I'm a little worried about behavior but hopefully it won't be too bad :)  Who am I kidding right?  LOL  Lehna is starting to get anxious about school but hopefully she will be okay once she gets there and relaxes. 

This week she was in the Denver Pageant...  she didn't win and was sad.  She looked beautiful but it wasn't in the cards for her.  She said she hates pageants now so hopefully that "spell" is now over.  I explained to her that 10 other little girls didn't win either so there's nothing to be sad over.  She said it's b/c she didn't wear a dress and I told her that that truly didn't have a thing to do with it.  So let's hope that we can close this chapter of her life. 

Nikolai and the girls have been going to a babysitter this week.  It's been great for Nikolai there's another boy that's his age there that he gets to play with and he has really enjoyed playing with them.  The girls have been going but this will be there last week.  I don't think she enjoys the older children as much as the older children.  I think they have been a little much for her.  Nikolai does enjoy going there however so we will continue to use her for his care.  He likes playing with the other little boy and it seems to be a good match. 

It's Denver Days right now in Denver which means that there is a small carnival set up downtown and there will be a parade on Saturday.  Maya will be in the parade b/c of her winning the pageant in June.  They told all the contestants that were in the pageant for Denver that they can be in the parade if they choose.  Sam asked Lehna if she wanted to be in the police car and she is deciding if she wants to or not.  We went up to the carnival last night and it's just a little strip of places to eat and carnival rides.  Helen's family is coming up this weekend to watch the parade and go up town.  It will end Sunday. 

So that's life right now.  I'm hobbling along and ready for my leg to be healed.  I have some time before that happens but that's life in the fast lane I guess.

10 year Anniversary

Well it's a milestone for Tait and I tomorrow.  We are celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary.  We have had some great times and some bad times.  I thought I would do a little collage of us.  Just to share to help celebrate our life together as a married couple

This is our engagement pictures.  I think my hair is the same now as it was 10 years ago! 

This is our wedding day. I think we are way Skinner now! 

Our first family picture. We don't have any of these two animals and more

and we no longer live in this house. But this is how we started out as our family.

                                      This is us 10 years later.  Okay so my hair is slightly different. 

This is our family Now.  Three Beautiful Children.  And I wouldn't have it any other way :)

10 years Since you left

It has been 10 years since my dad was called home.  I have to tell you it's been a crazy fast 10 years.  I miss him all the time.  It's funny now that our children are school age children all I want to do is see how they are doing compared to other kids and it's like I don't have that option any more.  Even though I know that I have other teachers in the family.   I truly wish that my dad could have held his grand kids in his arms here on earth, but I KNOW that he did it before he came to the earth.  I just wish I could have seen the joy in his eyes when I got married, or gave birth to the kids, or even just playing a game together as a family.  I was looking through old pictures yesterday and I was trying to find some for this update and it was interesting to me how many pictures we have him just goofing off like sticking out his tongue or waving his hands crazy.  I guess that's how I remember him too in his mind.  It's sad to think that he has such a short life and I know that he would have given anything to have it longer, but that wasn't in his plan.  I know that he is always here with us and I feel his presence a lot.  The girls ask questions a lot about him and I try to tell him all of the things that he used to do and say.  Lehna gets really sad and says that she wishes she could have met him.  I told that she did before we came to the earth.  I just want to keep his memory alive and share with you today a couple of pictures that I liked.  

The first picture is I call it, "dad's pose"  I can remember him a lot sitting over a table working on something... puzzles, grading papers, sewing clothes, or even reading the newspaper... so this really brings back memories of him

The second picture is of course his classic school picture.  The lucky this is since he was a teacher I have several pictures of him from every year.  I don't think a lot of people have that of their parents. 

And the third and final is his obituary.  It's hard to sum up a guy like my dad.  He was a great father.  He loved being with us and sharing time with us.  I should have taken advantage of the time we had, if I would have known it was going to be so short...  I really miss him a lot and this summary of his life doesn't do him justice.  Trust me he was a good person. 

Well it's time to end this little segment of remembering the life of my father.  I will always love him and I will continue to miss him. 

Update Time

 

So I know it’s been a couple of days but I really wanted to update before the weekend I have forgotten all of the things through the week.

 

So what’s been going on.  Well we had the parade last Saturday and Miss Maya was in the parade for Little Miss she was super cute and I think she REALLY enjoyed her time being in the parade.  I had Joyce do her hair and it looked SOOOO cute.  She was really done being in the parade by the time it ended but it was fun for her.  She only has two more parades left and then she’s done until next summer J

 

This past week Nikolai has been really cute in him learning how to say Please and speaking more.  He has learned quite a number of words and has been using them more and more frequently.  We still have periods of time where I can’t understand what he’s saying but compared to where he was before it’s truly been good.  He did say “I love you mama”  of course it was prompted but I was excited that he started saying it.

 

Lehna meet some more friends up the hill.  When we first decided to move back to Indiana Lehna was so worried that there wouldn’t be any kids her age to play with.  Well Lehna meet two little girls that are RIGHT up the hill from us (you don’t even have to walk across the street) that are 10 and 7 so they are the perfect ages for Lehna and Maya to play with.  So I’m really excited about that.

 

This weekend we have playtime at the hotel.  The kids are going to go spend the night at the hotel after swimming of course and then tomorrow we have the FOP golf tournament.  It’s a tournament was play in every year.  This year it feels a little strange just because of things that are going on in the background but I’m hoping it’s still fun.

 

Anywho… that’s what’s going on right now.

Empowering thoughts.

So I came across a few quotes that I really liked so I thought that I would share them.  They are all by Steve Maraboli, from the book “Life, the Truth, and Being Free”.  I think I might need to read this book I like some of the thoughts that Steve has to say.

 

“Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don't.”

What I like about this is it is impowering.

“Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them.”

Seriously isn’t this the truth.  I mean problems will happen that’s part of life but isn’t this the truth!

 

“Forget yesterday - it has already forgotten you. Don't sweat tomorrow - you haven't even met. Instead, open your eyes and your heart to a truly precious gift - today.”

This is truth I need to worry more about the present and stop worrying about what I did yesterday.  What a few empowering thoughts.

 

Now if only I could actively use these. 

 

Any who that’s my thoughts for today… and they aren’t even mine LOL

Investigation is my Middle Name

The search for a the perfect daycare

 

So we are searching for a daycare for Nikolai when summer ends.  We have been very blessed this summer by having Don watch the kids while we are at work.  So we are looking for other options for when summer does end, as Don will be returning to school.  I joined Care.Com and was able to put a job posting online and I have had people respond to it.  We have had one interview from it so far.  I really liked her and I think she would be a good match for Nikolai, but we have two more interviews next week to see if all of the options.   We also talked to a couple of daycare facilities that we are touring next week to investigate this option as well.  I would like Nikolai to be in a facility b/c I think he would REALLY LIKE it and he would enjoy the socialization.  I think it would also help his speech development as well.  So the search will continue until we find the best fit.  The problem will be space as both locations we spoke with, although they are in our cost range, they do not have space, so they put us on the waiting list.  But both of them want us to tour.  So I don’t know if that’s just what they tell parents so they can interview them first or if they truly don’t have space.  I guess we shall see. 

 

The search for the perfect school

 

I’m also investigating some other options as far as graduate school for myself.  I sent a request to Purdue to see what kind of requirements they would need and to start taking the tests for grad school.  I really would like to grow my education b/c I think it would only open more opportunities for myself and my career.  I’m looking in this area as well for schools and finding out what kind of schools and programs that they offer.  Just looking for additional education and opening so more options for myself.  My job right now is pretty easy and don’t get me wrong I definitely need that, but I want to expand my horizons and I think that this will be a great route to do that. 

 

The search for the perfect balance

 

So I started another blog, which is my weight loss blog.  I don’t know if you can see it or not… doesn’t really matter.  I have jumped on the workout train and let me tell you… yikes am I OUT OF SHAPE.  Tait and I work out with a personal trainer 1 day a week and she gives us HELL and then we follow that routine the rest of the week.  We are working out 5-6 days a week and my body HURTS.  It usually takes me about 2 - 3 days to recover, which is totally sucky!  I am also trying to eat better.   I am entering my food in Lose It again which is so crappy.  I hate watching what I eat…  but I NEED IT SOOOO BADLY.  I mean it does me no good to work out like a slave and then eat like a horse… I mean the two have to have balance.  So I’m searching for balance. 

 

The search for the bottom of the boxes

 

So we are allllll moved in.  Tait is now here all the time.  THANK GOOOOOODNESS!  So we are still shifting through boxes and putting stuff away.  Tait moved some of the boxes to the attic and told me that if I wanted them they were close.  My issue that I’m having is the lack of having places to put things.  I am really used to having closets and this house seriously lacks closets so most of the stuff is just staying in a box.  But even like spare winter blankets or even spare sheets… no closets.  There isn’t even a lien closet for the bathroom so towels, soap, even shampoo I have made a bookshelf a “closet” and have been putting stuff on that.  It’s kind of annoying b/c I like hiding that kind of thing.  Oh well though what are you going to do.   We also got all of our appliances up and running so we can wash our clothes and cook our food now.  So goodnews on the home front. 

Two weeks in review

So where to begin.  I’ll start with the oldest information first.  So two weeks ago I traveled north to Wisconsin to see the performance Wicked.  It was a good weekend.  We had a GREAT time, the kids stayed with Tim and Helen with a last minute change, but they had a great time.  The show was amazing.  I didn’t know what the story was about at all.  I know Jackie and I had talked a long time ago what the story was about, but I truly didn’t remember any of.  The music was really good as well.  Our seats were AMAZING.  We were two rows from the front!  We could see them sweat and spit!  The spit a LOT.  But the music was wonderful.  I liked it so much I downloaded the music to my kindle later that night.  I’m glad that we were able to see it.  It will be in Indianapolis in November and we would like to take the girls to it.  I think they would REALLY enjoy it. 

 

 Tait and I were also able to get a nice hotel room and had dinner out in Milwaukee.  It was a great weekend.  We really enjoyed having our date weekend and the best part was it was only one week away from when he was coming home for good. 

 

He came back on Friday and the kids were excited.  It was amazing and it is wonderful having him full time.  He has this week of “vacation” before he starts with Indiana DCS again.  He’s so excited about being an investigator again.  We both really enjoy being back in Indiana.  It really is good being so close to family.  It still feels like we are visiting but it’s good.  It adjustment time for us as well. 

 

So that’s two weekends ago…

 

Now for the big news from THIS WEEKEND! 

 

Maya won the Little Miss Miami County pageant.  We were so excited for her.  Her rein will be from Now – until the next fair 2014.  She will be in three parades this summer and then will be able to judge and crown her replacement come next summer.  We were very shocked but Maya was just herself and really was cute.  (not that I’m biased) 

 

The girls were asked 4 different questions below are the questions and answers she provided.  (the first 3 questions we knew what they were going to be the 4^th was a wild card question from her information sheet)

 

1.       What was your favorite thing to do at the fair? 

Maya’s Answer – Eat Cotton Candy

2.       Where would you like to go on vacation and why?

Maya’s answer – To my cousin’s house Zach and Evan, b/c they are my favorite cousins

3.       What is your favorite animal and why?

Maya’s Answer – an Elephant (which she was carrying) and why, because if you had one in your home they could give you a shower every day (she then proceeded to lift it above her head upside down) 

4.       What do you like about your favorite TV Show Peppa Pig?

Maya – They fall down when they laugh

 

We can that Lehna coached her a little but she did these things on her own.  At practice she said totally different things, so we didn’t know why was going to come out of her mouth.  She just was really natural and she smiled really well and blew the judges a kiss.  It was really good.  She was shocked and was happy that she won.  She LOVES her crown and sash.  It should be interesting watching her on the parade routes.  I know she will really like being on the floats and waving.  She keeps asking if the people are going to throw candy at her and we keep trying to explain that SHE will be THOWING candy not the other way around. 
 

We have had some green with envy from Lehna, which is totally to be expected.  She cried a little bit when Maya was wearing her crown.  But Lehna wants to do the Denver Pageant and we told her she could.  I don’t know if she’ll win or not but I hope regardless of what happens she doesn’t turn into a sore loser.  She told Maya that she couldn’t do the Denver pageant and we told her that she already had a crown she doesn’t need to enter that pageant.  So hopefully that will settle her down. So we’ll see what happens. 

 

I have more pictures but they are not off my camera yet.  L  I know I know I suck big time.

A new beginning

It’s update time.

 

Well yet another chapter of our life is beginning.  As I put on here before we were moving to Indiana.  We have moved into our new home in Indiana.  It’s a nice house, we still have an overwhelming smell of dog.  But I think slowly it’s starting to fade.  It’s been a challenge but we are still a working progress.  Most of our of boxes have been put away, we just have a few random ones left, that I’m mainly doing one the weekend.  We only have a handful left and they are boxes that are “hard to put away” mainly b/c there isn’t a whole lot of options of where to put things.  We were used to having more clothes and that kind of thing so now we are just having to move things around a bit.  Still settling.  We have had a couple of dramas with appliances but we are on the upside.  We didn’t have an oven and then my wonderful aunt said we could have her old one.  Which we took and brought to the house only to realize that the plug that this house has and the plug that we had on the appliance was different.  So Tim, thank goodness he’s available to us!  He was able to switch the plugs out.  So it has a SELF CLEANING SETTING.  Love that!  And it’s cleaned and up and RUNNING!  Then we had a gas dryer which we were able to run the gas hook up BUT the dryer didn’t work… L  So we had to get another dryer.  So when we got the new dryer this past weekend.  Well we got it home… and wouldn’t you know it the heating core is broken L  So my Tim again came and helped us… so they had to order a part but HOPEFULLY we will be up and running today with a dryer.  So like I said minor drama but it will be exciting when I can get everything up and running.

 

I started my new job.  It’s really kind of a fun job.  It’s nothing too exciting to be honest with you, but it’s a fun place to work.  Everyone I work with is similar in age with me so that’s kind of nice.  I am up front so I have the accounting people that sit behind us and they are fun group.  So that’s kind of what’s going on job wise.

 

Kid wise.  The kids are adjusting to their new spaces and being around family.  Lehna has had more tough days she really misses the neighbor Nadyne, but she’s doing okay.  Maya is LOVING her time with Deklyn.  She really enjoys her new space.  The girls room is VERY large and they have managed to mess it up about every day.  Since we still aren’t established yet in our house (still adjusting I mean) the house is messy pretty much every day.  I need to find a better place for toys.  Right now they are in tubs and some are in their rooms, their front room, and the den which is kind of annoying b/c the kids are CONTSTANTLY making messes.  So I need to really work on that with them. 

 

Tait is still in Kenosha.  It makes me super sad that it still isn’t here.  I’m hoping that he just goes back tomorrow and tells them that this week is his last night so he can come back with me after this weekend.  This weekend we are going north to Wisconsin because we have tickets to see WICKED I’m super super super excited about it!  Mom and Terry are taking the kiddos and we have a hotel in Milwaukee so it should be an exciting trip.  It would make it even better if Tait just said “let’s get out of here” and he comes with me.  He only has a week left, but I really don’t want him to stay another week L 

 

Let’s see what else… I think that’s it for now.

BLAAAAAAAH A SEA OF BOXES!

Okay so I KNOW that I just updated yesterday but I thought, ‘heck why not, right?’ I have some time to kill just due to what I am doing on a normal bases at work right now. I have been training the person who will be taking over my spot and she is pretty much trained. She still has lots of questions but I basically just sit in the room and she does the job. So it’s been a pretty boring week to say the least.




So I wanted to update and let everyone know that we will be packed and ready to go tomorrow. We are very excited about moving. I of course am anxious over moving because we have a deadline in getting out of here just because our helpers are going to be waiting for us on the other side by a deadline. So as long as we don’t hit traffic or anything else we will be fine. I am hoping that we have people that want to help us move out tomorrow because that will help tremendously especially because we have that deadline. The idea of moving almost 9 months ago made me sick, but now I’m kind of excited. I can safely say that I’m tired of packing. I’m tired of trying to pack 8 new boxes at night and that kind of thing, but at least this time I have had Tait helping me. Last time it was all me and that was sooooo hard. We have almost all of our lives packed in boxes. The worst part has been the garage only b/c a lot of the stuff packed in the garage has been packed from before so we went through those boxes just to get rid of some stuff. We have had a lot of stuff we got rid of. It was kind of exhilarating getting rid of so much stuff. I got rid of baby stuff a lot of baby toys and equipment. Since I am done having children. I still have the crib left, but Nikolai is still currently using that, but we are talking BIG BOY BED. I don’t think I’m going to transition him into a toddler bed only because I just don’t think he’ll need it. I think just moving him to a regular bed will be the best thing for him.



I think it will be interesting when we are able to move them into the new house. I am hoping we don’t have any “sleeping” problems with being a new space but I guess we will find out. I just will have to take patience, or at least try to remember to have patience. That will be the tough part for me, just remembering how to have patience.



We have a lot of new changes coming are way so adjusting to new work schedules, adjusting to time schedules (they are an hour difference), adjusting to be around family/but not in the same house, new schools, new friends, and etc. so there are so many changes, it’s a good thing our children adjust well to change or we would be in trouble. I’m fully expecting some resistance and some minor issues with behavior as we go into this new situation. I’m most worried about how they will respond when Tait isn’t here during the week. I’m hoping that they are SO busy with the grandparents and cousins that they don’t really notice, but I know that Nikolai will notice. So it should be an exciting month to say the least. I know that we will be overly excited when Tait is home with us instead of just on the weekends.



Soooooo that’s the latest and greatest!

Moving on UP

Well we are getting ready to close a chapter of our lives. We are digging up our roots in Wisconsin and replanting them back in Indiana. We are actually moving close to where we grew up as children. I remember when I was in high school telling myself “I will never return here” and now I’m so excited about returning. Tait and I always talked about returning, I knew when we were dating and his dream of being a high school teacher, specifically history and a golf coach for Peru I knew then that we would be returning, which is fine because I want to return myself.


So we are almost done packing, the truck is reserved, we have calls out to the wards in both locations so hopefully we will have people willing to help us. I’m just anxious about everything. I want to be there and setting up our house and up packing. I wish I had a couple of days to do that but it’s okay. I was telling Tait it will give me something to do when I get home from work. You know like taking care of the three children won’t be enough. But I’m excited still.

The girls are excited that school is coming to an end. Every day they bring more and more stuff home. I feel like my trash can is just full of school papers. I just have to do it when they don’t look, b/c if were up to them they would keep every paper they colored on! So as they bring home their stuff it goes into a box (the stuff that I’m keeping any way). I have packed most of their clothes and I wash and dry their stuff I put it in a box.

Lehna initially didn’t want to move to Indiana. She wanted to stay and live in Wisconsin. She was nervous about moving to a different school and starting to make new friends. Once we explained that she would be going to a school where her cousins when then the move didn’t sound so scary. Her only request was that she could finish the school year. We told her she would be finishing this week, so she won’t finish one day as we are moving one day short of the school year. After that she was TOTALLY fine with the move.

Maya can’t WAIT to move. She has been asking for weeks about when are we moving and when are we going, etc. She refers to the house in Denver as her “home” and keeps asking when we are going there. I keep explaining to her, her “home” is where we all our and regardless of the state we are always home. She doesn’t care. This goes right over her head and she continues to ask when she will be going home. So it will be okay.

Nikolai is really happy about moving as well. He doesn’t quite understand what all is going on, but he’s excited about being able to see Tim every day. I have been packing their toys so we only have one bucket of toys left for them to play with and yesterday he made a mess all over his floor with the toys. So I was excited that he was playing with them because the last couple of days, since we live in a sea of boxes he didn’t have any interest in playing with any of the toys. Now boxes he has been LOVING. Yesterday the girls drew a house on the box and he was going in and out of the box pretending it was a house. He also LOVES his riding toys. He has a TON of them let me tell you and in the new house we have carpet so it should be interesting in him playing with his riding toys. He’ll get really strong legs pushing himself around that’s for certain!



So it’s official however Tait did get the CPS job in Howard County so it will be official that he will be employed when we move to Indiana. I will be starting my job in Wabash on June 10th, which I’m excited about that. It should be a good match for me as well. So it should be exciting times at least a lot of changes. Lord knows I do enjoy as many changes as I can make for myself!

Tape and Boxes!

So what can you do with a box and tape, what can you do with a box and tape, what can you do with a box and tape everyday is magic. So I may not be a song writer but that is what we are living in. A sea of boxes. I am kind of excited about next week b/c we will get to pack the stuff we are actually using. That will be fun to get all of that ready to go. So next week might be a little crazy but it will be good at the same time. It will be fun to be back in Indiana again and at the same time I am sad that I will be leaving here. As it comes closer and closer the wheels of regret and second doubts come to full circle. We still have some things we are anxiousness about some things I know that isn’t helping. I just we had finalizations on everything; that would make things a little easier. But we are taking a leap in faith that everything will work out and the way it’s supposed to.


So we are venturing down this weekend to the house. We are going to paint a few rooms and clean cabinets and toilets… you know really exciting stuff like that. I’m excited about it b/c then when we move next week those things will be completed, well almost. Tait still won’t be with us until the end of June. Which I have to say I am totally not looking forward to being separated again. That was REALLY difficult last time when we moved to Wisconsin but unfortunately with his job not starting until July he really wants to work the entire month of June, you know for the income flow. So it should be good but it will be difficult. With the new rules of the county he won’t get to take any of his days, as “pay out days” so he will be taking off the 5 days he has left during the 4 weeks he will remain behind so he will have basically 3 days weekends so we will only be separated 3 days before he comes back or leaves. So it will be fine. I feel badly for him b/c he won’t have a lot to do while he’s in Kenosha, but he’ll be able to clean and ready for our “final inspection.” At least I won’t have to be doing that  Yeah for me!!

So I’m going to really try hard to get into shape when we move. My friend Abby weighed about the same as I did and she lost all of her weight; she when from a size 24 to a size 5 in a year. She is now a physical trainer and I have asked her to train me! I told her that I want to get where she is. So we have an appointment set up the first week we are back. She is going to help guide me and mold me. She is SO excited and I have to say SOOOOO AM I! I’m going to be working in Wabash and that’s where she works is in Wabash so I will be able to go there either before work, during work, or after work for training sessions and I couldn’t be happier about it. It’s going to be a lot of work and I’m okay with that, but I have to change my life style. I know I have tried this before but having someone that has done this before and knows the challenges I will be facing will be good. So I thought about blogging about it. I know it will be harder to do because I won’t have the time in front of the computer that I will before, but I’m hoping that I will keep it up, even if it’s one a week or twice a week I can keep a record of what’s going on and maybe it will keep me motivated. I thought even about joining a group that is already established… maybe that would help too. It will be hard trying to work, take care of the kids, and work out especially with Tait not being with us… but I have to try. I’m hoping that I can make the commitment and get where I want to be. I hope I can “drink some of the Kool-Aid” if you know what I mean. So we’ll see.

I think that’s all of the update that I have for now. We are just busy getting ready for another life change. I’m excited it will be a good move for us and it will be so wonderful being back home and having some access to things we to wanted have before. Kind of our “dream list” so it will be good.

Cat is OUT of the BAG

So the bag is no empty. We are INDIANA bound! Yes that’s right we are returning home. Man it’s weird to type that. We have lived in WI for the past four years. Crazy crazy times. So much has happened since we left the state of Indiana. We added a family member, met some GREAT people, learned a lot of things, was able to be humbled in ways that I never thought possible. It has been an adventure but I’m so ready to be home. It’s so strange to think that we are going back home… yep home where we grew up. Now we are going to return… Bitter sweet I would say. I will LOVE the fact we are by family again. THAT I can’t wait for. We will be able to participate in family activities. And the best part is our cost of living won’t kill us anymore… SIGN ME UP FOR THAT! We are packing packing packing packing packing packing and packing. We have gotten stuff done, but there is SO much to do. We cleaned the garage this weekend. It’s ALL SET. The basement is packed. The upstairs closets are pretty much packed. The rooms upstairs are not completed yet… they will be but not yet, after all we still have 2 more weeks in our house, so we can’t have everything. We have organized everything, we started cleaning cabinets and rooms as we empty them, but it’s again hard when you still live there. But we are making progress.

Updates on Jobs.

I start my new job on June 10th at a company in Wabash. It’s a headquarters. I’m very excited about it. I will be able to work my way up and proof myself and it’s definitely an opportunity for me! It’s going to be great. Tait. Well his update is a bit muddier. He hasn’t been officially hired yet by the county he interviewed for. They have told him multiple times that they want him and please don’t take another job, but the hitch is the job they want him for there is a lady in the spot. She is leaving the spot b/c she’s her husband took another job south and so she is trying to transfer to another county. So she’s waiting her hire date before she is turning in her end date. So that means they can’t hire Tait “officially” until they get that date. So we are kind of in Limbo but we are taking faith that by the end of June he will be hired and in the July training class. That is our hope  It would be even better if he was hired by June 17th, that would be my birthday wish. So we’ll see what happened. Time will only tell and as you all know I’m LOVE to be patient.

I am apprehensive about the move. There are some things that I’m really going to missing from Kenosha. I have made some great friends and I’ll be sad to lose those friends. It will be strange going back to Indiana and trying to “relearn” how to make friends once again, in an area that I grew up in. It’ll be strange.

Kids update!

Okay so the kids are more than excited about the move. Lehna has said she is worried about leaving this house that we are in. she said that she doesn’t want to leave our house. I told her that the house doesn’t come with us.  I know that once we get there she’ll adjust. She just wanted to be able to finish the school year and she’ll be able to do that. Oh and Lehna was baptised.  She was baptised in four days!  She decided she wanted to be baptised before we moved.  I totally understand the reasoning and was happy to have her get what she wanted. 

Maya is ready to go. She wants to be gone and moved and there. Nikolai he doesn’t really care. I know we will have some adjustments to new bedrooms and such so that will be some adjustment.

I will be happy when we get in the house and really make it ours. I know that we will need to do some cleaning and getting some things taken care of and once that’s taken care of that will be good. I’m excited. New adventure here we come!

Why is that the weekends go so fast?

I know I say this all the time but could the weekends just slow down just a LITTLE bit! I mean by the time I actually get to sit down it’s like the day is over!


Part of it was we went traveling again this weekend and that just sucks all the time down the drain. We have been trying to decide what our future will hold for the Wagner family and well we still don’t have anything nailed down yet. So we are still in the planning stages and well the LIMBO Stage to be honest with you. Hopefully more to come soon.

We did leave earlier this time to come back only b/c I KNEW my house was a disaster and I wanted to get it in some sort of order before the week started. I mean the week it only gets messier and messier so I wanted to get ahead of it. Tonight I won’t have any kind of time to do anything because Tait has training and I have speech therapy. I’m half tempted just not to show up. I truly am not looking forward to 3 hours of them blabbing at me about how music encourages communication. But it’s for the best I guess and I will go and hopefully not be too bored out of my head. Hey maybe I’ll learn something! That could happen. It might… don’t laugh!

Let me see what else. Oh Mother’s Day was this weekend. I wasn’t able to talk to my mom but I did leave her a message on her cell phone. I know she had some things going on with her mother in law so that might be why she was unavailable. I am going to call her on her birthday however  which is in 2 days. I did get some cute things from my kiddos. Lehna made me a book mark; both girls made me flowers from tissue paper, and cards.

We did get to see my nephew Landon play base ball this weekend. He had a game so we were able to go down and watch them play. There were more balls outside of the ball field then there were on the inside, every few minutes you heard “heads up” b/c another ball was hit outside the fence. There are two fields right next to each other. It was fun. The girls were able to play at the park at the same time so it was nice. But when we were at the ball field I saw a dog that looked JUST LIKE CHELEASE! She was huge just like Chelease used to be. She was just a bit more brown then Chelease was but it was amazing, she even had the rubbed off fur on her legs where she laid down. I sent a picture of her to Marcus and Marcus agreed it was crazy strange!

So this week we have another fun filled week of cleaning and sorting. I’m still not done with my purging. There is so much to do its CRAZY! I have decided that I’m not going to take anymore to the church donation any more however, I was way too embarrassed by the amount of stuff we were giving and didn’t want them to be like “this is all from the Wagner’s” so I’m going to donate to goodwill. I have given the church almost three van load… that’s enough.

So that’s all I got for now.

Update!!!

Don’t you just hate it when time gets away from you? I had been doing SOOOO well with my little updates and etc than… you know I stopped. Sometimes you know…




Anywho. Soooooo life. Well I can’t go into much detail but things are going to be changing for our little family. We have stuff going on behind the scenes that I can’t get into too much but change is near and coming upon us FAST! So stay tuned for later updates. I feel like a news caster that is giving you a “teaser” for more on this tune back in at 10. No I’m hoping that I will be able to release more information soon, but can’t… not yet.



So let’s going on with things I CAN talk about. Well I started my job at the Sheriff’s Department. It’s fine. I wouldn’t describe it as WONDERFUL, quite honestly it’s BORNING. I have to go and look for work all the time and I hate that. I was assured that I wouldn’t have to do that, but apparently I do or they don’t realize that they truly don’t need a full time person in this position. But whatever I am not the chief I’m just a soldier. It’s kind of strange getting used to everyone around you carrying a gun, and they are very proud of the fact that they are carrying a gun. I still sense the arrogance when they walk around me, but that will take awhile for that to fade. It’s kind of a bizarre thing to be honest with you. Law enforcement what a crazy field. I work at the detention center so it’s like Ladoga Academy. You can’t go anywhere without control having to pop doors on you and you are constantly on camera. You just feel like you are being watched at all times. Which you are and it’s for your own safety so its fine. We have pretty mild inmates/detainees here so it’s fine. I am supposed to be teaching other departments, which I learned the front desk position. That was a BUSY position. I’m sure she does it VERY quickly but I felt SO slow at it. So I wrote lots and lots of notes on it, so when I go back in the role in however long I will have some idea of what the heck I’m doing. As long as I can continue to have time to be able to compile my notes after doing the job. I should be fine. I have to tell you though my chair is so uncomfortable. It’s seriously the worst chair ever. I’m going to have to do something about that. Anywho… enough about work blah!



The kids and etc. The kids are great. They are really in slow down mode since school is coming to an end. Lehna works everyday to get more AR points for her swimming party. She only needs 1 more point which equals two books and you would have thought that this is something she will die over if she doesn’t get. Life or death let me tell you. She normally reads 2 – 3 books per week so she is of course being very dramatic.



Maya well she is ready for school to be over. She doesn’t like school or her teacher and really doesn’t want to have to get out of bed every morning. And usually I am getting her ready and she goes back to sleep in the bed.



Nikolai is almost done with the speech therapy program we have had him in. He is still struggling with speaking but he does speak more. He is now working on developing the right sounds with the right words. So sometimes we can’t understand what he’s saying and we have to have him repeat what he is wanting. Tait has gone to the full classes and he said that they are so boring. LOL We only have one more class left and I get to attend it  After this last class they will then set up a time to reevaluate him. We can say that he has improved he now has the desire to want to talk; he just now has to figure out the words and sounds. So we can continue to do more individual therapy sessions, group speech therapy, or classes where it’s more individualized. The issue will be timing of course b/c a lot of the parents involved with this class actually don’t work so having their child scheduled from 10-12 okay b/c they don’t work anyway. For the other working parents it more difficult. The therapist asked if our daycare provider would be willing to bring Nikolai in for the classes or if she would be willing to have her come to her home to work with him. HUMMMMM I don’t like either of those options. Can’t you just arrange for an evening class from 5:30- 6:30 once a week or something and put all the WORKING parents in that… so who knows. Tait wants to be done with the entire thing. He doesn’t want to move forward with any more classes, he feels that they haven’t helped at all. Which I have to agree, I don’t think they have been that helpful. They have been a LITTLE but I think I could have just read it in a book for as much information we have ‘gained’ in this process. So we’ll see. With stuff a happening we will figure out a path.



So we took family pictures they are all over my facebook page. I like getting their pictures taken once a year and I’m so glad that we have done this because I love having the update of them. It’s amazing to see how much our children have grown from year to year. We get their school pictures but with Nikolai not being in school yet he would be “left out”. It love updating my pictures and enjoying the new ones. I know it’s such a silly thing but I truly enjoy having them updated.

 Family ~ 2013

 My Three Kiddos

 Lehna Marie

 Maya Elizabeth

Nikolai Anthony

Purging purging purging. So one thing that I AM doing is cleaning. We are purging a BUNCH of stuff. We have so much crap in our house that we have to reduce and reduce some more. It’s amazing just how much stuff you “collect”. I have taken FOUR van loads to goodwill and still have MORE. How is that even possible, but it is trust me and we are getting rid of stuff. We still have quite a bit more to go through but we have made a HUGE dent in what we are doing. Our church is doing a fund raiser for the Young women and they need stuff to sell for the yard sell so we are donating donating donating!!! I’m hoping we will get more to them before next week as the sale is on the 18th! We are going south this weekend so we will lose this weekend, but I think I can get in gear and get more to them. We are going to pack more of Helen and Tim’s stuff in the van on this trip to give it to them. I told them that whatever they want they better come and get b/c if they don’t take it, its going! So supposedly they are coming to get some, but we will bring what we can this weekend down to them. I have also been putting “free” stuff on our yard for people to take… that’s been fun too. Yesterday we put out a power wheels, that needs a new battery and it’s HUGE so we gave that away. Maya of course cried. But we told her that we needed to get rid of stuff and I promised her I would get another charger for her power wheels that she has right now. So she was okay with it.



Well that’s life as we know it for now. I know it’s not super exciting but sometimes life is just boring.