Happy Birthday Daddy!

When I informed Joshua that is was both Uncle Dave and Daddy's birthdays this week he immediately decided that we needed to make them each a cake. I tried to explain to him that a card would have to suffice for Uncle Dave as cake doesn't travel well via the mail. Joshua was okay with that once I told him that Uncle Dave has a good friend who makes cakes and he would probably make one. Joshua did decide that daddy needed a cake complete with monster trucks (I think Joshua would like a monster truck cake for his birthday, but since it's not his birthday he figured someone should have a monster truck cake). So today Joshua decided just how to decorate Cory's birthday cake and instructed me where to put the frosting, then he strategically arranged the rocks and the monster trucks (and a Mustang because he and daddy like Mustangs). He was very excited to show daddy his masterpiece when daddy got home from work tonight! Happy Birthday Daddy!

A view of the new house I forgot to share earlier. . .

This is the view out of our living room window into the backyard. And yes, that is a train you are seeing at the back of our property! This was the one thing we were unsure of as we chose our lot. However, all of the neighbors we talked with assured us that there was nothing to worry about since it's not a highly used track. Since we've moved in, we have seen several trains, but there is no schedule that we can tell of. Some days there may be no trains and other days there may be two in a day (I even think there were 3 one day, but I slept through the early morning one coming through). It really isn't a nuisance either. We may hear a low rumbling sound, but it's not very loud. Several times I've actually had to see the train before knowing it was going through - unless you hear the whistle first. However, this past Saturday morning at 6:15 am a train stops right in back of our house and sits there for about 20 minutes - we thought we could see the engineer get out and look around the train (what for, we have no idea)! The engine and brake noises were driving us a bit nutty after a while. Not sure what that was all about, but we hope if the train is going to stop it's not during the hours we are trying to sleep. Low and behold today at lunch time Joshua and I watched a train begin to creep by and then it came to a halt once again behind our house! Joshua was thrilled as he got to take a good long look at all the cars the engine was pulling. I'm sure the train will remain a source of entertainment for years to come for Joshua and someday his little brother!

Picture tour of the new house. . .

Below are some pictures of our new house. Obviously we have a lot of decorating to do, but at least we are moved in and settling in!

Kitchen (we need to install a full slate back splash with black iridescent glass accents yet)

Another view of the kitchen (bar stools are on order but have not arrived).

Living Room (missing our ottoman that is on order)

Another view of the living room.

Kid's bathroom vanity

Kid's Bathroom

Master Bedroom

Joshua's Room

Baby's crib

Baby's Room

Half Bathroom

Custom Built Locker

Custom built boot bench

Whew!

So after much work, energy and time we are mostly moved into our new house! Thanks to the help of our families we were able to move mostly Friday and Saturday with a few other trips here and there. It's a joy to be able to move to a new house, but we couldn't have picked a colder weekend to do it with temps below zero most of the time! We are beginning to settle in and are starting to feel like this is home. We still have a lot of boxes to deal with and things to retrieve from the rental house, but we are loving life in our new house! Once our internet connection is a bit better and doesn't cut out on me I'll post some pictures. Again a huge thanks to Dad and Mom Hager, Shawn and Erin, Phil and my dad for all of your help, we couldn't have done it without you!

Guess what time it is. . . again!

Can you tell what we are doing, once again?!?! I'm taking a quick break from packing up the kitchen, which is just one of a handful of rooms that need to be packed up and moved. Thankfully about half of our stuff from the first move is still packed up in the basement so there is a little less packing to do this time around. Only a few days left to pack before the lifting, hauling and moving begins.

Today there was a final inspection of our new house and the occupancy permit was given! We also did a final walk-through of our new house with the project manager so the painter and others know what to do for touch-ups. Hopefully all will be completed on Friday because the major moving begins Saturday morning. We do hope to get some things boxes over there in the next few days and unpacked in areas that don't need touching up. Let the fun begin (okay so it's not going to be fun, we know)!

Running off some energy!

I know that I should be packing right now, but when Missy invited Joshua and I to join them (Missy, Eli, Lexi, Tori and Matea) at PlayWorld on Friday I just couldn't say no. I haven't taken Joshua to PlayWorld for almost 2 years. Mostly because he was scared to go in any kind of a play structure without someone else with him. As a parent it's also not so fun to be there without someone you know to talk to as children are highly entertained but not adults.
We arrived late morning yesterday and were there until the late afternoon. Joshua had a blast running, climbing, and jumping around with Eli, Lexi and Tori while Missy and I had lots of time to just sit, relax and talk with little interruption(oh and entertain Matea when the scenery wasn't entertaining her). It was so nice to see Joshua climb around without any fear and to know he had friends to play with. He was so tired by the time we got home I thought he would fall asleep, but he didn't. However, he did sleep really well last night and slept in until 10am this morning! Thanks for the invite Missy, we'll have to do it again sometime!

Missy and Matea lock up Princess Lexi and Prince Joshua in the castle.


Lexi, Eli, Joshua and Tori in one of the many play structures.

Eli takes his turn down the inflatable slide.

Joshua slides down while Lexi, Tori and Eli wait for their turns at the top.

The Inevitable!

I knew the day was coming, but to be honest I was dreading it . . . the day when naps were done. Over Christmas break Joshua was skipping a few naps here and there and seemed to be doing really well with it. Then the days he would take naps he would play for an hour before he fell asleep which resulted in a late nap which then had the domino effect and he would be restless and playing for an hour at bedtime before he would go to sleep - this meant some late nights. So, I figured it was time to drop the naps as they seemed to be doing more harm than good. However, for my sanity and Joshua's sanity we have now instituted quiet time for an hour each afternoon - we love each other, but a little time away from one another is a good thing. He gets to look at books and/or play quietly with a toy on his bed for this hour. It's taken a bit of adjusting, but he is definitely into the swing of how this is going to work. The best part is we have more flexibility in our schedule each day without a nap and he is now going to bed earlier and falling right asleep. Guess it wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be.

Not as good as it could have been.. .

Old Navy usually has a half off clearance price sale every January. I try to hit this sale every year because with Joshua being predictable in his growth and sizes I can easily stock up for the next winter season. However, Old Navy isn't conducting this sale this year. HUGE bummer! When I called the salesperson assured me that the clearance prices were still really good and had been adjusted down even more that day. So, of course I had to make a trip to the mall and see what bargains I could hunt down. The prices weren't nearly as good as last year which caused me to put back a few items in my basket, but they were still fairly good considering what I would have paid for them if they were full price. It's also a tad bit easier to spend a bit more when I now know if will be worn by the next child. I got a couple sweaters and a number of long sleeve shirts, but only one pair of fleece pants (pants must of been in high demand because there were hardly any on clearance and of course not one pair was in the size Joshua will need for next year. For what you see pictured I paid $60. Not too bad, but not as good as I'm used to with this sale.

DIY (Do it yourself) Projects

Well finally blogger decided to cooperate and let me load some pictures! Last weekend Cory and Shawn spent a few hours laying and grouting tile back splashes in our laundry room, master bathroom, and kid's bathroom. This was something we were going to have the tile guy who did our floors do, but when we saw the price of labor we figured we could do it ourselves (with Shawn's help) for only the cost of materials and some of our own time which was a real savings! We couldn't buy our tile from the place we originally picked it out at since they only sell to tile installers so instead we went to The Tile Shop and picked out some much nicer stuff. It was a little pricier than what we originally picked out, but now we were saving labor costs! We really liked how everything turned out, especially Shawn's creative little idea of putting the extra 12" by 12" sheet of tiles in the recessed box that will house toilet paper in the half bath and master bath. It adds a very nice touch! Check out their handy work!

Master bathroom

Kid's bathroom


Half Bathroom

Laundry room

New year, new car

Knowing our lease is up on my car in March and also knowing there are many good year-end deals my car-hunting husband was on the prowl while he was on vacation over Christmas and New Years. He was really thinking a mini-van might be a good option, but then on the advice of a co-worker decided to look at a Suzuki XL7. It has a 3rd row seat which gives us the flexibility we were looking for in passenger room while still being an SUV. To be honest I wasn't sure I could jump to a mini-van and Joshua was ADAMANT about not having a mini-van. Cory test drove a used XL7 on Wednesday. He liked it so we all headed back on Friday morning to take a family test drive. I liked the car as did Joshua. So, by Friday night we were the proud owners of a 2007 Suzuki XL7 (it only had 7,000 miles on it). Cory was right in that the dealership was able to offer us a really low price because they wanted to include it in their year-end. I gotta say I will miss my Torrent, but am enjoying this new car already! Oh and no more of the two black cars, YEAH - silver will hopefully look a lot cleaner even when it is dirty!

Ringing in the New Year

As is our annual tradition we got together with Shawn, Erin and Owen at their house (since we live in the rinky dinky rental at the moment - can you tell I'm sick of it now). We had our usual menu of junk food, junk food and more junk food! This year the boys really enjoyed indulging in the junk food along with us - it's once a year so we let it fly. We brought over the Wii to entertain the adults (mainly Shawn) while the boys played with all of Owen's new toys. The boys also got to take a bath together (something they haven't done since Owen was under a year old). They had a riot with the bubbles and toys in the jet tub! We didn't ring in the new year together as both boys needed to get to sleep, but we had a great time together much past their regular bedtimes.

On New Year's day Shawn and Erin had the idea of taking the boys bowling. Joshua has watched us bowl on the Wii many times, but isn't able to play himself because he can't quite get a grip on how to release the ball with the controller. We've always told him we should take him to a real bowling alley so he could try bowling. This was his chance! Joshua and Owen were really excited about being at the bowling alley, but needed some assistance from dads to help grasp the whole bowling concept. We had the boys try to push the ball and we even had Joshua try to throw it down the lane. They were semi successful with these methods, but then Cory asked for a ramp to help them out. Joshua and Owen both enjoyed bowling without any help as they could put it on the ramp themselves and push it down. The adults played too, but were quite out of practice having not played for several years. We had so much fun and hope to take the boys back again sometime!

Junk food junkies!

Tubby time!

Joshua tries to toss the ball down the lane, YIKES!

Maybe a good push will do the trick.

Owen receives a little assistance from Shawn.

Owen likes using the ramp.

Joshua grabs his ball.

Strike a bowling pose!

Pathetic scores, we know - give us Wii bowling any day!

Christmas Day 2008

Christmas day was a busy day, but a very fun day filled with lots of good food and memories. The day began with Joshua opening up his presents from Cory and I. He was thrilled to get a huge Playmobil police set, a Playmobil hay wagon and a load of rocks, new books, the Candyland game, and his very own Jellycat Bunglie Cat (thankfully we could now return Owen's after 6 weeks)! He even got to unwrap a littler Jellycat for the baby. After present opening Joshua and I lit our Advent wreath, including the Christ candle for Jesus' birthday and sang the song we sing with lighting the candles with the addition of singing happy birthday to Jesus. Then I re-told all the stories from the previous 4 weeks of Advent (that he's already heard numerous times at both home and school) and told the story of Jesus' birth. It's amazing to me how much more Joshua was able to recall and help tell the stories this year than last year! I'm so glad he loves this tradition of Advent, because it is one of my very favorites and allows us the time during this busy season to prepare our hearts for Christmas.
In the early afternoon we headed to my uncle and aunt's house to celebrate with extended family (my mom's side). The food was delicious and overwhelming as usual and it was nice to catch up with people we don't see so often. Our lucky little boy got a Build-a-Road set from Great Grandpa and Great Grandma as well as some money for his bank account. He was also fortunate to receive a Playmobil tractor and trailer with logs from Uncle Steve, Aunt Cher, Matt and Rachel as well as a cool remote control car that does tricks from Uncle Jim, Aunt Nancy, Danielle, Whitney and Mark (Whitney's fiance).
After that party we were back over at Grandpa and Grandma Hager's in the evening where the cousins exchanged gifts with one another. This year Joshua was excited to buy for Nicholas and for Owen (okay, technically baby Hager had Owen's name, but since the baby is not aware Joshua got to pick out and sign his name to Owen's gift). This was the only gift exchange of the night seeing we had already had the Hager family Christmas so it was nice that the kids got to focus on the one gift they gave and the one they received.
All in all it was a very busy season, but one we enjoyed immensely! We are so thankful we are able to celebrate Christmas and remember Christ's birth with those we love around us. The video below shows a smattering of our Christmas Day celebrations.

Click To Play

Christmas Eve 2008

The day started with Joshua opening his stocking in the morning (as to spread things out over two days). He was thrilled to find some chocolate, two cars (one with a trailer and tractor), two puzzles and lots of new underwear (yes underwear is exciting at 3 1/2 years old, especially when it has tractors, trucks and race cars all over it). Most of the afternoon Dave and I spent at my dad's condo preparing the big Christmas Eve dinner that is a Gronsman family tradition. The evening then consisted of our delicious food (salad with cranberry goat cheese and crostinies, citrus marinaded pork tenderloin, fennel potato au gratin, and herb beans) and opening presents. Joshua was thrilled to get a new power tools workbench and cars bath soap from Papa, the Playmobil motor home from Uncle Dave and a new book about cars and trucks from Uncle Phil and Ciejae! Besides opening his own presents Joshua felt compelled to help everyone else open theirs! He especially liked giving Papa the special mug he painted at Naked Plates. Joshua had picked out a mug with a cat face on it and specifically painted it to look like a stuffed cat my dad has at his house named Cameo. We had a wonderful evening together! (Again, the video below may only be of interest to those who attended)

Click To Play

Welcome Home Dave!

Tuesday morning my brother Dave flew in from New York City and Joshua and I were able to pick him up from the airport. Joshua gets to talk to uncle Dave on the phone periodically, but getting to see him in person was much more exciting! We watched his plane land from the viewing deck above and then went down to meet him. I wish I had had my camera out at that point (but the airport was filled with people and I was more worried about keeping Joshua by my side than taking a picture) because as soon as Joshua spotted Dave he ran full-force at him and threw his arms around him! It was really cute! We ended up spending lots of time with Dave throughout the time he was here and Dave was definitely the apple of Joshua's eye during that time! Several times Dave was the one requested to play with Joshua or sit by Joshua or read him stories. I'm so glad that we were all able to spend time together, especially for Joshua's sake! That little boy sure does love his Uncle Dave!

Hager Family Christmas

Due to the holiday season being so jam-packed with get-togethers we try to spread them out a bit so we can all enjoy. The Hager family Christmas was last Saturday night. We enjoyed dinner together and then dad and mom/grandpa and grandma gave out gifts. Joshua received a little digital camera and new race car PJ's. In fact, all the grand kids got PJ's this year! Cory and I got items for the new house and baby that weren't a big thrill, but things we need. This year the grand kids all painted grandpa and grandma something at Naked Plates as a special gift and they were very excited and proud of their work when their gifts were opened. We had a great time celebrating together! (Warning: the video below may only be of interest to those who attended)

Click To Play

Snow Day!

Even though it wasn't a school day for Joshua on Friday we were excited to have a snow day! With 12 inches of snow falling in a matter of hours what were we to do? First off we decided it was a definite pajama day which Joshua took to an extreme as he didn't change out of his pajamas until a bath that night and then it was back into another pair of PJ's! He also decided that we could make a special treat of chocolate covered pretzels complete with sprinkles (thankfully we had all the ingredients on hand)! We did eventually go outside in the afternoon after the snow had stopped falling to snow blow and play too! At night we all sat around the coffee table and ate supper and watched Finding Nemo. We had a great snow day!

The walls have color!

We visited the new house last night to find that most of the stain work was completed and all of the paint (except for touch-ups that will come later) is done! It is really starting to come together now! It's hard to pick paint colors from little chips and envision what it will look like in an entire room, but we were happy with our choices. We also found that they started laying the hardwood floor in the kitchen, half bath and garage entry which wasn't supposed to begin until next week. It's nice to see that things are a bit ahead of schedule! Next week the floor will be completed and the dishwasher and microwave will be installed. On our own we will also be installing the tile back splashes in the kitchen and bathrooms soon (with the help of Shawn and Erin seeing as they've done this many times). We look forward to a month from now when things will be totally completed and final inspections will occur followed by occupancy!

Kitchen

Laundry Room

Living Room (with custom railing)

Half bath inside garage entry.

Baby's room (obviously not the pink we had hoped for, but a cute blue!)

Joshua's Room (almost ready for his new loft bed!)

Kid's Bathroom

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom