Houseless in Duluth...

Unfortunately we're back to square one... We had all our ducks in a row and did our research ahead of time, but along the way it seemed the builder was getting more and more difficult to work with. Like you'd think they would be aiming to please~ but once we put in our offer, they really made it clear they weren't gonna be easy to work worth, and they had no interest in negotiations. This were all hunkie Dorrie at first~ of course. But after we made the offer things just became more evident...it slipped out that oh, wait we don't have the building permit yet (they told us they did and a mid Oct finish date was the goal), this step alone could take months!! So what initially sounded like a go ahead, turned into a WHOA, we don't trust the disorganization and don't really want to work with this builder, cuz we really don't want to get screwed mid way through this deal. So we got out and now we're moving on. This kinda thing is exactly why I never wanted to consider building in the first place!!
Quite disheartening yes, as I was really excited to have a home mapped out in my mind, and a place that we could call home. I hate house hunting in Duluth... its all crap! YES CRAP!! There's no happy medium, or even so so's that could be upgraded into a decent residence. I'm grumpy and crabby and so tired of wasting Sunday's dragging the kids around to open houses. What made it even worse was seeing homes in the Fargo Forum last weekend at my parents that were easily in our price range and absolutely gorgeous... Homes are expensive here, and you don't get much yard for your buck either...too many damn trees. I'm throwin' in the towel and hibernating for the winter...maybe I'll be up for house hunting in the spring.

What is it like to be 4?

Just a few weeks after turning 4 yrs old, Dylan and Riley give narrative to what its like being 4...
- "I'm 4 Mommy, I don't need any help...I know the rules." Quoted Riley as he was buttoning his own shirt~ successfully.
- "Now look what you did... We're gonna go to school smelling like girls." Said Dylan to Riley after they dumped Mommy's whole bottle of Victoria's Secret LOVE SPELL body wash into the tub. Thinking they'd wash themselves.
- "You'll see" has become a sassy response from the wrongly confident 4 yr olds when dancing with authority.
- After questioning the birthing process (again) but this time wanting more detail... Riley was able to summarize that it happens either by "the doctor cuts the baby out with a knife." or "it comes from Mommy's privates, but not her butt."
- "Missed me, missed me, now you gotta kiss me." Dylan picked this up at school and was surprised when I chased him down and smoothered him with kisses.
- They gave each other Nicknames... Dylan has become "Dill" and Riley has become "Rye" ~ I guess no more Tubs and Toots. (we used to call them that when they were babies. Dylan was always just ounces bigger than Riley so he got Tubs and Riley, well had the toots.)

Hockey Boys

Aside from the little stuff like the pirate swords, Ninja Turtles, Batman, etc... Dylan and Riley got head to toe hockey gear from us for their birthday. I knew it would make a nice dent in the wallet, but my problem with this is that we'll be lucky if we can get 2 seasons outta the gear. Had we one child, it would only be half as bad, and the gear could be passed down the line. But forking it out for 2 at once!!! Boy this is gonna be fun for the next 15 years. Poor Brady's never gonna see new gear... instead he'll be stuck with 2 sets of used smelly gear.
Aside from the financial gripes of what being a Hockey Mom does to ya, it was really neat to see these guys all geared up.
They start hockey camp in September and need full gear, so we're ready to roll...
RILEY's Game Face
Dylan's ready to hit the ice

Dylan & Riley Turn 4

The big boys are officially 4 years old (Aug 17th). We had a Batman/Pirate Birthday party with Nana, Papa, cousin Sydney, Greg, Kelly, and MacKenzie. Dylan chose the pirate portion and Riley wanted Batman... so we had a little of both and made it all work. Oh yeah and the cake was Spiderman... we had all our bases covered. Now that they're older its a little harder for Mommy to take over and rule the game, plus Mommy has learned to relax and let them enjoy discombobulation sometimes.









A few weeks later we got to do it all over again, this time with Grandma, Papa Rudi, Uncle Bryan, Auntie Cole, Gma Marlene, and Gpa Rog out at my parents camper. This time we just stuck to a superhero theme with Batman paperware and a Spiderman pinata. As you can see we all fell victim to the old favorite of "pin the tail on the donkey" except this was a case of "Badge Batman's Belt". Brady even got into the action. This boys are pretty lucky each year... having family so far apart they usually get 2-3 birthday celebrations. Its just werid to think that they are 4... such big boys, doing big boy things.

Canadian Invasion

This past week/weekend we had some Canadian visitors to Duluth... Good friends of ours, Greg, Kelly with baby MacKenzie came for a visit and to do some touring of Duluth. So Brad and I took Thursday off, to spend with the Epp's out at Gooseberry Falls. The falls were much lower than during our first visit this spring, so it was kinda neat to see all the rock down below, and then to be able to walk further out into the river. Kelly and I attempted to take the boys out next to the falls, but with their short legs our rock hopping left us stranded half way there. Of course the babes slept through it all...maybe one of these times Brady will be awake to see its beauty?
Before heading back to town we stopped for lunch, and pie ;-) Unfortunately they were out of the Raspberry Cream Pie :-( this time so I shared a HUGE plate of Caramel Apple Pecan pie (MMmmmm) with Brad and the boys... seriously this thing covered a dinner plate with pie and ice cream we couldn't eat it all. But while we were enjoying our pie, Greg fell victim to a Hit and Run in the parking lot... He was changing MacKenzie's bumm in the backseat when all of a sudden felt the vehicle rock back and forth. Here it was a bus full of senior citizens from a retirement center that backed into him... they hadn't a clue they hit his vehicle ~ so with a half dressed child in hand he's waving and yelling at them but they just drove off. Meanwhile we're inside wondering what's taking so long. Yes a bit funny, but at the same time not so much. I guess now every time they look at their bumper they'll be sure to remember us and their visit to Duluth?
Early Friday morning then came the second car load of Canadians... the parents and our niece Sydney. Not having a guest room for them, they were left to the couch and an air mattress on the living room floor. (Another reason I can't wait to have a house) I was worried about Brady disturbing them during his night time and/or early morning wakings but an extra set of hands comes in handy when you're holding a screaming kid and trying to warm a bottle.

Saturday we took the foreigners out to our new hot spot at Pike Lake for some fun in the sun. With a cooler of beer, and a smaller one of food, we were armed for a day at the beach.


Brady was loving the fresh air and the change of scenery, so he was awake for most of our stay...
However, after a bite to eat it was time for a siesta under the shady umbrella with little MacKenzie.
Dylan and Sydney are swimming up on me like a couple of sharks.

Future Home???

We were out to Esko, MN to walk through a model (again) of the home we hope to purchase. This time we paid much closer detail to the fine touches and asked all those important yet piddly questions... how may can lights are included? Can we choose where the outlets and switches go? Is the window griding an upgrade? And many more. After walking through it again we're positive this is the way to go. Now its just a matter of getting all the nice finishing we want, but staying in our price range. So we'll be putting in an offer Friday morning and hope to hear something back early next week. Below are a couple pictures of the homes we saw. The full view image is the exact layout and look of the home we'll be building. The only difference will be the outside finishing touches... which is where the second picture comes into play... We both like the rock vs. brick, and the wood shakes at the peak, along with the "Prairie view" windows in pic #2, vs the old fashioned farm house look in #1. The color is yet to be determined... We want to be careful not to match exact, nor clash with our neighbors. But for now we wait...

Brady is 5 Months old today

Brady is 5 Months old today. He's becoming a breath of fresh air for mommy too. At first I thought this child was going to be a breeze and just sail through the infant stages. But he fooled me! Just after we got unpacked and settled in, he started to up his demands. I've described him to be much like his father... Either in a really good mood or really pissed off. At least he was a gem during the move and those first weeks in our new home. But he certainly made up for lost time, and turned up the demands... at the time when he should be "growing out of things" he was just getting into the groove of more mommy time. Nightwakings, feeding demands and only Mommy's touch were on his mind... As I prepared for a new job, I put down my foot and started Mommy's boot camp with sanity as my goal. I partially blame the inconsistent routine we had around here, but at the same time I'm noticing its his personality (its the stubborn Onofreychuk in him). Thankfully with time and patience he's responded well to my boot camp and is now focusing more on being fun and cute, rather than needy and screaming.


Over the past month he's started a few new tricks...
* Blowing raspberries... you know that motorboat sound you make with your lips vibrating and dribbling spit everywhere. He's still a bit bashful with his new trick but will copy you if you're persistent.
* Rolling around... not quite rolling over though. He can't figure out how to get that dang arm outta the way to make it all the way over. But he did one day, because I was in the kitchen and heard a muffled like sound, so peaked up to see what it was, and here he was on his belly eating the playmat.
* Grabbing everything... grabs your plate when your eating, grabs the mail when your reading, grabs your hair, your arm, your chest hair (Brad not me) and loves to hook his big brothers by the lip. I tell them that's what you get for getting in his face.
* Everything to mouth... Once he's got a hold of something its slobbed up in no time. His favorite toy is a teething toy~ its a blue pretzel that he hang grab with no problem. He's got a death grip on this thing and will knaw at it while sliding the spit from ear to ear. How cute! Although all this drool and oral fixation has me worried that teeth might be on the way sooner than later.

No doctors visit this month, but I'm sure he's topping the charts at 17 lbs... Still loving the rice cereal and looking forward to the furits and veggies next month.

Dog days of summer

To make the most of our summer we are sure to make time for riding bikes, hanging out in the yard (what little bit we have), playing at the park and grilling out for dinner. The boys love to sit out back when Brad's grilling, so since Daddy's got his beer, I've gotta get them their root beer, and they have their little man time out back. Brady's part of this too, minus any of the drinks... he's still into milk these days.

Since starting my new job, life has been very busy. There just aren't enough hours at home in the evening to get squeeze in all the things you want to do. The tight ship I ran around here the past few months, has slipped a bit into a free for all. "Whats for supper?" is a common question these days... the menu no longer consists of Bruschetta stuffed Chicken with Petite Green Beans and Greek Salad. Rather Mac N' Cheese with Hot Dogs please. I don't really have the interest of preparing 4 course meals when I get home, and the family starts pulling on my pant legs within minutes of walking in the door... "I'm hungry Mommy...when are we gonna eat?... I want a snack, cuz I'm too hungry to wait." So I throw them a few bones (literally Scooby Snacks graham crackers shapped like dog biscuits) and they leave me alone, then Brad walks in the door and I sickem on him ;-)
Brad and I aren't the only ones working lik dogs each day... the boys have been coming home absolutely wipped out. In the short 5 minutes from daycare to home, its not uncommon for all 3 of them to doze off. Brady's no surprise... his carseat is the sleep machine. And Dylan and Riley are "too big for naps" at school so they play and play like animals all day long, so one could see how they are worn out. One day last week, Brad had picked them up from school and on the way home asked the usual how was your day, what was for lunch, who did you play with, etc, etc. Dylan was on firing back the answers with little breath in between... so excited to talk about his day with Daddy. But wanting to hear what Riley had to say, Brad singled him out and asked "Riley you're being quite, what did you do today?" and Dylan answered "Daddy, Riley can't tell you he's too busy sleeping" Most days their heads bob around and drool is running down the seat belt as we pull up to the house. Unfortunately those short cat naps, can lead to some nasty 'tudes when they get up. After all the cooking and cleaning its play time before more food prep (snacks, bottles) and cleaning (baths, laundry)... my goal is for all to crawl into bed with full tummies and clean toes.



Dylan and Riley are also gearing up for Hockey camp next month... The summer has put a little rust on their skills, so we're starting to take them to open skating to sharpen things up a bit before you put a stick and puck into the mix. Finally that gear Auntie Kim bought them for Christmas 2 years ago will fit!! They've been wearing their pads and helmets around the house this week...and it just so happenned that during one of their full gear parades around the house. a neighborh boy came to the door looking for them to play. When he say the 2 dressed in head to toe gear he was a little stunned and unsure. Dylan proceeded to though some Kung Fu moves at him, and with stick in hand Riley whacked his brother in the shins announcing, "Look it doesn't hurt!" I wonder what he went home and told his mom?

Lovin' the Lake

Its safe to say that you can step out our front door, turn any direction and within 10 minutes you'd be at a beach. Lake Superior is by far the grandest beach around, but much too cold for swimming, so we've set out and tested a few... Pike Lake is now our new splashing ground. Its a quick drive from home, and just minutes from a gas station if you run out of snacks. Its a great spot for the kids, because its super shallow a good 40 feet out, and its more of a huge grassy park with a smaller sandy beach, so not everyone has to come home with sand in their shorts. Like every beach adventure, the first thing the kids want to do is have their snack. So what ya know... we had a picnic.
Each visit to the shores of Duluth, makes Brad a bit more antsy for fishing, and the lake life overall. Although there are plenty of lakes close to town, its still a bit far for my liking to consider living out there. Lakeshore property is more spendy so you get less house for your money, and then to think of the horrible winter roads to and from work every day... No thanks. Not to mention all the back and forth into town we'd be doing in the future for hockey, soccer, t-ball, etc. As tempting as the Lake life is, it'll have to stay on hold until the kids are old enough to drive themselves to their activities and pay for their own gas.