Spring please come!

The Schwakeland express is humming right along. We're getting on one another's nerves. We need warmth. We need spring. We need some physical separation from each other. Run in the grass. Swing on the swings. Listen to birds singing. Breath. March in Minnesota is a crap shoot. But I can feel it coming. That elusive spring. That smell of warmth to come. We get a day or two here and there of warm weather. But no, we don't get the whole shebang. If it's say, 58 degrees out, you can be sure there's a wind. Or rain. Or something that makes you remember that it really isn't "nice" out yet. And you can be equally sure that the next day will dawn grey and cold. I hate spring. Let me re-phrase. I hate spring in Minnesota. All spring I am just wishing it was warmer. All spring I live in dread that the next day it's going to snow. Not until June, when you know it's going to stay nice outside, do I relax and enjoy the last 10 or so days of official springtime. I'm sure spring is quite nice in other parts of the country. But not here. It kinda bites.

But really, if that is the extent of my bad times (and it is), how amazingly blessed am I?! My husband makes enough money that I can stay home with our 3 kids. How easy it is for me to complain about being home all the time. My neighbor doesn't have that luxury. My husband has a job. A friend of mine's husband lost his in November with no prospects in sight. My husband loves me and our marriage is rock solid. It's easy to gripe about your spouse here and there. But I have a friend whose spouse just decided they wanted to move on. How do you begin to process that? I am healthy with no sign of cancer or any other major illness. Sure I complain about aches and pains. But what is that to facing colon cancer which has moved on to liver cancer and dealing with chemotherapy side affects while trying to raise two kids and hold down a mortgage? Yeah, I know a guy who is dealing with all that and then some. And I have three beautiful and HEALTHY little children. Maddening at times, yes, but I'd rather that than the alternative. How about a mom who is watching her 5 month old baby boy suffer from a fast-racing heart that the docs can't slow down who is now showing signs of heart failure? That's one of our MOPs moms. It's all extremely close to home. And, yet, in most of these cases, these people are not only enduring, they are helping the rest of us deal with their own hardship. These are the people who are not living on their own strength, but on God's. Their optimism, their total dependency, their bold strong faith completely humbles me. I wish I could say I would fare as they would in the same situation but I fear I wouldn't. I think I would crumble. The hard stuff is not fun or easy. But it's a call to all of us, whether we're going through the hard stuff or not, to put on our A game. To not dip into the 'poor me' pool. To not be too proud to fall on our knees and beg for God's mercy and lean into His strength, His wisdom, His vision. And if we could somehow do this BEFORE the hardship strikes (for it will strike - no one is exempt from it) just think how rich our lives would be!

Back in the Swing

You know that commercial about the kleenex where the mom is saying "Touch glass, touch shoe, touch, touch, touch"? Maybe you've seen it. She's touching things all day long then at the end, she grabs a tissue (I forget the brand, I guess their marketing ploy failed on me), then everything stops and she says in a soft sigh, "Feel". That's what my day feels like except instead of touch I clean...."Wipe highchair, wipe counter, wipe dish, wipe nose, wipe bottom, pick up toys, pick up clothes, pick up kids, pick up food, pick up toys, clean clothes, clean toilet, clean window, clean language, clean children, ....." But when I get to the end of my personal commercial I say with a soft sigh, "Rejuvinate" as I jump on my new elliptical machine. Yes, we got a new/used elliptical machine and I'm so happy! I've used it everyday except one since we got it and apparently I'm in a much better mood. Scott told me the other night that I was always crabby when he got home in the evening until we got the elliptical. A) I'm totally bummed that it took an entire year for him to bring up the fact that I'm perpetually crabby, and 2) I'm very thankful I'm aware of it now and have an outlet. Anyway, I'm super pumped that we got it and Scott has even hopped on it once!

Christmas was really good. We had the girls preschool Christmas program about a week before Christmas. They were adorable and sang so well. I managed to engage the kids in a fun Christmasy/wintery thing each day of December leading up to the 25th. I put 24 activities on a card and placed them in envelopes and numbered them all. Each day we would open one and do that activity. It really helped us to do those things that we always have good intentions of doing but never get around to. Like making a gingerbread house, taking a car tour of the lights in the neighborhood, having hot chocolate while listening to christmas music. I will definitely do it again next year. Christmas eve we had my mom and dad over for a delish prime rib dinner. Then Christmas morning we woke up at the crack of dawn to open the presents. We then spent the afternoon down at my parent's house in St. Peter. It was a really nice holiday. New years I went to a neighborhood party while Scott stayed home with the kids - his treat to me for working so much through the Christmas break. But I was home at 10:00 to watch the ball drop with him.

Scott and I were able to get away up north for our sort-of-annual trip. We've gone many years except when I had a newborn or was too preggers. We stay in a super-rustic cabin that has no electricity and no water, just one wood stove. We bring Attley with us and he has a great time. It was just the thing we needed to relax and reconnect.

Then this weekend, we celebrated Cooper's first birthday! I can't believe that my little boy is already one!! He's such a sweet boy, always smiling. I'm pretty sure he's going to be my social child. He seems to like everyone and has no problem in crowds, at all!

One year ago....

Cooper today!

Immediately after Cooper's birthday, we celebrated the Schwake-side Christmas. The girls were so excited that they got to open presents the same day that Cooper did. And they had a ball having their cousins over. Scott's brother, Dustin, brought his Wii and we adults played quite a few rounds of Guitar Hero.

We're in the planning stages of Cate's birthday party. She's going to have 5 friends over so I need to figure out what to do with all these little girls for a couple of hours. I think it will be really fun for her (and for me). Scott is off this weekend for his annual winter camping trip. It's promising to be below zero which is how they like it I guess.

That's about all. Hopefully next time I post the snow will be melting!! Enjoy the rest of winter! Here's how we Schwakes take the edge off of the long winter. :)

Merry Christmas 2008

Hi friends. Well, two major holidays have passed and snow is on the ground since my last post so I guess I won't be winning that speedy blog award this year. The main reason I don't post is that it takes me forever to download all the pictures from my camera because I'm a superfreak about naming and organizing my photos. And then I have to compress the ones I want to add to the blog. And then when I actually get to the blog, I write a disseration! So I've decided that I'll keep the words short and just hit the highlights. Here goes.

Halloween was a ball this year. Catie really figured out that the goal was to get as much candy as one can carry in a plastic pumpkin. She was cruising way ahead of Clare so we had to do some split duty. Coop came along for the ride in our wagon and was a good sport.

Clare's behavior got worse since the last report but has since rebounded to be much better. And remember that bad habit I had of laying down with her at bedtime I mentioned in the last post. Yeah. When I finally decided to stop I had to put her back to bed 66 times in one night!! Someday her persistence and strong-will will serve her very well....I just keep telling myself that.

Cooper is crawling all over and pulling up on things (mostly me). He has also started repeating a few words. "Uh oh" is the all time favorite, being said many times a day (and at night). "Thank you" and "peekaboo" have shown up and so has "mama" of course. He's super cute!

All the kids got their hair cut!! Cate and Clare went for cute bobs and Cooper got the standard short boys haircut.

Catie lost her first tooth at Grandma Cheryl's house over thanksgiving and was given $1.00 by the tooth fairy.

We had a good time decorating the tree and the house for Christmas. Scotty has outdone himself with the outdoor lights this year. Unfortunately the lights on our tree keep going out! Very frustrating. I guess I'll have to restring the entire thing.

Well, them's the highlights. We're really enjoying our Christmas season this year. The girls are really into it and so am I. Coop's a bit oblivious, but he still likes all the lights. We've mailed our letters to Santa, baked cookies, watched Christmas movies...all the fun stuff. It's been great.

I hope you can all find the time to have fun this season and truly enjoy Christ's birthday. Blessings to you all and Merry Christmas!

Mommy time

Only 4 days until I head to Chicago for my annual girls' weekend. This year, because of fuel prices, we've decided to take the train. We leave the St. Paul Depot at 7:50 am on Friday morning and arrive in Chicago at 3:55 pm. Yes, it's a long time but when your main objective of a weekend like this is to catch up with your girlfriends, eat some good food and rest (along with some major shopping), then it's the perfect solution. We'll be picking up our friend Gwen as we travel through Milwaukee. Not much of an agenda after that which is simply sublime!

This month has been somewhat of an exhausting one for me. Clare has suddenly come up with some major separation anxiety...just in time for her first year of preschool. We've had some major ordeals at carline. But she's getting much much better. Clare has also chosen this month to eliminate her naps. Actually, I chose that after a long deliberation. I hate nap-dropping season. If you let them nap then they usually can't fall asleep much before 2:00 in the afternoon and then they're up past 9:30 most nights (which I just can't tolerate...note the heading of this post - sacred). And if she didn't get a nap, she was just a monster! When Cate dropped her nap, she just got whiney and tearful. Clare gets mean. Hitting, kicking, sassing, and overall naughtiness are the norm. Very stressful for everyone in the family. The only good thing, is that she zonks out in about 5 minutes. Of course, mommy needs to lay with her for this to happen. But what's 5 minutes. I'll break that bad habit after her body normalizes to the change. Which is already happening, thankfully. We give her a nap every 3 or 4 days which is working out pretty well.

So, Clare has been a major issue this month. Cooper has been super cute but is teething and learning to crawl which means he's been up at night a bit. Generally I can handle it now that I'm not as sleep deprived. We had him dedicated on the 2nd at our church. He looked so handsome! We had a little brunch here afterwards to celebrate.

And our Cate has been a dream. She's in that really great stage where she's really compliant, good natured and fun to be around. Gives me hope for Clare in about a year or so. But poor Cate is fighting some virus - she's had a fever for 4 days now which means, of course, waking mom up at 3:00 am when the ibuprofen wears off. 6:30 comes early folks.

I did get a little mommy time yesterday when I got my hair done. Finally! A full foil and decent cut which took 3 hours. My stylist was making me a little nervous. I was watching in the mirror as several times she forgot which color she was working on (I was getting highlights AND lowlights for you hair afficianados). Needless to say, I have a huge chunk of super bright blond right on the top of my head, which I actually like but then right near my bangs, it looks like there was no color added at all. Very drastic difference. I'm hoping I can get in on Thursday to have it fixed. If not, I'll have to strut around on the Magnificent Mile looking like I CHOSE to have my hair look like this. If you start seeing half blond/half mousy hair all over Chicago and on Oprah, you'll know who started that phenom!

MOPs started this month as well and was a big hit. I think everyone is starting to form some really good relationships. My friend and our coordinator, Paige, is doing a fabulous job.

Attley had his 2 year post amputation check up a couple of weeks ago and checked out completely fine! No signs of any cancer in his lungs or anywhere else. It seems he is one of the 5% that has beaten the odds.

Scotty has been busy helping his folks close up the cabin at Webb Lake. And busy with ....garage stuff. He's always tinkering on something. And when he's not, he's GLUED to CNN and anything to do with the presidential race. And any past president - he's been watching those PBS shows on the presidents all month. Last night was Lyndon Johnson. Me? Not so much. Although it is pretty easy to get sucked into it all.

Anyway, I'd better get dinner going. I'll post more after Halloween. Enjoy the beautiful fall!

Crispy

I'm loving the new crisp days and nights! Many of you may think I'm crazy but I love when summer turns to fall. I love not having to have AC going constantly and instead throwing open the windows. I love all the mums and all their beautiful colors (I planted 3 more just last week). I love needing to grab my fleece jacket in the mornings and evenings, getting out my sweaters, wearing my slippers. And pretty soon, that smell is going to start wafting through the air. You know, that smell of falling leaves, the smell of harvesting, the smell of apples. Oh, and I LOVE going to apple orchards and getting pumpkins. And, of course, the glory of the riot of colors in the trees and fields. Let's face it, I'm in love with fall. To me, fall signifies new beginnings so much more than January or spring. I think it's because fall is when we all started (or are starting) school...a time to see friends again, to hunker inside and pull out those projects you put away last spring. New clothes, new school supplies, new experiences. A chance to start fresh. Yes, I know summer is awesome and the soon-to-be-here winter can get long, but fall is where it's at for me.

The girls are off with their daddy scoring gobs of candy in Carver's annual Steamboat Days Parade. This has to be the biggest shortest parade of all time. There are so many entrants to this parade that it takes well over an hour to finish. Considering that the parade route is literally 4 city blocks long, you can imagine how many floats, bands, firetrucks and candy throwers are present at this parade. It's become a Schwake family tradition. I'd be there too except this is Cooper's naptime and, as I've said before, I'm the sleep nazi. I will let very little interrupt my childrens' naps. Although I admit that I've slacked off a bit with each successive child. Still, sleep is so important for them, plus I'm the one who ends up dealing with a crabby off-the-wall baby/toddler when they don't get enough. I guess that means it's really all about me. Oh well.

My sweat Clarebear turned 3 on August 26th (I was in the hospital with her when Katrina hit New Orleans). She had a fun family party with cousins and grandmas and grandpas, a kid party and the aforementioned chucky cheese excursion. She was in her element. I can't believe she's so grown up!

I am so happy to report that I am officially done with my stupid garage sale. I probably shouldn't be calling it stupid since I raked in over $700!! (Hello Chicago!) But I've been dreading it all summer. We had accumulated so much junk and had so many clothes that I was saving for this sale. I was completely dreading the organizing and pricing of so much stuff. And I was right to dread it...it stunk doing all that work. But Grandma Terry pulled through and came to my rescue with the kids so that I could concentrate on it all week. Now I can relax and look forward to my annual trip to Chicago with my girls (friends Sharla, Nan and Gwen, that is). And this year, I'll actually be able to SHOP!! I won't be broke or pregant. Yippeee!

Speaking of the Chicago girls, we were all able to be together for Gwen's birthday a couple weeks ago. It was a surprise to Gwen which made it all the more fun. We had a great dinner on the deck at Bayside. Then later Gwen, Sharla and I went to see Mamma Mia at the Excelsior Dock. We thought we were going to be the only one's in the theater but at the last second another couple came in. We warned them that we would be breaking into song many times and would probably even get up and dance a couple of times. Thankfully they seemed to be a fun-loving duo and even clapped when we danced during the final part of the movie. It was way fun.

The girls have preschool orientation tomorrow and officially start on Wed. Cate is really looking forward to it. Clare says she is but I'm not sure if she totally gets it. This will be her first year in preschool and she's starting younger than Cate was when she started. Plus, we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of another separation anxiety phase. She's wailed the last two times we've dropped her off for Sunday school which, up till recently she never cared one whit about it. So we'll see how it goes this week. I'm hoping she'll just be too excited to care much one way or the other.

Cooper has popped through his first two teeth! Thus starts the year-and-a-half journey of that super fun ride called teething. I'm hoping they get a bit better than these two were. I was so hoping that Cooper was going to be the amazing sleeper that Clare was. Clare NEVER woke up for something as silly as the pain of teeth erupting through swollen and extremely tender gums. She never woke up for practicing new things like sitting or rolling over or crawling. She only ever work up when she was sick with an ear infection (and it was near bursting) or when she puked. I'm sure if she could stay sleeping through the puking, she would have found a way. No, Cooper is, unfortunately taking after Cate in that area and waking for every little thing. That's not to say he isn't a great sleeper because in most respects he's awesome. He takes two 2-hour naps a day and sleeps 12 hours straight through ....when nothing is going on. But he will wake numerous times for pain and practicing. So, I at least get a few weeks in a row of uninterrupted sleep before I'm up numerous times a night for several nights in a row. Being that Scott has to go to work and design things that people will build and that cost millions of dollars, I generally don't make him get up with Coop until I've already been up 3 or 4 times. And it's not like it's a huge burden for either of us when Coop does wake up. Generally you just have to go in and pop the nook back in and he'll nod back off. So, I guess I shouldn't be complaining. That's what I signed up for when I decided to have kids, right?

MOPs is starting up again soon. We just finished our fall training session where I had to do a short bit of training for which I felt completely inequipped. But you know what they say...God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called. So I'm going with that in mind for this entire year. I have a feeling I will get lots of chances to work on my many failings this year as I try to lead this group of women that God has called into His service. Pray that I catch on quickly.

I'd better go get something done before the troops return. I hope you all are enjoying the fall as much as I am. Here are some pictures of the girls I was taking this morning before church to try to get a nice current picture of Cate for her Preschool class. There were some really cute one's in there so I thought I'd include them. Catch ya later.