Picturesque Village of Greendale

Welcome to Wisconsin
And the Village of Greendale, where we live. It was developed in 1934 by the federal government under Roosevelt as part of his New Deal. 3,400 acres were purchased. There was/is a town center that features a main street of shops heading up to the town hall.
Surrounding the town hall there are the "Greendale Originals" were 366 homes that provided 572 living units and included single family, multifamily and row houses.
There are festivals and events throughout the year, so there has to be a place to gather.


We are hopeful that Greendale will live up to it's taxes:)

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

Not to long after Chris went to work in WI he was forwarded the following email:

Dr. Ivantysynova,

A recent google search brought me to the MAHA Fluid Power Research Center website. The keywords that led me to you: "excavator costume."

My 4 year old wants to be an excavator for Halloween. It is my own fault, I suppose, for fostering such creativity in my children. Add to that, my rule that Halloween costumes have to be made and not purchased (again to foster their creativity), and we have some challenges. Furthermore, I don't sew a lick! Last year he was a seagull dressed up like a witch, because in his words "regular seagulls are not Halloweeny". I have some ideas as to how to create the excavator costume. Fortunately, we just moved, so I have a lot of cardboard boxes. My main issue of concern is how to counterbalance the arm and bucket in the front, so that it doesn't fall too far forward. I saw that your students made an excavator costume for your PhD student, Chris. Would you please ask them for their suggestions as to how I can modify this for my son, and keep it from tipping forward. I had originally thought of making a lever so that he could actually hold the candy in the bucket, but I just can't wrap my brain around how to do it.

Thank you so much for your time.
Megan

Speaking of costumes, Happy Halloween! (It is only a little late!)

I approached Halloween with only a small amount of trepidation this year. (You may remember last year and my pitiful Martha Stewart moment.)

It was only a small amount of trepidation not because I had planned well. Or finished preparations early. Or found a sale. Or even bought a costume.

This year the costumes were on Chris' head! The boys wanted to be robots and Chris was totally excited to take that task on.

More power to ya, I say!

There was dreaming. There was planning. There was drawing. There was discussion. There were many ideas.

But perhaps the excitement waned a bit as he was up two nights in row till midnight making lights work.

Before Preschool

So, why was there any trepidation for me, you are wondering.

Because I was fairly certain, and proven right!, that Noah would once again decline to wear his costume. And then, as the mother, I was supposed to come up with those magic words that would convince him that wearing his costume was what he really wanted to do!

(Did you ever sit in church and watch mothers whisper to their children and then those children would sit still and quiet for the rest of the meeting? And did you ever wonder what magic words they said to achieve such amazing results? I had hoped that the magic came with the baby but, no, I am still wondering!)

First he wouldn't wear the hat part. And then before preschool he didn't want to wear the arm pieces. By the time we got to preschool he wouldn't put on any part of it. He was the only kid sitting in the circle at the start of preschool with no costume.

I left it just in case.

I picked him up from preschool curious as to how things had gone. He actually reported wearing his costume (at least the main part, although I am sure people wondered what his costume was) for a time! And of course, he was thrilled with the treats.
Trunk or Treat at the church yielded lots of goodies that Noah happily consumed in about a day and a half.
Ian, with no sweet tooth to speak of, was happy to share with his parents.
Sage, was a beautiful flower in my garden this year. She stayed pretty cozy in her fuzzy costume while she helped me hand out candy.

We hadn't completely decided if we were going to Trick or Treat our new neighbor's houses yet when we arrived home to our neighborhood after church and saw all the trick or treaters out already doing their thing.

It was about 2:00 in the afternoon! What the heck?

Anyway, we took naps instead. We will have to visit the neighbors with Christmas goodies instead.

After Halloween this email and picture arrived:

Dr. Ivantysynova,

Awhile back, I emailed you re: the excavator costume that your students fashioned for Chris Williamson. I am happy to report that I am *almost* finished my 4 year-old's Halloween costume! I still need to add a small box on the rear (the engine, I guess it is) to counterbalance the boom in front. It was certainly functional enough to win him "best costume" at his pre-school Halloween party today. Just thought that you and your students would get a kick out of it. Please see the attached photo.

Happy Halloween, and best wishes,
Megan

A Belly Flop

Not really. In fact, it was the complete opposite.

It was visit from Grandma and Grandpa Abbott. After a harrowing 9 hours they made it here from Minneapolis where they had been visiting my brother and his family.

Pretty much since the day we moved in I kept thinking the same thing over and over.

"I need my mommy." I know, I know. I am such a grown up.

But no matter how much HGTV I watch I still feel the need for a second opinion, help and creative ideas when it comes to finishing off the rooms in my house. I need my mommy.
I would love to tell you all about the awesome fun things we did but mostly we ran around, bought things and then returned them. Come visit me, I can show you a really good time:)

Grandpa was very cooperative and even got Sage up from a nap for us. One afternoon we came home to this:
Almost makes you think you should go out more often, huh?

Here, this picture of our little Godiva truffle is even better:
Ooh, and thanks Elise for the clothes! She has a chance of staying warm this winter!

We did fit in one little trip to the Jelly Belly warehouse. It was very interesting. Did you know it takes 10 to 12 days to make a jelly belly bean? Or that the soft inside and the hard outside both have flavor in them (unlike all other kinds of jelly beans)? Or that Ronald Reagan used jelly belly beans to quit smoking his pipe? And that blueberry jelly belly beans were created for his inauguration to make a red, white and blue set? I could go on. It was quite fascinating!

Mom has always been a rebel. Here she is not wearing her state mandated hat in the warehouse.
Some amazing jelly bean art.
But this was just about the best thing I saw that whole day. Aren't they cute?
We did finish up decorating my bedroom and living room while they were here but we really took it down to the wire. (pictures to come, I hope:) It always amazes me how curtains and rugs and lights can really make it feel like you are someplace.

In this case, home.

Thanks, Mommy. (And Dad!)

Sage's First Food and Little More Sweetness

I'm still playing catch up. This happened about a month or so ago.

First taste:
The real deal:


So sad it's all gone:


Sage showing just a little WI pride. Can you believe that Grandma Mar found this on sale in VA? Yeah, me neither. Guess WI was meant to be for us:) She is 5 months old here.
Here, at about 4 and a half months, she loves to keep me company in the kitchen in her exesaucer.Sometimes she gets some extra company and entertainment. Ian told me just the other day as they both lay on the floor for a diaper change, "Sage is my friend. I like her." I hope they really do become good friends!

Luke, This One's For You!!

Near...

Far...

Far...and...Near

Getting Settled

The month of October has been a busy one, as you can imagine.

The movers unloaded and drove away. I pulled on my deep water waders and started in. First, was finding the boys bedding so I could put them down for naps on that first day. Then I started in on the kitchen. I also knew I needed to find my bedding so I could fall into bed at the end of the day!

By the time Chris had come home I knew I had made some headway but it didn't really feel like it and it didn't really look like it. I was totally overwhelmed with the prospect of getting up and doing it all again the next day. I actually felt a little defeated as I lay in bed that night.

But I have a perfectly lovely husband who stayed up late and unpacked many, many boxes. The sun was shining brighter the next day.

We went to church that first weekend. We arrived late and found out we were early! It was a complete reversal from our previous experience. The Bishop came up introduced himself and called over the ward clerk to transfer records. A few others also came up quickly and introduced themselves.

It was Fast and Testimony meeting and the Bishop was conducting. He spoke about how he had been fasting, and hoped the ward was to, for the ward to grow through missionary efforts but also especially from new families with youth and primary children to move in. And there we were! We had been prayed there! How fun to see how the Lord had answered our prayers and those of the ward at the same time!

Noah loves his new room (and even loves sharing it with Ian!) and shelves for all his stuff. His bunkbed wouldn't fit into the room given the hall and the size of the doorway and the placement of the closet so for now it a mattress on the floor.
Our second night in the house Ian really, really wanted to sleep on Noah's bed. We figured, what the hay, we were going to move him out the crib soon anyway. (I had been postponing it since I was pretty sure that staying in bed would be an issue for him and with the whole moving thing it would just be a stressor for him and me!)

So we laid out the other mattress and set him up in a big boy bed. We also laid down the law.

Get out of bed and back in the crib you go. We had to put him in once but that was it. The crib came down about a week or so later.
Sage stayed in the basket for about a week more (there were so many little projects that needed to be done when Chris got home that always seemed to come before her crib-not to be confused with Ian's crib that doesn't fit through doorways without coming apart first). She acquired a new favorite position before moving to her big girl bed.
The toys were mostly unpacked pretty quickly too. The pile was driving me nuts so instead of going back to IN like we had planned we went to Ikea. We went from this:
To this:
I love it!! Makes my soul sing!

And after a lot of phone calls (curse not having the internet!) and asking everyone I talked to about other possibilities, I finally found a preschool for Noah. (Another blessing really. I needed an morning session and they were all full. Everyone I called. I finally found one in the next village over that had openings in the morning but had a hard time reaching the woman that I needed to speak to about it. In the meantime an opening came up at the one closest and cheapest to me. They had to offer the spots to the people on the waiting list first. They all declined to move from the afternoon spots they had. I had my pick of either a 3 or 2 day morning session. I got exactly what I wanted! It was yet another thing that the Lord has prepared for us here!)

I was also pretty proud of myself for remembering to take a picture of Noah on his first day going to Greendale Playschool. He loves it.
I asked him, that first day, if he had made some new friends. He earnestly told me yes. I asked what their names were and he said "I don't know." Did that mean that he didn't really make friends or that I really couldn't remember?

I was a little comforted after one of the other mothers paused after dropping off her daughter to relate two conversations she had with her daughter:
D: Guess what, mommy?
M: What?
D: We have a new friend at school. His name is Noah. He is nice.

The next preschool day:
D: Guess what, mommy?
M: What?
D: Today is preschool day. I get to see Noah. I like Noah.

PS We went to the doctor yesterday and found out that Noah, at 4 1/2 years old, is 45 inches tall-the median height for a 6 year old.

September and Our Moving Adventure

Chris left for Milwaukee and the kids and I toughed it out in IN for a week before he came back the following weekend.

(One of the major blessings and tender mercies of this month was that Chris was able to stay with his cousin John. It was quite "lucky" that John, who is in the midst of his first year of residency, had an 8-5 schedule for the month of September instead of his crazy, exhausting ward months where every 4th day he has a 30 hour shift. We are so grateful for their willingness to take on Chris for about 3 weeks! You know what they say about guests-they are like garbage. After a bit they start to stink!)

That first week was a long, long week. And the weekend with him home was a short, short weekend!

Before he left on Sunday I overheard Chris telling Noah that we were coming up to visit him in Milwaukee that week. Really!?! Surprise, surprise!

I planned a bit (when and how was I going to do this on my own?) and bagged a bit (of snacks and treats that I could throw to the back of the van while driving) and finally we took off Tuesday morning right after feeding Sage. We made great time and even with our two quick stops for a new movie and to prop up a bottle for Sage.

We stayed at a hotel with a great little kiddie pool and spent the evenings with daddy.
We stayed two nights and drove back the third morning. Again, I was amazed by how awesome the kids were for the drive. I felt so empowered making that three and a half hour drive with three kids by myself :)

We made it to the weekend when Chris came down again-poor guy always left after work and always hit Chicago at rush hour. One of his tasks for the weekend? Bring back all the things we had de-cluttered out of our house and stored at a very generous friends house! (Another task was to re-home our cat, Malcolm, but our farewell is for another post.)
Why? Because the movers were coming!! Tuesday the movers (Gotta love that word! More later about why I really did love my movers!) came and started packing us up.
They packed Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday and part of Thursday. It was kinda tough doing three kids with more and more of their stuff packed up but the boys loved the big truck and were allowed a tour of the trailer and the cab.

As for Sage, she was an angel through it all. I think how all this could have been if she had been like the second-it would have been lunacy. Mine! Stark-raving-commit-her-to-an-institution-mad! But I know that Heavenly Father knows what we need and it was this:
The sweetest, most easy going, and undeniably adorable little girl! She is a very good traveler, riding quietly or sleeping, and has been very obliging in being smaller in size than her brothers at her age. She slept in this moses basket till she was just over 4 months old. I felt so blessed that she still fit! Her bed was small and portable so that even in hotels she had a consistent, familiar place to sleep. This was her preferred sleeping position.

Ok, so that gets us up to about September 30th, when we were supposed to close on the house. Due to lack of communication from an appraiser we had to push that back a day. We successfully closed on October 1st. However, since we couldn't get a closing time till the afternoon the movers wouldn't be able to unload our stuff till Monday. Yay, one more weekend in a hotel! (Can you hear the sarcasm oozing out of that last statement?)

But lets say the glass is half full and remember that this meant I got to clean the house before unloading day. And seriously, I would wait all weekend for my movers. They were so awesome! I was so happy to have movers-what woman with a 3 kids under 4, one being a 4 month old baby, wouldn't be thrilled? But there was certainly some trepidation. Who hasn't heard the horror stories? Fires in the moving truck, lost belongings, long waits for delivery, etc., etc., etc.

Merchant's Moving is a little different than the big national chains. They are family owned and take extreme pride in doing excellent work. They only hire full-time employees and never use temporary or contract labor. Our belongings were the only things on the truck and should there be a hitch in the works they will keep the things on the truck for one week. After that it would be stored in their secure warehouse. The same workers pack, load, drive, and unload on the other end. I had a moving coordinator that took care of scheduling and whom I could call with any questions or concerns throughout the process.

I was feeling way better about things and with good reason. They were great. I happily filled out a survey telling them how smoothly things went and how pleased I was with the jobs that each person had done. I concluded by commenting that the only way it could have been better was if they had sent two moving truck magnets for my two boys instead of one.

Just a couple of days ago I got a letter in the mail from the president of the company and these:

I told you they were great!