The Measure of My Dreams

On our 7th anniversary I feel this song best captures my feelings for you Pete. Happy Anniversary! I love you.

Working For A Living

Well, we are settling into dog ownership quite nicely. I do think that I need to take him to training. He chases cats and barks at funny things. Hans is in heaven and is so glad the adoption is complete after the three day trial. Hans has been really funny and emotional lately. Also, he has chosen some really interesting outfits.
He has been riding his bike a lot and is so proud that he rides a two wheeler. Today we took the dog for a good walk and he and Oscar rode their bikes. Last night Hans watched Get a Life with Oscar and spent all night talking about getting a job delivering papers. I do mean all night, he talks in his sleep. He woke this morning telling me how rested he was for an interview and first day on the job. He was not pleased that I didn't give him a ride to the Tribune but instead folded and rubber banded the City Weekly and delivered them to all our neighbors. He still hasn't bought my story of my past in the newspaper business. Guess he doesn't think I'm cool enough.

Hans, being Petes son, tries to make a stop at Club Expose. Dancers and TV sports? What more can you ask for.

I think we may have worn the dog out.

I had an appointment this afternoon and when I returned home this was how I found Hans. Oscar did the artwork. A little red on the cheeks and nose for the cold effect.

I'm not sure what effect the beard was trying to convey but I'm pretty sure that the tattoos were to hopefully give it a little masculine feel. Here he is trying to make the snake on his arm move.

And because Olive cannot stand to be upstaged she insisted on the same exact number of photos of just her.



Just in case you were curious, she also watched Get a Life, and is also a graduate of the Handsome Boy Modeling School.

I Whisper to Babies AND Dogs

Yesterday we adopted a new member to our family. I have been searching for the perfect dog for the past several months. Even before we moved. I wanted this to be just right and a lifelong relationship for us. After a week of checking this guys photos out online we went to meet him yesterday in Park City. It was a perfect match and felt just perfect. The kids are in heaven and he follows Hans around like a... well, puppy. It feels like he has been here forever and I just love him. We had our friends the Newbolds over last night and they were really gracious about me showing up late with a new pet. We had a great time and watched all the neighbor kids and ours play and the dogs check each other out and when it was time for the evening to end, I was spent and ready to see how our first night would go. I had barely made it to the bedroom and the phone rang. Pete's baby brother Zak and his wife were in the hospital, in labor with their first baby. I was honored that they had asked me to be present for the birth and rushed right over. That was 10:30 last night and at 4:45 this morning baby boy Lindgren had arrived in this world. I will never get over the awe of watching a new life enter the world. Rebecca was a champ and did so awesome. Welcome to the sisterhood! The baby is beautiful! So much hair and sweet little face. I adore Zak and seeing him welcome his son into this world is an experience I will never forget. So thank you guys. Also, I was able to call dibs on favorite aunt.

Banana Cave

Pete has had this past week off for vacation. Or, I guess the new, hipper word is "staycation". We have been able to get a lot done on the house and it has been nice having him around.

A highlight of the week was when Aunt Tara picked up all four kids and took them to her house for two nights. Yeah for Aunt Tara! Not only do all the kids love her, but so do I, so it was a great peace of mind knowing that they were so well cared for. You may be wondering what Pete and I did with almost three kid free days. I have two words for you. Banana Cave. One of my favorite places in Salt Lake is Market Square. It sells salvaged freight amongst other things. It is awesome. There are two separate stores packed full of stuff and cheap,cheap,cheap. One sells clothes, shoes, haircare, makeup, office supplies, anything you would find at a Target, as well as food. There is a designer section where there are no children under 16 allowed and they have extremely high end goods that are heavily discounted. The other store is industrial and I have never had a need to explore it. On Wednesday, Pete and I thought we'd see if they sold furniture. They do. More importantly they have a section called the bargain cave. All the items that are on their way out are given a final chance at the cave. You can fill a banana box for $5.00. So we did. Totally awesome, worthless things amongst a few that we may actual want or use. For Siobhan...a stack of math and English workbooks that she will be working on this summer in preparation for high school. She also received a few skinny scarves and a I Heart Geeks coin purse. If you think I am mean, ask her how she did in school this year.

Hans was the recipient of a cowboy hat,blow up Koala that says G'Day God, lemur, a really soft mouse that is actually a cat toy, a celebrating Mass for kids book, wristbands, sweatband, magnifying glass, a stack of about 200 tattoos and various other crazy things.

Oscar now has several rolls of register tape, which he uses to make long diorama type pictures and comics, barf bags that actually say that on them, army patches, comic books, more wristbands, and a calculator/ruler and a book of cheat codes for video games.

Olive is the proud owner of several American Express restaurant check holders, perfect for her new restaurant set up in the playroom, a set of pricing signs, a water bottle holder, hat, scarf, headbands, a stack of megaphones and tights.

For the man in my life, a new scarf, socks, chef hat and apron, shower slippers, cigar cutter?, sushi roller and a Michelob light lip balm on a neck chain.

I also was able to find some great things for myself also and we wrapped up a day on our own eating popcorn chicken in bed after killing way too much wine. So, thanks Tara for a great break. I think that was the first time all four kids have been gone for a full day. It was strange without them but we somehow managed.

After presenting the kids with all their loot, Oscar felt it necessary to keep the party going and searched the lawn with his metal detector for any more goodies. The best part was the neighbor boy brought out is own and joined him. Once again leading me to the conclusion that this is the place.

Sports!

Last night the Newbolds took us out to a ballgame. The Salt Lake Bees stadium is 5 blocks from our house. This is great in so many ways... able to watch the fireworks from home, able to drink at home and walk to the game, able to meet a huge bee. The kids had so much fun. Olive is a little in love with Paxton. Hans is enjoying the fact that the boys just wind each other up into a huge mess of screaming and wresting. That's just Pete and Travis, the kids are even crazier. Once again I am left knowing that we made the right decision coming back to Salt Lake. Having been away we can now appreciate how valuable our friendships we have are and really enjoy them. Thanks for a great night Travis and Misty!
On another note I have to make mention of the awesomeness of Craigslist and KSL. KSl is a local television station that runs a classified section online. Our new house was originally rented out as two apartments and has a mother in law kitchen in the basement. That left us with an extra refrigerator and stove. We posted them yesterday and within a half an hour had a man come and take away the fridge. Today I found a washer and dryer for free! So now we will have clean clothes on top of a new place to live! I made Siobhan take the drive with me, as it was in American Fork, about 40 minutes away. These people were so nice they wouldn't even let me load it into the car or help. They had bought a new plug for the dryer and the husband got out his tools and put it all together for me. You never know who you will meet and I kind of love that. Last week we sold an armoire that we no longer wanted, the guy that came stayed and talked for about a half an hour. Being a middle school teacher, he had a great deal of advice for Siobhan. She is a little less than thrilled with my encounters. Her least favorite though was about 3 weeks ago. I don't know if every city has clean up week but you leave out whatever you want and the city comes and picks it up for recycling or the dump or whatever. There are quite a few people who make a job of trolling the clean up week neighborhoods. It happened that over by the boys school clean up was a few weeks back and when I picked Oscar up and was driving home through the neighborhood I found some really great chairs. Or they could be really great chairs with new covers and some oil. So, I took them, olg with two Louis Vuitton suitcases. Siobhan was/is mortified but look at my new chairs for the porch!

HOME

So, here we are. After a looong hiatus, I am back with computer access. As of this weekend we are property moguls. Now the proud owners of two homes, I liken ourselves to the Montelongos (shout out David!). I could not be more smitten with our new home. Look at the door! And that window! I have my own sewing room! With that window! A huge selling point was this awesome neighborhood. Look at that, no street. We park in the alley way behind our house. It's one way so there are no drive trough's. There are a lot of kids and everybody just hangs out on their porch. It is so quiet we have turned to the fan for some noise. Oh yeah, the fan is for background now that we have CENTRAL AIR! Bring it on summer.
I am also excited to have a fireplace that functions. Our first home had a great fireplace that someone had bricked the inside of rendering it useless. I have yet to convince Pete that we can just run the air conditioner and have a fire for the mood. Just kidding Pete.

I think the kids are going to be happy here. They all really love this house and have big plans for decorating their rooms. We are grateful that John and Sharron let us live with them for so long. It went really well and I am glad that we left happy and loving each other. The move itself has left me with an enormous sense of gratitude and love. We had so many people help and after spending the day moving all of our stuff Pete's brothers and Dad did all of our yard work, cut down trees, raked, pulled weeds and did it with smiles on their faces. I feel very blessed to be a part of such a great family. Same goes for our friends. Ryan was a huge help and it is fun to be living back by the Benches. Travis and Misty have been so fun to hang out with and I have even made some new friends. So, all in all a great few months. Now, onto our new life back in Utah in our own home.
Tomorrow is Hans' last day of kindergarten. He started out a little behind and ends as the top reader in all three Kindergarten classes at his school. He won one of two citizenship awards that the Kindergarten gave out this year. He has made many friends and is happy and healthy. Oscar ends fifth grade also having received an award from his school. As always he has excelled at school and earned all A's ,except for keyboarding which I told him was a chump class(just kidding secretaries). Siobhan will begin high school next year, as far as we know, grades haven't posted yet. What she lacks in time spent on school work she makes up in time spent socializing and is quite popular. Surprise. Olive has felt a little displaced this year and has acted out by trying to learn everything Hans is learning. She has started reading some of the beginner books and also tells great stories about things that happened while Hans was gone for two and a half hours. There are so many things that have happened in the time I have been away from this space. I have missed it and know for a fact it contributes greatly to my mental health. I plan on a flurry of posting this week but what would a Wednesday be without a list?
Hard to narrow this but 5 things that have happened in the last 8 months.


#1. Hans lost his two bottom teeth.

#2. We went to Arches National Park.

#3. I have two new nieces and a nephew on the way.

#4. I have decided I would like to become a funeral midwife.

#5. Oscar showered.