Happy Fa-a-achoo -ther's Day

Father's day started incredibly early in the Murphy household. I was up at 5:55am to make breakfast for Mike which he got to eat in bed. Mike planned to leave the house at 6:45am to be to the golf course this morning for a 7:27am tee time with Dan, my dad, and Rob. Dan set this up with everyone and I was so happy that Mike finally got out on the course.

He returned home about 1pm and said he played decently. I don't think he hit any sand and he said he loved his new clubs which he's only gotten to use a couple times. Then he started sneezing and really never stopped the rest of the day. We managed to squeeze in some time to open presents. He was given a map by each kid to find his present. Maddie's map was about 7 directions - it took him all of 15 seconds to locate his gift under her bed, but she got such a thrill and giggle with each new direction he had to follow! Jake's map literally consisted of a box labeled, "Maddie" and a box labeled "Jake" with a line between them. Mike just looked at me and I mouthed, "rooms" and he went in to Jake's room and looked at Jake. Jake said, "Maybe you should look in my closet." Lo and behold! There was his gift! One of the gifts we got Mike was a hammock. The ropes on his old one broke last year and he was pretty happy to get a new one. He managed between sneezes to get this up, but didn't take a chance outside much longer than that. After that he laid on the couch and either blew his nose or sneezed. Other than this morning, I believe the rest of his Father's Day was pretty cruddy.

In thinking about this Father's Day though - I wanted to post a couple pictures of Mike with the kids - these are some of my favorite shots from the past years:

Jake has always been a fish in the pool. This is at my parents' house when Jake was 2 1/2 years old. They were having so much fun - Jake jumping from the sides into the pool - Mike catching or throwing him up. I think we definitely owe Jake's water fearlessness to Mike.

And this is Maddie's first Easter. This has been one of my favorite pictures ever since. Mike was SO proud of how cute and dressed up Maddie was that day. We lived in North Carolina and after church we went to the Officer's Club for brunch. If ever a dad beamed when he walked into a room with his kids - it was that day with Mike. He walked her around and "showed her off" to all the people we knew there.
And here's today's picture. He still plays like crazy with them and if ever there were two kids who beam when their dad gives them all his attention - it's our two kids.

A Night on the Town

Tonight Maddie & Jake had a night out with my parents. They've all been planning this for awhile - it was to celebrate going into first grade and fourth grade. The evening started at 4:30 with dinner reservations at Wildfire. Why would my kids want to go there? Of course - they have the best macaroni & cheese anywhere. My kids have a rating scale for mac & cheese at any restaurant and this restaurant (from two previous engagements there...) rates a perfect 10. So, they were QUITE excited to get to eat there.

After that it was off to the Children's Theater for a performance of "Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle". If you haven't heard of her, these are great children's books. I think they were originally published in the 40's or 50's. Madison has read all of them (four total) at least three times. For awhile (pre-Nancy Drew era) it was all she read. So, when they saw it was going to be at the theater my parents thought that the kids would get a kick out of seeing it performed.

So, at 3:30 everyone was ready to go - dressed to the nines! When I gave Jake the option of the white or orange shirt with his tie, I was shocked when he chose the white because it went with his vest. Madison opted for this dress, though she really wanted a sundress. However, I just felt like it was a special occasion and I assured her that grandma and grandpa would be dressed up too. So, she got into it getting her hair curled (to look like Nancy Drew) and a necklace - but no earrings. (She has so much to learn!!) Anyway - grandma and grandpa came but were dressed nice casual and my kids wanted to know where grandpa's tie was. My fault. I totally accept blame - and I was quite surprised when my parents dropped them off and my mom was in a different colored sweater and my dad was in a shirt and tie. They felt so bad they actually drove home to change clothes so they were as dressed up as the kids! Grandparents can be such suckers!

When they got back - I don't know who was more excited - my mom or Maddie and Jake! It was hard to keep up with all the stories! My mom said it was just the most wonderful night. They got candles on their dessert because the waitress thought it was so neat that they were going to be in 1st and 4th grade! Then the production - honestly, Maddie did not stop talking until we finally got them in bed. I mean - I think she reenacted this entire play! Mike looked at me at one point wide eyed with a look that said, "She's not going to stop talking!"
My favorite part was when she was talking about some girl in the performance and Maddie said (at a mile a minute), "then she got SO mad! Then she said...(whispered) she said the "s" word..." And I'm thinking, "What the heck kind of production is the Children's theater getting into???" and Maddie followed it up with, "She said....shesaidshutup....I know, we aren't supposed to say shut up...but..." The "s" word was "shut up". I love that! If only innocence could last forever!
Jake told us - when he could get a word in edge-wise - that he wished we could have seen it because we would have "LAUGHED. TO. DEATH." According to him, he laughed to death. Even my mom said it was more fun watching him at one point then watching the play.
And I must say, I'm so excited that they had such a great experience. I love musicals and going to shows - maybe that means that there will be some future shows that we can all partake in together! Mike better start saving his money!!!

Basement Update

We've had a lot of family and friends ask us how our basement has been going. Slowly but surely we are making progress. The last few weekends has been devoted to sheetrocking. I mean devoted. This past Sunday Mike and I pushed to finish the last remaining rooms - awful. They were the bathroom, and under the stairs. These tiny rooms alone took as much time as the bigger areas - and frustrating!!! I know I personally cut one piece three times before it was right. First it was drawn backwards (not my drawing!) then it was redrawn upside down (definitely my drawing) then I finally was able to draw it correctly but only after laying in the opening with a piece of scrap sheetrock held up and drawn looking directly at it. It was as confusing as it sounds.

Sunday night before heading to my parents' for dinner I lamented that we hadn't totally finished - we had literally two strips to cut and we would have been done. Whining helped and Mike and I cut these really quickly and did finish. According to Mike we aren't done sheetrocking because there is a large pile of scrap pieces in the middle of the room. Then there are usable pieces all around the rooms - anyone need any sheetrock?

However, according to me, sheetrocking can be checked off the list - it's on the walls. The rest is filed under "clean-up" on my list - and we all know how good I am at that!

This is the view from the stairs to our fireplace - the big wall holes will be surrounding the t.v. that seems to get bigger and bigger with each discussion.

This is the view from my soon to be craft area towards Mike's bar. The doorway-looking thing on the right will be where all the AV equipment (and I'm sure I'm naming it incorrectly) will be stored.
So - on to the next step. After cleaning...bleck...will be taping/mudding. Then maybe - FINALLY - we'll get to start looking at colors!

Quick Trip

Wednesday school ended and Maddie was home at 3:20 - by 4:00pm we were all packed in the car and headed to Iowa to visit Mike's family. We had realized on Monday night that Thursday and Friday were the only two consecutive days in June that we had nothing happening. July was already pretty packed and we really wanted to get down there to visit. So, this last minute trip was planned fairly quickly. We are seasoned pros on this trip though so there wasn't much packing time involved - just a phone call to see if anyone down there was available for us to visit. Luckily they had some openings in their schedules too.

Maddie and Jake were pretty excited to see their cousins. They wanted to head over to the other Murphy house at 10:30pm when we arrived. We held off, though Maddie did get to talk to her cousin, Samantha. Because of snow day make-ups for the Iowa Murphy's they still had to go to school through Friday. For the Minnesota Murphy kids that meant more time with Grandma and her favorite pooch - Ginger.

Thursday night was a glimpse of Pat & Missy's summer schedule. Steven plays baseball, Samantha plays softball and Aaron plays baseball as well. We spent Thursday night traveling between their second homes: ball fields. Samantha had a softball game and Steven had a double-header. Luckily they were fairly close to each other. This is Samantha's first year as a softball player - she did well - had a great bunt to get to first. Unfortunately her team lost, but not because of a lack of cheering from their fans.

We attended the second of Steven's first two games. I guess his coach didn't get the memo that we could only attend Steven's second game - Steven ended up playing in the first game and we didn't get to see him play.

The other Murphy's were out of school early on Friday which left time for us to get Whitey's ice cream. If you are ever in Davenport don't miss out on this ice cream parlor. It's the best. It's also Mike's alma mater for work while in high school. And because he was making fun of me earlier tonight I'm going to give you a treat and see him in all his high school glory working at the local ice cream shop:

Nice Hat!!!

Friday at 4:00pm we were waving goodbye and heading back up to Minnesota.

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!

It's official - we now have a first grader and a fourth grader. In fact even before leaving for the bus this morning both kids were running around yelling "I'm in first grade!" or "I'm a fourth grader". I was the voice of reality and told them they still had either 2 1/2 hours to get through (Jake) or all day for Maddie until they could yell that. Then by all means, let the world know. And yes, they both looked at me like I was a kill-joy.

Jake had a kindergarten graduation. He's been pretty "hush-hush" about this all, but they've been learning songs and he's occasionally been humming them around the house. It was a cute little program and they all got their diplomas. Grandma and Grandpa Smith were able to make it and we all celebrated with a special lunch at Panera - one of Jake's favorite haunts because of the cinnamon roll or chocolate croissant. Today they'd sold out of the cinammon roll right before we arrived - thank goodness they still had a croissant or we may have ended up somewhere else.

So - three cheers for our graduates of 2017 and 2020. It seems ridiculously far away, but I know the time will fly!

Our Possessed Trees

This spring we've really spent a lot of time worrying about our front tree. This tree has kicked butt in growing since we moved in. But, last fall it lost it's leaves really early and this spring nothing seemed to be popping out of buds when all the other trees around it were turning green. Now, neither Mike nor I claim to have green thumbs - there are no plants in our home. In fact, our thumbs aren't even green enough to have fake plants in our home.

At dinner one night a few weeks ago we were discussing this pitiful tree and trying to figure out how to help it. I'd broken off a twig earlier and we saw it was still green; other neighbors reassured us that it had buds and they were sure it would grow...eventually. Anyway - knowing it still had somewhat of a lifespan we had to fight for, we were brainstorming on how to help it. I offered up the best and only advice I knew of from 6th grade...talk to it. Only you have to talk to it close up and in a really breathy voice that expelled a lot of Carbon Dioxide - this would make the tree grow. I suggested to the kids that they start to talk to it on a regular basis.

We have two good listeners. Over the next few days while waiting to get in the car for errands they would run up to the tree and talk in this new manner to it and say how much we loved the tree and how it needed to grow and get big like the other trees around it. One day I came out and even found Jake hugging the tree. Okay - I decided we were maybe taking it to the extreme at that point. Jake and I headed to Lowe's to seek some professional advice. They suggested fertilizer spikes, then just go ahead use the rest of the spikes to fertilize the other healthy trees and they'll grow "like maniacs". I believe those were the salesman's exact words.

In the meantime we've continued to talk to the tree. In fact, leaving the house yesterday Mike was delayed in getting to the car and the kids were hopping to get going. He casually - as if it were an everyday sentence - said, "Go talk to the tree." Most kids get sent to talk to the dog...we send ours to talk to the tree. Anyone have the name of a good therapist?

But, whatever it was...the spikes, the extra water, or the extra love - our tree finally had some buds start popping open. Now our next problem: only half the tree has opening buds. The other half is still quite stubborn.

However, across the other half of the yard we have all new problems that I don't think are solve-able. This tree decided to grow "like a maniac" - meaning it's literally crazy.

School hasn't even ended...

Saturday started like any other weekend in the Murphy house - except that we finally had some decent weather that looked like it was going to stick around more than an hour. So, the kids were forced outside. Jake headed out to meet up with one of a zillion boys in our neighborhood. Maddie headed out to meet up with one of about 4 girls in the neighborhood she knows from school. Her situation growing up here is very similar to mine growing up - very few girls for her to play with, except that she has about four times more than I did. However, Saturday was the preview for many days to come: All four girls were either out of town or busy and not home. Not good, and out of her mouth came...say it with me moms...."I'M SO BORED!"

So the unofficial summer motto had been spoken. I offered up what my mom always offered: "You can clean your room!" I thought this would send her running as it did me many times (and still does, by the way...). But, nope, my trooper was bound to drag me down with her. I've never brainstormed so hard in my life! We finally managed to make it to lunchtime and I told both kids that I'd take them to the park and they could each bring a friend. (Before you think I was rubbing it in on Maddie, one of the four had come to the door 5 minutes earlier to see if she could play). So after lunch we biked to the green park, played and biked back. Her friend stayed an extra hour and then when she was alone, that unofficial summer motto made it's way back into my daily routine. I can only imagine how the rest of summer is going to go!

Today (Sunday) was great! We actually didn't wake up until almost 8:45! (To all my friends with babies...your day will come!) We lounged around a bit and decided to head out for a late breakfast at Panzanella. It's similar to Panera, except, as Mike stated, it isn't owned by "the man"...it's a Shakopee place. Delicious food.

Well, Maddie decided to go for the half-order of pancakes. It was the size of her head. She was quite proud of the fact that she managed to eat her way through three-fourths of it!

Jake enjoys the chocolate croissant at the aforementioned other "P" place. So, he went for that here. When he found out Maddie got bacon. Whew....the aura of breakfast darkened a bit. He begged, pleaded, begged, asked nicely, reminded Maddie it's nice to share and finally coaxed a bit of bacon away from her. Only to be followed by his same routine in hopes of getting more.

Before you think we actually allow our kids to sit like frogs in restaurants - I want to make sure everyone understands I first took this picture then looked at Mike who said to both Jake/frog and Maddie who had licked the powdered sugar off her pancake, "People...manners."

Home again after breakfast. Mike power-mowed the grass and after finishing the front quarter and turning on the sprinklers he met me around the corner and asked if I would bring the hose to the front tree. I rounded the corners, saw the sprinklers right where he thought it would be so funny to see me get drenched and did what any sane mother would do...I called the kids. It's one of the reasons we have them in the first place...do the dirty work. They were already in swim suits waiting patiently for the pool to heat up and Mike and I to get done with a few other chores.

Maddie whole-heartedly volunteered for duty - until those first few drops of cold sprinkler water hit her...then she dropped the hose and ran.

She'll make a great mom someday!

Soon both kids were running through the sprinklers because:

Have suits...must get wet.

Having gotten soaked in the cold sprinkler water they were more than ready to head back to the pool where we were still waiting for the sun, cover & heater to work their magic. Here's what I found when I got to the deck:

Way to make the most of the small space, huh?

Then it was spending the rest of the afternoon in the pool and in the sun. Yep - even I got in! In fact, the first round of pool time I outlasted 'em all...amateurs!

After about an hour in the pool we decided to warm up in the sun and each pulled out a favorite read: Maddie (decided to start "Hans Brinker") Jake (Maddie found some Junie B. Jones for him) and Mike...normally a book-scrooge kind of guy stuck with his tried and Home Theater magazine articles.

Today was the first day the flags were out. To our neighbors that means the pool is open and families are welcome to drop in and swim. Hopefully the weather will keep cooperating and there will be many flag days ahead.

And hopefully this fun, full day is the kick-off for a relatively limited number of sighed "unofficial summer mottos".