Eureka! A Christmas Card and Letter

Merry Christmas from the Nelsons! Welcome to our 2010 Christmas card and photos online. Phoebe (7), Annika (6), Tanner (2)
New Christmas artwork from myself and the kids
from Tanner

from Annika

and from Phoebe

"Eureka" sums up the Nelson year pretty well, I am thinking. As in , "Eureka!" the year passed so quickly and the holidays were here in no time, as I am sure it was for many of us.

And as in, "Eureka!" a good exclamation to science experiments. How I, Nicole, a verbal artistic sort, ended up in a household of science aficionados I am not quite sure. But a year of science experiments it has been. Literally: the kids always have some crazy concoction, gadget, or animal exploration of some sort going and the Discovery and National Geographic channels are a must in our house. And as I thought through our year, figuratively also. Lets take a look at the lab book, shall we?

The physics of plastic particulates (bouncing balls and polymers): This would be Jeff's experiment of the year. He bounced right out of GMAC and into Crating Concepts (his own business in the moving industry of all things, so ironically funny). An interesting mix of components makes this experiment volatile at times, difficult to predict, but mostly fun and rewarding. You never know where that ball is going to go, and adjustment has been a major factor in our life. But he is the happiest he's been in years.

Electric stimulus: That would be Annika. Much like thunderbolts, batteries, and all electric currents I would describe her year as a combination of huge stores of energy, sparks, and power outages. This fun, and often hilarious, child definitely likes to mix it up, constantly messing with the generator and various power lines. Preschool was fun, kindergarten too easy and a hard social adjustment in some ways. Gymnastics was an even flow current, softball had interruptions in service. Swimming was a fun jolt of wattage that she got a kick out of. She was highly efficient when it came to friends, and chose two: Graham her best buddy and Mrs. Ferry the school secretary. Both excellent power sources.

The worm farm: Phoebe. Are you surprised? You shouldn't be. This one is definitely literal and figurative. This girl can catch and contain more bugs in more plastic containers than anyone I have ever met. And like her cups of bugs, it takes a while to see what is inside this shy creature, but it is quite fun and fascinating when you get there. She still loves dance, art, books, her friends, giggling, and school. Not to be outdone by little sister is becoming a trend though: you should see her dive and swim like a water beetle and ride her bike. A big achievement: she was honored as one of six kids in her grade at a school board meeting for good character, and the cool part is that this was the third year in a row.

Mold infestations: This would be Tanner. He just keeps growing and growing, changing colors, sometimes stinky and fuzzy, somewhat difficult to contain, but always interesting. Trust me, though, this is good mold. Like bleu cheese or penicillin. You have to adore this affectionate, lovable little guy who is either super happy or mad at the world. He LOVES construction. LOVES it. His life is ruled by forklifts, diggers, dump trucks, and tools. But that's not all he likes. He does like garbage trucks and the chipper machine. And books and cutting. Really likes to cut stuff. And making messes. And staying up ridiculously late at night. Yeah, definitely mold. But he did manage to rock potty training at 2 1/2!

Baking soda and vinegar volcano: That would be yours truly. I tried mixing it up a little this year with fairly volatile results leaving a trail of lava, ash, and gas in my wake, and a few art projects :). Babysitting was a pretty big explosion. And trying to volunteer has been a pretty close second. I am realizing I need to slow down, adjust to not being able to control anything, accept life for what it is, and stick to what I know (I just have to figure out what that is). It is helping that I found a great doctor a month ago that is finally listening and getting to the heart of some issues.

Nature vs. Nurture: We experimented with separating the family for vacations several times this year with good results. Jeff and I went by ourselves for a fantabulous week to St. Maarten. I went scrapping for a weekend. Jeff trained in Cincinatti for two months. The kids went to week long grandparent camps in Illinois and Iowa. We looked at marine species at the Shedd Aquarium and the human species of Chicago (its' own breed that is for sure).

There I think that sums it up. I am not even going to hypothesize what next year brings. I can merely continue to observe and gather data and watch our experiments grow.

I do know one TRUTH: that Jesus was born to be the Light of the world. I will continue to seek that Light in my life, and I hope that his Love fills yours with joy and peace.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Morning One Liners

Had to get these down. Helped I was already signed in. :)
In the first five minutes of today, Tanner, in his best adorable just waking up two year old voice, said the following:

"I can watch tv. But I finish snuggling you first." Melted my heart.
"I don't have time to do that!" (On needing to use the bathroom) made me laugh.
"Mmm! They smell great!" (On whether his underwear were clean or not) made me laugh harder, and check!

Happy Halloween!

They are loving this holiday! We carved a skull, a silly fireman, and a happy person listening to headphones in our pumpkinds and used gourds from Grandma's garden to decorate.

Papa even got into character to hand out candy!

Annika couldn't even wait to get INSIDE the house to see her loot.

Tanner preferred the fireman over the chipper truck/construction option. He has worn it every day this week and been saving countless kitties. Apparently he is unconcerned about fires.

Here is the Perry the Platypus!

Wha' cha' doin' Isabella? She has been looking for Phineas all week. :P

And a fabulous action shot of all three! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for use of their camera and for lunch! Tanner always loves a good bucket of shicken. Anyone want some candy?

blogs, blogs, and more blogs

I started searching for the Perry Platypus costume Saturday and ended up bouncing from blog to blog to blog. There are a LOT of blogs out there. Some of them really cool or funny or informative. This is my new list of faves that I am following.


My artsy, crafty side is checking these for awesome, inspiring projects for me to do or with the kids:
http://www.wipkits.blogspot.com/ Been a fave for scrapping, recipes, & photography tips for a long time.
http://www.dabbled.org/ where I found ideas for Perry
http://www.endlesscrafting.blogspot.com/ just fun to look
http://www.filthwizardry.com/ amazing stuff for the kids, especially Annika. Cannot WAIT to try these.
http://www.deepspacesparkle.blogspot.com/ fabulous art lessons. I want to be this woman!!!!!

Our new business and my not working is pushing our budget and inspiring me to be more thrifty and at the same time more green. Several of these also are helping at the same time with my desire to be more stylish, on that skinny budget. So then they are pushing my creative side.
www.angelabarton.com/blog A Year Without Spending! Nuff said
http://www.kaylaksthriftyways.com/ Even more fun: turns out she is in Ames and a 4H junkie! and her mom does a fab learning site we love from Naomi! http://www.makinglearningfun.com/
http://www.livingonadime.com/
http://www.newdressaday.com/ This woman decided to raid thrift stores and retool $1 items into cool outfits. LOVE IT! I want to challenge myself to find a cute outfit for under $10 total at a thrifty store.

And then just for FUN and LAUGHS I found http://www.hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/ This woman is hilarious and was one heck of a child. ****Note***** I just read more, and laughed a lot, but encountered bad language and maybe some posts that would not be funny to some, so beware. But if you have a somewhat demented sense of humor, like me, and can look past a couple naughty words, it's really really funny.

Muffins, a miff and a platypus

I made the absolute best muffins tonight. Got the basic recipe from www.cooks.com (same place we got the bean soup...really liking that site!). But I had seen another recipe that added apple chunks. The kids ate two each, Jeff stole two or three, and I was supposed to take them for my coffee mom group in the morning. Might have to run to Walmart in the morning quick so I can make more. So note: you might need to make a double batch. They are THAT good!
Ready, It's a hard one:
1 can of pumpkin, 1 box spice cake mix, about 1 cup of apples
Bake

There you go!!!! Amazingly yummy. I'd put a pic of them up, or us enjoying them. But heres the miff. I was taking a picture of Tanner being silly riding his trike in the living room wearing his footie jammies and hard hat. I went to move something, dropped the camera, it bounced off Jeff's ladder and landed on the floor; lens at a horrible cock-eyed position. UGH!

And a platypus. I HAVE to get pics of this. So I promise to find a camera before this weekend/Halloween. But I am so stinking proud of the Perry the Platypus costume I made for Annika. The character is from a kid show on Disney, Phineas and Ferb. I ended up finding a woman's size small turtleneck and an XL sweatshirt that I proceeded to cut up and sew back together to resemble what would fit Annika's skinny minny body. I am so glad Mom made me do 4H and that I learned so much! You were right, as usual, Mom!

Off to put giant foamcore presents together. Jeff is subcontracted to put these up in 20 different Sam's Clubs around the city this week. Pulling some late nights/early mornins to get them up without whacking any shoppers. :) So I get to help :) Actually not all bad, glad I can help him. Worth it to have him in this job and happy.

Confession Time

I NEVER in a million years thought I would confess this. My mom and dad will never believe it. I used to GROAN loudly when I had to do this chore. I judicously traded with Jeff to avoid this chore. I have purchased houses based on their ability to do this chore. And yet, here I am.

I like hand washing my dishes.

There it is out. It has been a month since I decided my dishwasher was only worthy of being a dryer rack, except for extreme moments when if I pre scrub enough I can break down and use it. But otherwise my dishes are cleaner. I enjoy that quiet, methodical time. It is calming somehow. And I enjoy that the girls sit at the table to do their homework while I wash and rinse chatting with me about their day. Or they all leave me alone in the somewhat silent kitchen to listen to the clinks of plates and silverware.

A good way to end the day.

Rolling Good Time

We had another family wedding on the Pickrell side this weekend in Omaha. I decided to hitchhike with my parents and leave the kids at home with Jeff. And then my sister Sarah made the same smart decision. I have to say the trip lived up to my expectations. I don't even remember the last time the four of us (parents and sisters) had been alone like that together, if ever. We had a BLAST! We didn't stop laughing until we fell into bed on Friday night at my Grandma Plymesser's house. All six hours to Iowa were spent giggling. And the rest of the weekend followed suit!
This side of the family is well known for having a good time and for talking up a storm, and this event did not disappoint. Even though our yummy excursion to Applebees made us some of the last to arrive to the wedding, we still got in some time quickly before it started to chat with relatives we hadn't seen in ages, and some we just saw this summer. Jessica and Josh's wedding was beautiful. Guess who I forgot to get pictures of? You'll just have to imagine/remember how fabulous they looked. And once the wedding was over? We started talking again and didn't stop all night. Well, I did. I fell asleep as soon as we started the car ride home. No surprise. And speaking of looking fabulous....Aunt Rochelle and Mom seem to have very similar taste. We all had a good chuckle when we realized they had the same outfit on (the jackets had different patterns but the same trim). I LOVE this photo more because it reminds me of photos of my grandma Picky and great aunt Doris laughing.

My amazing aunts and uncle: Fred, Brenda, Rochelle, Peggy, and Connie. This family unit has had a huge impact on me and how important family is to me. I wish I got to see them a lot more than I do.

My brother Cliff and my super cutie nephew Cole.

And then Naomi snuggling her sweet boy. He was such a trooper that night!

Me with my very special dad! A very rare photo opportunity. (This picture also makes me feel very very short and very Plymesser!)

Ha Sarah!!! Got you! This is for posting the picture of my big ole mouth on facebook. Heeeheee. I especially like her red tongue from the super delicious mints at the reception!

Me with my mom, one of my very best friends! Wait, maybe I do look more like her. Or maybe I am the mutt child of the fam. Hee hee

Ross and Johanna, half of the Hesseltines in purple.

John, who is more like an older brother than a cousin, and his sweet wife Sue--parents of the bride.

And the other half of the purple Hesseltines, Renee (Tanner's Godmother) and Rochelle (my very own Godmother).
Yes, a very good weekend indeed. Sunday was lovely spent at church in Fontanelle and then lunch with Grandma again. I actually enjoyed the old school traditional Lutheran liturgy. Felt good to realize I still had it memorized. Felt comfy.

Yes, a very good weekend indeed.

Proved My Point

Life definitely is everchanging and you can never know what to expect. Saturday definitely ended differently than I had planned...

Picture day is tomorrow. So yesterday I took Annika to get a haircut. I am obviously not getting the point across to these women, because it is again even shorter than I would like. Now I have to admit it is super cute and totally fits her. But I have been struggling with the boy comments and issues this summer.

This particular occasion sort of pushed me over the edge. Chalk it up to all the other stuff going on and I am somewhat emotionally unstable at this point. More than I even realized I think. So anyway Annika and I ended up having it out. I finally got out of her that she is afraid to be a girl because of my c-sections and doesn't want to have to be cut open. Which led to a very long talk about birth and menstruation, complete with illustrations via the internet. I did manage to skirt the fertilization issue. By then Mommy was somewhat drained.

But we still have the issue of making Annika look at least slightly more girly so people will let her in bathrooms and so she looks female in the class picture. So I struck up a deal. Both girls could get their ears pierced and Annika has to let me put goop in her hair and style it. Done. Everyone headed for the mall, including Daddy for moral support.

The girls were awesome! They weren't afraid and niether one cried! Phoebe chose pink sparkly crowns and Annika has in golden dolphins circling a rhinestone. We also checked out all the cool offerings at Claire's and they can't wait to get earrings that look like candy and animals. Super cute. Super brave. A little girly. Mommy is a little happier. Hopefully my plan works. But at least they like them and look fabulous!

Life Everchanging

I don't think it is possible for change not to occur. There is always the ebb and flow of the everyday. Sometimes the currents are stronger than others.
So changes during September:
1. Babysitting has come to an end. Like most endings it has been stressful. One child was my decision, and the other was the parents. Either way, it is over. I am not ready to watch another family's child for awhile. It will be interesting to see how Tanner and I do all by ourselves. It has been a long time since I only had one child at home!
2. School is in full swing. The girls are both doing well and enjoying it. Right now it is pretty easy for both of them, hopefully it will get more challenging. Dance and gymnastics are going very well.
3. Jeff's company slowed down for a couple weeks, but is picking up again. He knows that the two middle weeks of the month are going to have less jobs (another very natural ebb and flow). But he is not used to being at home that much without a huge pile of work in front of him. He is starting to realize why being a stay at home dad or early retirement may not be as wonderful as he would think. LOL!
4. Tanner is now to the pretending stage. He loves Diego and hears animals in trouble and sees them on our shoulders all the time. It is a lot of fun.

Some things never change. Tanner still spends most of his time digging in the dirt. Jeff is engrossed in football and baseball (Twins clinching was a big celebration in our house). The girls have had lots of playdates (although we are getting a bit overwhelmed with those). And me. I have been reading. The Hunger Games series has had me riveted. Excellent, well written books and lots to think about. My scrapping mojo is back--been getting kind of artsy on my pages.

Who knows what October may bring?

Firsts and Last

We have seen the last of diapers!!!!!!! Tan truly IS the man in his Lightning McQueen undies. He has very few accidents and is staying dry and clean even at night. I'm not sure who is most excited: Tan milking us for rewards and loving his adoring audiences, Mommy because it went so well and fast, or Daddy who is finally free of diaper bills. And we had the first day of school. Annika is officially a kindergartener. And loves it. It was more of a struggle to get her back home than anything! Check out her flaming Converse!

And Phoebe already adores second grade. Her favorite thing from today? Her teacher writes the schedule for the day on the board so she knows exactly what is happening. And she has her outfits for the next week already picked out. Yes, I must claim this girl. Sorry about the pic. Not sure why it didn't flip.

Important Times

**Quick note on the playlist: I have added and moved around. I tend to pick songs that I like to sing to or that move me emotionally. I also turn it on whenever I am scrapping. So if you don't prefer a song, you can use the buttons on the playlist box to turn it off or change the song, or just click a song. (Dad, Over the Rainbow just got moved down a little.)

I remember spending the night with my grandparents as a child and have wonderful memories of those times. I want our kids to have those same kinds of special memories, and thankfully all of their grandparents are more than willing to oblige.
The girls went back to Iowa for a week for what they all called, "Granny Camp." They went on Sunday and then I showed up Thursday night and stayed the weekend. They did all sorts of crafts: decorated pillows, dug for fossils, painted little frames, and played and played.
Granny got a new parakeet while we were there, Dexter.

They went swimming almost every day with cousins at the Nevada pool. I think they have nearly perfected handstands and somersaults.

Tanner loved getting in on the action for the last few days.

And then on Saturday Granny kept Tanner for some one on one tractor time and I took the girls to the State Fair. Another of my fave summer memories I wanted to share with them.

The first of our many foods we shared: a footlong freshly dipped and fried corndog. The only way to eat them.
With the biggest pumpkin. We also saw the other veggies, flowers, the butter cow, watched them judge brownies, and the cakes.

Of course we had to stop and make spin art and get homemade ice cream cones. We hit the midway for one ride, went down the giant slide, saw the Bill Riley talent show, a hypnotist, ALL the animals (including the birth of four different kinds--interesting), all of the arts and crafts in the culture building, saw my cousins at their booth, got tattoos in the Varied Industries building, and MORE!

More food! Grater taters, a giant cup of melon, fresh lemonade, a funnel cake, a pork tenderloin, and a caramel apple. Good thing we shared it all! The girls loved it all!

The week before the girls spent the week at my parents. They rode bikes, went school shopping, and more swimming and helping in the garden. They also made the cutest stuffed animals (that I need to post). The girls made drawings and then they cut them out of felt and sewed them. Super cute.
This is our favorite bistro patio in the summer. :)

Mom and Dad with happy grandkids.

It was evening, and I need to do this pic with sun, but this is one of my fave views looking from the swing down over the patio, to the pool and garden beyond.

Phoebe took some pretty amazing pictures of flowers and veggies. Again, kind of dark, but super composition.

School starts this week. Can't believe summer is already gone! We accomplished most of the stuff I wanted to this year. Maybe next year we'll do even more.

Recently

Recently we have:
1. Our good friends the Vasey's visited from Iowa. They drug us to the Bears Family Fun Night. No, not really, I am just kidding. We loved it and had a great time. Jeff did wear his Minnesota shirt to at least show a little of his true allegiance (he was smart enough not to wear Vikings gear). It will be interested to see what teams the kids choose to follow. Hear we are outside getting ready to go in Soldier Field.

Tanner was quite impressed with the big bear and the fireworks.

We had FABULOUS tickets. Third row off the 45 yard line.

Jeff of course had to work, so he just took Justin with him. They enjoyed it being the two of them like old times working and joking around together. I did not put their silly pictures on here. Not family appropriate. Just like old times. :)

And then we scored super cheap tickets to the Camp Rock/Jonas Brothers concert on the lawn. The kids LOOOVED it! I wish you could have seen them dancing. They out shone the Disney dancers for sure.

It was a great weekend. We had a good time hanging out and catching up.

2. I also realized that we have lived here for TWO whole years! Can you believe it? And we are staying! You might actually be able to write our names in your address books in pencil instead of just a post it note now. Hee hee. But really, we like it here and are glad we have a great home and some roots.

And OH So Much More

Man have we been busy so far this summer! Be prepared. This is the June and July post. It is huge! I took the girls the other day to a trail and we FINALLY have perfected riding bikes!!!! Now the girls are obsessed. Sweaty, stinky bike riding fools. Up and down the street, around and around. It is so awesome to see the sense of freedom in their faces.

Other than that, this week was fairly easy going. Last week was vacation Bible school. I was the co-director and that went fairly well, in the end it was all worth it to see 140 happy little kids.
My sister Sarah came to visit the second week of July. We took the train downtown and had a blast! We walked the kids to Buckingham Fountain, spent the afternoon at Shedd Aquarium, took the bus around the loop, played at Millenium Park, and ate at a sidewalk bistro. It was a late night getting home and every minute was worth it.

Tanner still talks about how, "Dolphins jump out water. People carry penguins. Penguins hop, seal climb rock, me LOVE it!"

Jeff has bottled the pear wine from last year finally and has another batch of cherry wine brewing. I am enjoying a glass every evening. Especially now that Jeff is back home to enjoy it with me!

We crashed my parents house with some friends for the 4th. We had a lovely picnic, fireworks, and swimming. We also spent four days there in mid-July (Mommy needed the down time that visit). Each girl spent two days and nights individually in June. And we are trying to set up another trip for the girls.

I took the kids to the Naperville children's museum. Jaxson (that I babysit) threatened to ruin it all with a tantrum, which made me appreciate how well behaved in public my kids really are. My kids loved it. Lots of super science stuff, right up their alley. This is them making a giant bubble around the three of them.

In June the girls took two weeks of swim lessons. Annika passed to the next level, and now that the pressure is off Phoebe is actually swimming better than her. We have made numerous visits to the Plymesser bed and breakfast pool, and some best friends in Lockport have a little patio 3 foot deep pool that the girls practice in. They have both learned to dive to the bottom, somersault, American crawl, front float, and are diving in off the side! If you know Phoebe (and know that until this summer she was deathly afraid to get her face wet) you realize how HUGE this is! I love letting them just GO and watching them love every minute!

Jeff is home and is working his very own business Full Time now! He loves every minute of it. Makes us wonder what he was thinking being a banker in a cubicle for 12 years. Silly. Central Crating is the perfect thing for him...the tools, the truck, working with new people constantly, and then using all of his management and finance skills running everything himself. He is the happiest I have ever seen him. And the business is flourishing.

This was the serious photo on father's day. Seriously.

I discovered a fishing hole in a subdivision nearby. We went the first time Father's day, and have gone twice more since. Perfect place to fish with kids: no weeds, no bugs, and zillions of little hungry fish. The family loves it!

Took the kids strawberry picking. YUM YUM YUM! i know we ate more than we took home.

Annika finished her softball season with two catches! We were so proud. Quite the little slugger too.

The kids and I hit a Joliet Jackhammer game. I have no idea how it went for the kids. Luckily we had friends there, I spent 45 minutes in line to find out they were out of hot dogs, so I missed a majority of the night. I think the kids had a good time.

I let the kids go out and play in one of our many many rain storms. Phoebe collected a whole family of worms.

The Carsrud cousins came in for the recital and the kids had a blast in the yard and riding scooters. We introduced them to Bandz bracelets, IKEA, and drive up Dunkin' Donuts. Lots of good city stuff. :)

The amazingly talented and gorgeous dancer! Phoebe is quite the little entertainer on stage and did a wonderful job in her tap, ballet, and jazz dances. It was a long recital (almost 3 hours), but we all enjoyed it. Especially me. Brought back all sorts of memories from when I was little and dancing. I am so glad that Phoebe loves it so much.

The Tan man LOVED touch a truck day at the park. He climbed in and on dump, garbage, snow, UPS, fire, and digger trucks, a bus, a crane, and so much more. He was in HEAVEN to say the least.

I never would have survived Jeff being gone for 2 and half months without our trusty babysitters Carmen and Hannah. We will miss them greatly next year when they go to college! I also relied heavily on my parents and several of our friends. Thank you anyone who let me have an hour or two to myself every once in awhile!!!!!!

One of the weekends that Jeff was not home at all we conducted super craft day. We baked, made stepping stones, wall hooks, super balls, gummy martians, lip gloss, and I can't remember what else. We cleaned out the craft closet it was awesome.

And I don't have pictures of some of my big accomplishments. One: I am the tannest in my life ever thanks to all of these activities with the kids. I painted a bathroom and our master bedroom (the first time out of 9 houses). Both are shades of green, and I love them both. AND I read the entire Twilight series. I am still on the fence about how well I liked the style of writing, but the action and story line sucked me in. Enough that I read four 500 page or more books in four weeks in addition to everything else going on. Ok. I guess I liked them. But only Jacob, not Bella.

Whew! I think I need a nap from typing all of that! I can't wait to scrap it all and remember even more of the fun ness of this summer.