Day of Rest???

Ya know...you get all upset about the little drips of paint in your life, but then some Sunday afternoon, somebody knocks the whole bucket of silver metallic paint on your white carpet....and you laugh...because what else are you going to do? Here's our white carpet, and here's about 1/2 a quart of metallic silver paint!

Somehow...I'm never sure how this happens....I found myself doing a room makeover for Katie this afternoon... this one is worthy of HGTV....we decided that along with "Key Lime Pie Green" walls, metallic silver would be just the thing for her three large pieces of furniture. "IT'S A DISASTER FAYE!!!! ("What About Bob") The paint was SO drippy, and transluscent-- I found out later when I read the can to see just how many coats it was going to take. We dripped everywhere, and I was having a heart attack each time...that was until "someone" whose room we were redoing, knocked over the can. There was nothing to do but laugh and put a basket over it so that we wouldn't step on it! The dresser was so bad that we ended up scraping off the half dried paint and trying again....this is what it looked like:


Like I said....not good. I told her we're only doing the dresser!

So then I moved on (while waiting for the umpteenth silver coat to dry) to painting the trim on all the walls. (I said thanks but no thanks to a bucket kicking assistant on this one.) So after a couple of hours of trimming, Katie came in and said she didn't like the color because it was too babyish! "Babyish," I said!!!! "NO NO NO...THIS color reminds me of lime sherbert...it's even CALLED KEY LIME PIE and I KNOW you LOVE KEY LIME PIE!"
"I DO!" she said...."I LOVE key lime pie!!! Mom can we make a key lime pie right now???"
Well, anyway, she decided she liked the color....and it is pretty yummy.

Meanwhile......

Andrew decided, since it's DUE tomorrow, that he'd better construct his water bottle rocket! So while I'm having the paint disaster, he keeps calling me in asking me how to build a water rocket!! (which I have NO idea about!) THEN he mentions he has a partner for this! This was great news, I thought! But when I suggested Andrew get his partner over here, he said that no, he'd told his partner ("Bo"), that he'd just take care of it!

"You mean you told your partner "Bo" that YOUR MOTHER would take care of it! NOT! "

"Come on Mom, just help me. It's easiest to just do it myself. I don't want to call "Bo"

Well, I left him at this point, and although he still doesn't get the concept of "PARTNER," he did put together a pretty nice rocket WITH a parachute! Here are the pictures of that!

And THEN, just because there wasn't enough chaos and because he felt like he should be doing something, Tim decided to rake out and CLEAN Timmy and Zach's disaster zone of a room.

All the while Lily coped with the circus by trying on all her swimsuits (despite the 60 degree temps) and trying very persistantly to get me to paint the walls purple instead of green!

I will be keeping you all updated on how Katie's room makeover turns out. And I have no idea how I'm going to solve the carpet problem, but I'll think of something...... At least it's not as bad as the time Zach was sleeping on Mari's floor (this was long ago), and threw up red kool-aid all over his pillow, flipped the pillow over and went back to sleep until morning! Some things are just funny every time you remember them!

Lily Rockin' and Rollin'

I took these of Lily tonight as she was listening to some Christian rock a la Zach's ipod.

A Picnic

Well, I'd had enough of football...I mean REALLY, they play it every evening, I wash football gear every morning, they manage their football fantasy teams almost daily...an activity that has rendered each and every pro football game in the entire country of sudden and dire importance....they play it on the Wii. I mean at this time of year, the males in our house have FOOTBALL on the brain...or for a brain...just kidding...but anyway...

I'd had enough. So yesterday morning before church I had Tim inform the members of our household that following the service, we would be going on a family hike and picnic at Katherine Abbot Park, and we would not be bringing the television set!! Now for you hikers out there...DON'T be calling us to go hiking with you...the Lindquist's are NOT hikers (just ask us about the Grand Canyon sometime). When it was mentioned that walking was going to be involved, the groans became louder and continued pretty much unabated all the way to church.
We had a good time, though. The weather was perfectly gorgeous! We walked about a whole 1/3 of a mile until we felt like we were really out in the wilderness, plunked down our picnic, ate, talked and napped in the sun. It was great. I highly recommend a Sunday afternoon picnic anytime you are able. Here are our pics, and if you happen to see a football shaped object in any of them, well, "you gotta...know when to fold'em."

TicTac

L: Here, Mom, here's a candy from the grocery store. It's for you! It's orangy, and it smells like orange!"

(Hands me an old tic tac...you know...the kind that isn't glossy anymore because it's really old and has been held in sweaty palms too long and dropped under a bed or somewhere.)

(long pause while I contemplate my options...)

L: "MOM, aren't you going to eat it? I got it for you!"

Me: "Well...I don't know if it's what I..."

L: "You'll really like it, Mom! It's SO delicious! Aren't you going to eat the candy I got for you?"

(she looks at me with big blue eyes...and watches me as I swallow hard and put the tic tac in my mouth.)

The proud smile on her face was worth whatever disease I get.

Wild Wings Can Be Expensive

Now...There just comes a time, when you know it's time. Yesterday, Tim and I bought our second television set in our seventeen years of marriage! We were contemplating running to BWW's for some "wings" to feed our hungry children during the Vikes game when suddenly it hit us that our fuzzy (and not at all flat-screened) 1991 television set-- with the chips in the glass circa A and Z's toddler years was ...well....it just was. So one of us (Tim or I, I'll let you guess) suggested that on the way to Buffalo Wild Wings, we should swing by Best Buy and avail ourselves of something more... well... more. Now the unique thing about us and our typical decision making process, is that we didn't think of this last weekend, say, or even a couple of hours before gametime. Nope, not our style! We got this major brain wave at about 6:00 p.m....exactly one hour before Vikings first game kickoff! We like pressure. So off we went, me trying to keep up with Tim (he was moving fast.)

Back then... Now the first television we bought back as newlyweds was also from Best Buy. That time we spent a leisurely half hour (holding hands) picking out just the right one...which is to say the one that they were out of stock in so we could offer to buy the floor model and talk them down in price. (I believe we saved $50.) We figured if it lasted a couple of years that would be great.

Back to now... Seventeen years and I don't even want to think about how many tv hours later...here we were again. This time, though, we didn't hold hands, we talked very fast, it was tons more complicated and I don't need to say more expensive. Long story short we were back at home at 6:50 with ten minutes until gametime to get it all going!!! You should have seen the scene! There were cables and cardboard, batteries and packing paper, remote controllers and antennas, and I suppose somewhere there were instructions! T was sliding down the hill on the big box before we realized it, so we were fairly committed to keeping it all! L was sobbing while clutching my leg, Tim was unpacking and I was hooking and unhooking cables as fast as I could! Z was cheering, K was asking questions and the clock was ticking!!! Did we make it in time for kickoff?.....

Nope. We got it all programmed somewhere mid first quarter, though, and standing amidst the boxes and plastic baggies and the multitude of irritating little twisty tie things scattered around, I looked at my family and thought how great it all is. It was a beautiful moment..until Z said, "Mom I'm so hungry!!! What's to eat?" We had forgotten the wings.

Just a Walk in the Park

After spending the last three days digging out the family debris of summer and painting a few walls in my spare time, the "mother guilt" alarm bells were clanging pretty loudly as far as little L was concerned. So this morning I put on my "good mother" hat and suggested a picnic in the park. It all went pretty well until we got to the front door to leave. :)

L pushed hard to wear the "BEEEAUUUTiful" collectible leather clogs that Nana had given to K and which she'd unearthed in K's closet, but I held firm that the park was no place for collectible footwear, and tennis shoes prevailed (worn with a conglomeration of various and sundry clothing items that L had chosen from her drawer plus a purse full of jewels (costume jewelry) which seems to be her latest obsession.)

I told her to hop in the car, and at this point she made it quite clear that she strongly wanted to ride her bike (a tricycle, actually, that has a handlebar behind it that an adult can push and steer.) Although I had reservations about appearing to give in, I conceded the point mostly because of the extra jiggle here and there that I've been noticing lately. Fitness first, right? It's a bit of a hike to the park anyway, but we made it longer by detouring to DQ (did I say "fitness"?) to get our lunch.

Upon walking into DQ, L immediately pointed to the green Arctic Rush and asked if she could have "that green drink." "Sure, no problem," I said. Then I asked her if she wanted a cheeseburger, hot dog or chicken strips. "Chicken strips," was the clear reply. The drink arrived, and her immediate response was, "Why isn't it purple?"
"Because you said you wanted a green one."
"But purple is my favorite color, you know."
"Well, you got green this time...taste it..it's delicious.
She grudgingly agreed.

We continued on to the park, and when she opened her food bag she excaimed, "Where's the cheeseburger with ketchup?
"You said chicken strips. I got you chicken strips just like you said!"
"But I LOOOOOVVVEEE cheeseburgers!!!!"
She tried to eat the chicken strips and fries, mainly because I threatened to haul her home immediately if she didn't, but they just wouldn't go down her throat. Nothing would...until I pulled my carefully chosen "Grilled Toast Ultimate BLT Specialty Sandwhich" out of the bag. That, apparantly, went down her throat just fine because she ate the whole thing, at least the whole middle part with all the good stuff in it. I got some crusts which still smelled like bacon and had a few dabs of mayo here and there. When I tried to take a nibble of her abandoned chicken strip, though, she told me that I couldn't eat her food. I told her to take a hike.


Well, she played, she swung, she bossed all the other little kids at the playground around, although to their credit they pretty much ignored her. Then it was time for the LONNNGG walk home, and L's legs were tired because even though I pushed her, she still had to pedal.
"Mom, do you see that car over there? There's nobody by it."
"Yes I see it."
"Can we take it? I don't want to walk home."
"That would be stealing, Lily! God doesn't want us to steal!"
"Oh...but, Mom, we NEED that car and it's all alone."
" The person it belongs to would come back from their walk and be sad because their car would be gone."
"They could come pick it up at our house. C'mon Mom!"

At this point I decided I needed a nap as much as she did, and we made it home without incident. L is now out cold in her bed with almost none of the usual protests, so I guess you could say that it was worth it.

Second Day of School

Everyone always makes a huge deal about the first day of school. There are the pictures by the tree and the cool school supplies and the brand new outfits chosen carefully the night before. The kids pop out of bed on the first day of school like they are on springs. You can feel the energy! They are perfectly groomed in record time; they even brush their teeth after breakfast without being reminded....BUT...THAT was yesterday.

TODAY was the SECOND day of school. On the second day of school, I have to "coax" them out of bed with a cattle prod. Throats are sore and noses stuffy. Clothes, though still important and often new, are a little less accessorized and certainly less color coordinated. Breakfast is a granola bar, and missing the bus is a serious possiblity. The bloom is off the rose. That is why nobody takes pictures the second day of school...unless you missed taking them on the first day and try to "recreate," but this is hardly ever successful. The happy, anticipatory faces are not to be found. No matter how great the first day might have gone, the second day arrives with a grind and a growl, and that's just the way it is.

For the Lindquist's, school is off to a GREAT start, despite a few "second day" dramas. All four kids are in brand new schools this year. T has moved over to O. H. Anderson, the 3rd through 5th grade building, and has the same teacher, Mrs. Anderson, whom A had and loved. K and Z are back at Mahtomedi Public Schools this fall after four years at Liberty. This is a huge change for them, but yesterday went smoothly, and the many choices for lunch (after years of "bagging it") were much appreciated. (K ate two lunches.) A is beginning his high school career at MHS, and between Honors English and Honors Football (just kidding), he's going to be busy to say the least. (He ate two lunches as well...what d'ya do?) L and I are home digging out the debris that is left by a whirlwind of a summer...I expect that that will take a few days if not weeks, but that too is just the way it is.

Best wishes and prayers to you as you leave summer behind and greet the Fall.

Hello!

Welcome to our blog! (That has to go on the list of things that you'd have never imagined saying 15 years ago.) Actually, this is my (Suzanne's) blog, since I'll be doing most, ok all, of the posting...anyway...welcome to what will hopefully be a glimpse into our family and our lives.