My New Bookcases

When Jill and Adam were here, they helped us move our old entertainment center to the basement. It was NOT an easy job to manuvuer that giant, awkward thing down the basement steps. But, it's down there and in it's spot. That cleared up the whole wall for me to put up my bookshelves. I read a lot. It's something I do often to relax, so I've started creating quite a library of stuff. I got 3 bookcases to make a short library wall for my books and knick-knacks. I know that over time my collection will grow, so I wanted extra space for that. We got them put together and arranged and I just love them!! The whole room has been opened up and with the new tv and furniture, it looks like a completely different room. Last thing on the list is to change the window coverings, but that will be my July project. Since most of you aren't able to visit, I thought I'd post the pictures on the blog, so you can see a bit of what our living room now looks like. If I ever get around to cleaning the house (meaning, if the house is ever clean long enough!), I'll take pictures of the rest of my house to share with all of you who haven't had the chance to see it. :-)

We Love Wii!

This weekend was our garage sale. Pete's sister, Jill, and her family all came down on Fri around supper and stayed until the sale was over on Saturday afternoon. We had a lot of fun, though I do believe we sent them home addicted to Wii MarioKart. Her boys, Trevor and Ty, LOVED it! Played it as much as they could. It was a lot of fun to watch them all. Especially when they were making their Wii characters. The things they come up with. Trevor named himself something like "$..*^" and the kids just thought that was a riot. They just have the best time together and were laughing and talking so loudly over each other, I'm sure some of you in IN could hear them! :-) When it was time for bed, all 5 kids decided they wanted their sleeping bags out for a sleepover. There was barely enough room for all 5 bags, so we put Livie in our room to fall asleep. After an hour of giggling and overall silliness, we took Noah out and put him in our room and Ty went in Noah's room where Jill and Adam were staying. Thus began the musical bed game. :-) By about 10, we had finally arranged them in beds and they all fell asleep. Not a single sleeping bag was used! haha Funny kids. :-) But, after they went to sleep, we adults stayed up and played more Wii. We played until 1:30am!! So much fun! We laughed and had a great time. The next day was the last day of the sale and it went well. Sold several things and then loaded up several garbage bags to donate and put a bunch of stuff on the driveway for free, and loaded up about 9 bins to take back downstairs to the basement. Much better than the 40 we started with. :-) It was a busy weekend, but a great one. Thanks to Jill and Adam for all their help with the sale and moving our old entertainment center and stuff out of our living room.......Go Wii!!!!!!

Garage Sales

I remember as a kid my mom doing a yearly garage sale. Now, I didn't participate much in that process. I ran a lemonade stand for a few of the years she had it, but even that part I don't remember much of. I just remember her cleaning the house and grabbing anything we hadn't used in a while to stick outside on a few tables. Well, if I had known then the work she put into getting a sale ready back then, I may have been more willing to help her out. I'm having a garage sale tomorrow and Saturday and have been getting ready for it all day. A few weeks ago, I priced everything and finished up the last of it yesterday. Pete went with a friend and brought 10 long church tables to the house and I have been working all morning on bringing things up from the basement and getting it set out. Now, this is not all my stuff - half of it is Pete's sister Jill's stuff. So, all together we have a good 40! bins worth of clothes, toys, misc... to put out there. That's not to mention the remaining loose pieces scattered about. You can see at the top what I've set out on the tables (and I only got about half the tables in that picture) and what I still have left in the basement to bring up. I have unloaded about half of the stuff onto the tables now and they are all nearly full. Not sure where the rest is going to go. When you're a stay-at-home mom, you live for small moments like this where you actually earn your "OWN" money and can feel guilt-free about what you spend it on. But, boy is it a lot of work for just a few bucks! I can say that even though it's a lot of work setting up, I will throughly enjoy spending the next two days hanging out with my sis-in-law laughing and chatting. That's something to look forward to for sure! But, I can say that this may be my last sale for a long, long time. I think from now on, I will find a place to donate this stuff to and just keep my sanity instead. :-)

Family Pictures

My friends and I were talking about family pictures. They told me that they were impressed that we always have good Trolinger family pictures. Every Christmas we put the camera on and take a picture in front of our tree. The finished product usually looks fairly ok. But, what goes on behind the scenes to get that picture is a totally different story. We usually take about 25 pictures, hoping that one might be good enough to send out. There are tantrums, yelling, bribery, etc.... all to get to that one "good" shot. And, the tantrums are not just reserved for the children! I thought I'd post some of the other pictures we took that day back in December to show to you and to my friends what most of our pictures actually look like. Madie's pouting, Noah's being silly, Livie's checking out her sweater - all while Pete and I are hoping upon hope that THIS will be the picture worth keeping. And, even if they are all looking at the camera and smiling, it doesn't mean that my glasses are glowing from the glare on them or that we're happy with the angle of our heads or whatever. It's quite a task! As you can see, we even try changing positions, hoping that will help and maybe keep them interested in sitting still for another 2 minutes. The top picture is the one we sent out. It was number 19 out of 23 taken that day. So, if you ever get a christmas letter from us and get our yearly family picture, you'll know now that it's not an easy process, but a long, drawn out, afternoon full of stress and exhaustion!! :-)

New TV!

We are officially owners of a new 50" plasma tv! As you can see from the picture, I do believe Pete has fallen in love. When we first got our economic stimulus check, Pete came to me and said, "I think we should buy a new 42" tv with our money." I said, "yeah, that sounds good". His face lit up and I swear his smile was bigger in that moment, than the moment I said I would marry him. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen. He was nearly overcome with excitement. Well, as you can see, he originally wanted a 42". I told him that was fine, but I wanted to get the tv stand of my choice as well as a matching coffee table and perhaps end tables and stuff as well. He was fine with that. So, I went searching for the perfect furniture to complement our soon-to-be 42" tv. Well, after a couple of weeks, he told me he really wanted a 47". I don't know if any of you have shopped for a tv stand that holds 47" tvs, but they are impossible to find at a low cost. BUT, being the ever loving wife (no, seriously, I am!) ;-) I decided to change my plans and get a bigger sized stand. Last night we went out to buy all the furniture I picked out and tv and stuff and he went into the tv store to see what they had and when he came out, he had a price list of tvs. But, as I'm looking at it with him, I'm noticing the prices are for 50"!!! Good grief! So, we agreed to get that size instead. I swear if we had stayed any longer or if he had been given another week to mull over this tv idea, I would've ended up with some giant $40,000 80" tv or something! He's a nut! But, we got it all set up and actually it's not as obnoxious as I thought it was going to be. Yeah, it's big, but it fits in the room well. I'm hoping to finish off the room by getting some bookshelves to put all my books and knick-knacks in, but that will come later this week probably. The first thing we did when we got home last night was get the kids in bed and I started working on the tv stand. Pete got the tv out, hooked it up, and within minutes was playing MarioKart. By the time we finished putting everything together it was midnight, but we stayed up until 1am playing MarioKart. We have a problem, I know. So, next time any of you head this way, I'm sure he'll introduce you to the newest member of our family - Panasonic. Catchy name, isn't it? ;-)

Sleepy Livie

Just wanted to add this picture I took on our way home today from Indy. Livie had a great time, but as you can, she was pretty tuckered out by the time we left. :-) All that running around wears a person out!

People, let me tell ya 'bout my BEST friends

We just got back from a great trip to see my best friends down in Indy. If any of you don't know, Michelle, Teresa, and I have been friends since elementary school. But, we became best friends during high school. We've been able to watch each other grow up, get married, and have kids. In fact, Michelle is now pregnant with their first. It's a really exciting time!! Anyway, after a crazy week of dinosaur camp and VBS, I needed a break like nothing else in the world and I totally got it! We left early on Sat morning, so we spend as much time down there as we could. With the time change, it's like a 5 hr drive. But, we got there by 2, just a few minutes before Teresa and Chad. Michelle had the place ready to go and it was just fantastic. The kids played in the backyard together, while all of us adults got to hang out on the patio, under the gazebo, and relax. The weather was beautiful and we pretty much were out there until we left. We brought our Wii, so Pete and the kids showed Chad (Teresa's husband) and Ricardo (Michelle's husband) how to play. Other than taking a break to grill out for dinner, they all played most of the rest of the afternoon. Chad and Teresa left around 7, because the kids were getting tired. We stayed for another hour and a half or so and played Wii. Ricardo is pretty competitive, as am I, so we played some tennis and boxing. I basically suck, but talk a lot of smack when I'm playing to try and intimidate the other player. Doesn't really work, but it's fun!! Ricardo - who has never played until that day - totally kicked my butt. We've owned this thing since the first week of May and I was beat by a beginner! My ego took a beating, but we laughed and had a great time! The hotel we stayed at was so nice too. One of the biggest and nicest we've stayed in. The kids loved it and insisted I take pictures of them. It had a king bed and a pull-out sofa, so we all had places to sleep and it also had a mini-kitchen area as well, so that was really nice. We know we'll definitely stay there next time we go down, because it's literally right around the corner from Michelle and Ricardo and was such a nice place. We went out for breakfast this morning with them and headed out around 1. Nothing like a weekend with best friends to really rejuvenate the soul. I needed this weekend more than anything and it came at just the perfect time. I truly believe that God works things out like this for a reason. We were supposed to do it next weekend, but some things had to be moved around and it just ended up at the perfect time. Though I struggled with an upset stomach and stuff, it didn't stop me from having a terrific time!

**The pictures above are of Noah and Ricardo playing Wii Boxing. That's Ricardo's sister ChaChi on the couch beside him. Michelle's sister was there too, but she didn't stay long, so I didn't get a picture of her, but it was really nice to see Melanie too! Then there's a picture of (L-R) Teresa, Livie, me, and Michelle. Then it's Chad and Teresa and their kids Macy and Ben. They were getting ready to leave and had just gotten Macy up from a nap. She was pretty sleepy still, but the kids all had fun playing together earlier that afternoon. :-) Then it's Michelle and Ricardo and their little boy in her tummy there. :-) And, last are the pictures I took at the hotel. You can see the kids really liked it there! Thanks to my friends and their families for making this weekend such a fun, refreshing one! I had a great, GREAT time!!!!!!!!

Swim Lessons

Today was Madie and Noah's first day of swim lessons. It went sooo well!! They have both always been very timid about swimming. They always use floaties and always hang on either us or the wall. But, today, they really let loose. We signed them up for private swim lessons, which is pretty costly, but I think it'll be worth it. We were told of a woman who used to be a school teacher who, now that she's retired, is teaching swim lessons in her backyard pool. She has 5 high school/college-aged kids that help, so that each child is given one-on-one help and that's definitely what my kids needed. Noah stuck his whole head under the water and Madie put her face in today and neither one of them have ever done that, so I have high hopes that by the end of the summer, we'll have 2 swimmers on our hands. They paddled their arms and tried to float on their back. It's all elementary stuff, but for them it's a big deal. Noah just loved the guy he was partnered with and didn't want to leave. He says that he's his new friend and is really hoping to be paired with him next time. Madie was partnered with Mrs. Palmer herself and I'm really glad, because Madie needs someone that's patient, because she is really so scared of the water. Anyway, I thought I'd post a picture of my very accomplished, first-day swimmers. :-) They were so proud of themselves and, according to Noah, are ready to go jump in the deep end!

Dinosaur Camp

Today was Madie's last day of Dinosaur Camp. We've had that every morning this week, but today was her field trip to the Rockford Museum. She was very excited! I couldn't go, because Pete was busy with meetings all day and couldn't watch Livie for me. I knew Livie wouldn't do well on the 2-hr bus ride there and back, especially with her skipping her nap and stuff. So, the kids and I stayed home while Madie went. She said that she got to see a Mammoth skeleton as soon as she walked in. And, then on her tour, she saw a T-Rex skeleton and a flying dinosaur hanging from the ceiling. She thought it was the coolest thing ever. She said they were gigantic!! After the tour, they went downstairs and had a workshop with Homer the Triceratops (I hope I'm spelling all these dinosaur names correctly!). They got to make a book about dinosaurs and she traced the claws of a few different breeds of raptors. The megaraptor's claw was as long as her arm. It was unbelievable! So cool. :-) The kids were all out at the table looking at her book and every time Livie saw a dinosaurs drawing, she would start growling. It was so funny! Noah wanted to go so badly this year, but all the camps that they offer at the college start at age 6. So, he's counting down the days until he's old enough to go. He's going to be counting for a while!

What's in a Name?

By the way, thought I would mention that the title of my blog was taken from a little plaque hanging in my sister-in-law's house. She has it over a giant frame with tons of pictures of the family in it. I love the frame and I absolutely LOVE the saying that was above it. So true that so much has happened and changed in my life, because one fateful day I walked into a McDonalds and filled out an application. Who knew I'd meet my husband there!! I was just hoping for some free fries or something. So, thanks Jill for letting me steal your little saying. Hope you don't mind me using it. :-)

God's Big Backyard

This week has been VBS week. We've made it half way through, but I think I'm ready for Friday to be here! I'm a preschool teacher, so Noah is in my class. Madie's in the 1st and 2nd grade class this year and her teacher is married to a guy that Pete works with. Really nice gal. It's been a lot of fun, but we've had a pretty large group. I've had 12 kids in my class alone. I think they hit around 100 on Tues. It's been fairly exhausting. We're talking about service all week. And, we've been challenging the kids to go home and do things for their families, friends, and tonight we talked about neighbors. Let me say, I'm milking this for all it's worth!!!! If I want them to pick up their toys, I say, "You'll be serving me by doing that." and they'll rush to do it. It's fantastic!! I'm wondering how long I can keep this up. I'm hoping until they're at least 12. That's not asking too much, is it? :-) Livie was with me for a short while, because Pete had golf league. She loved it and danced to all the songs, but during the talk time, she began running around the church, so I was VERY happy when Pete arrived to take her home. Hard to control her and handle the other 8 kids I had sitting with me. Here are some pictures I took of them tonight..... Oh! And, Noah practiced riding a 2-wheeler on the playground! He was very excited. His helper teacher, Madeline (not to be confused with MY Madeleine), helped push him around and let him try it on his own. He was so proud of himself. It was awesome.

And, so it begins....

My best friend and my aunt both have blogs that I look at daily. And, I thought maybe I could give it a shot too. Since you all are in different states, I send emails all the time and thought this might be a better way to connect with everyone and keep everyone up on what we're doing. So, I'm going to give it a shot. Hope you all hang in there while I learn the ropes and we'll see how it goes!!