Holiday Wreaths for Gillette!

This is a really pretty wreath isn't it! Here is my fundraiser pitch!

Here at Gillette, we have teamed up with Mickman Brother's (garden/landscaping) and they have created a wonderful website for us to sell beautiful wreaths and holiday decor (tabletop items). The wreaths are $36, which includes shipping anywhere in the US. From each item sold, Gillette will receive $10 (tax deductible to you)...oh and they also plant a tree for each purchase to help the environment.

So... if you need a wreath and want it delivered to your door or delivered to some one else's for a gift - CLICK HERE to check out the web site, or place an order.

Items ship around Thanksgiving, or two to three day after you place your order after that.

Happy Halloween

The Thomberg's had a great Halloween. As already mentioned, we had my Dad, Gary and Pauline over for lasagna, then headed out to trick or treat. Dad made the first three stops with us, then headed home. We had a great time chatting with all the neighbors. We truly live in a wonderful neighborhood and feel a great sense of community along the river. We didn't go too far, but did get a chance to say hello to many. Once home we were excited to see the neighborhood kids (and parents who stopped by).

I also got to dress up on Friday, much to the delight of Marly who kept pointing at me and saying, "Mommy Kitty! Mommy Kitty!". I am in costume because my co-worker Becky and I got to man a stop on the Gillette patient trick or treat route at the hospital. I am pictured in my kitty get up with the real Miss Minnesota - Brooke Kilgarriff. Miss Minnesota (Miss America) is a wonderful sponsor to Gillette (Children's Miracle Network). Brooke volunteers at our hospital weekly and has produced a CD which benefits Gillette! She is a delight. In fact, I am working on some details involving our hospital for a CD release event at the Mall of America (rotunda) at 1 pm on Sunday, November 29th!

Pumpkin Carving

Saturday we had an activity ready when Grandpa and Grandma Thompson arrived for a Halloween supper - Pumpkin Carving!

Given my past history with knives and my tendency towards causing injury to myself... I quickly passed off the sharp object to others, and picked up the camera instead.

You can see Grandpa Gary did the hard work!

Jack the Jack-o-latern was returned to our front door to join the other pumpkins on our sidewalk for the evening. The kids were delighted with the entire activity and loved the candles inside.

Tuesday's Truths

I know, I know... where are the Halloween photos of pumpkin carving with Grandma Pauline and Gary, costumes with the grandparents, and candy??? Tomorrow or the next day...

The quick update - Saturday we had my Dad, Gary and Pauline over for lasagna, then when went about the nieghborhood collecting treats.

In the mean time, I had yesterday off because Daycare Cindy was having dental work done. We had such a relaxed day. We got up, ran errands, played outside for a bit, the kids took naps, I did laundry and made supper with out feeling tired, rushed, too late, and behind. When Mark got home I was relaxed and comfortable. What a tease to get to spend this one day... then know I must go back to work as usual for the rest of the week. It is such a struggle. I understand and acknowledge being a stay at home mom is a full time job. I often wish it was my career right now, and mourned this when Marly padded into our room this morning at 6 am and crawled into bed with me. I remember doing that to my mom for YEARS!

But - Today is Tuesday, and it is back to business as usual!

Recycled Costumes = A Hug from Heaven

Of course Marly and Dean were to wear costumes to daycare today. I knew their Costco giraffe and elephant attire were NOT potty training, wear all day friendly... so I dug into my costume box returned from storage at Aunt Carol's. This box contains MANY, MANY items my mom sewed for Brett and I over the years, and various odds and ends. Inside I found the monkey toddler costume, my kindergarten witch cape (hope the cute dress with orange rick rack that went with it turns up), princess dresses in several sizes, our clown costumes and hats, items I wore for high school plays, and the witch dress my mom sewed for a high school dance. Also inside were the capes the kids wore this morning pictured below. I would say these capes (made from those 'buy a yard' pre-printed items from JoAnne fabrics) were probably one of the least elaborate costumes my mom sewed over the years. There are matching pumpkin bags. They were PERFECT for the Twinners today. It feels so good to put them in something Grandma Marlys made. It feels so good to have them in something that was mine and Brett's. It is so good to have a way to physically put this love onto them.

I have decided these capes are a hug from GRANDMA MARLYS in heaven!



My Mom on the run, running late for daycare in the AM as usual, in the purse camara photography isn't nearly as good as what Mark would snap. Sorry!!!

Potty Time UPDATE

Update - Mark and I are pretty happy with our potty time progress with the Twinners. After the first week, we did give up on Dean for several day. Then he rallied. Honostly, he just couldn't take watching his sister get cheers, a sticker for her 'Potty Time' sheet, and ONE M&M or Skittle for her successes on the chair. He caved to the peer pressure. A week ago Tuesday evening he told ME he wanted to go potty too.

Both Marly and Dean have had many dry days at day care, and spend time at daycare and home in underwear only. We have plenty of accidents, and plenty of "half way" incidents, but they are trying and succeeding plenty. Actually, since last week... Dean is kind of putting Marly to shame with his successes.

Dean is very proud of anything that lands in the potty chair! He makes sure to check out the chair everytime Marly gets up from it too. Unfortunately, Dean is showing signs of being a too well trained Pavlov's Dog. In the evening he will work VERY, VERY hard to get a tiny bit of SOMETHING out to get ONE MORE treat. Oh dear!

Marly and Dean pore over the sticker book every time they have a success, picking just the perfect one.

Happy Birthday Gretchen!

Happy Birthday Gretchen! Last Saturday Dan planned a surprise dinner gathering for her at Bennihani's in Maple Grove with a few close friends. Brett and Rachel were going to take Dean and Marly overnight so Mark and I could attend, but Brett got the CRUD... so Mark stayed home with the kids. The two did stay overnight though, so Mark was ready to start a fire and open a bottle of wine when we returned home.

The best thing about having guests over is you are spurred to try and complete some home projects. We cleared up boxes in our make shift guest bedroom. The downstairs bathroom paint redo is nearly complete. (I will reveal the stripes in another post.)All downstairs doors are now a crisp, fresh white, and are re-hung with the brushed nickel hardware in place, as well as the banister.