Our Memorial Day

(Take a look. Finally, I have two posts with photos.)

The fine Memorial Day weather was not wasted by the Thomberg's!
This is the front of our house at the beginning of the day.

By the end, the dead hedge in the middle was removed and the lawn looked somewhat respectable.

Marly and Dean planting an apple tree.

Mark mowing the lawn for the first time. What an improvement!
He did need to refill the gas before complete.
Not sure if he didn't fill full to start, or if the yard is that large...

Farm Girl attacks overgrown shrub.

Our backyard.

Marly and Dean viewing the activity from their weeping willow tree.

Costco ribs on the deck.

Finger licking good. (Except Dean who wanted to use his fork.)
There is now a little hand print on the siding by the patio door.

Mark was drinking a Leini's Summer Shandy beer.. not a sippy cup of milk.

After the fact...

Two weeks late, I am posting photos of our FIRST Thomberg Family Pizza Night on the evening of our close. Our first delivery!

The grey box near the front (photo above) is our Waterford Lismore toasting flutes from our wedding. We get them out to toast special occasions. Oops, we forgot to get them our for our last anniversary! I should have invested in better champagne though. Mark and I could only stand a sip or two of the cheap stuff I bought at the BP Liqueur Store.

Just an FYI - Still no furniture in this living area!

Pizza tastes just as good sitting on the floor.

Cooking has occurred in the kitchen since the photo below.

Thanks to Rachel and Heidi, our kitchen was the first functional/unpacked area. The pantry now has a curtain (which I need to hem).

Thursday Already!

As you can guess, we are busy with our new home. No we are NOT all unpacked, we do NOT have any furniture for our upstairs living room, our bedroom closet is too small, our yard still needs lots of branch removal, the downstairs bathroom still hasn't been scrubbed, Mark has lots of painting left to do, we still have things in storage with various people, but WE LOVE IT! It is going to take time to truly look like "The Thomberg's" but we are on our way! Each day we accompish a little something. Yesterday I purchased a pot of red geraniums for our front walk and Mark put together the grill he purchased with gift cards.

May God bless our home.

In the mean time, Marly and Dean are again being total trouble makers at bedtime in their new room (with beds). Bascially, after their bedtime routine we put them down and say our prayers around 8 pm, but they WON'T STAY DOWN! God granted us two wonderful, easy infants who only cried when they had a need. The ate and slept well. Today I have two toddlers. One of the two is named Dean, who can be moody, cranky, throw a darn good tantrum, who will pitch a fit before sitting down to most meals, who lands in time out often, who knows how NOT to listen, and who makes bedtime a fight to the bitter end too late into the evening. GRRRR - Pay back is a B*?#%! Recently, Dean would NOT stay in his crib at the town home, and now he won't stay in his bed at the new house. Then he lures Marly out of hers too.

So, here were are on Thursday. There is chicken marinading in my much larger fridge for the new grill. We are wrapping up cleaning and maintenance on the town home in the days ahead and looking forward to a weekend filled with house projects. I am sure it will come and go too fast.

Pretty Dawn Comes for a Visit

This weekend Dawn flew in from Massachussets for a visit. It was FANTASTIC to see her and spend time with the gals pals. Friday night we had dinner and drinks at Chang Mi Tai in Uptown, Saturday Dawn came over with Heidi to help with the move. Sunday we enjoyed the first BBQ of the season at Jenny's home in South Minneapolis. Monday we regrouped in Uptown for coffee at Starbucks. Sorry honey Mark... the Caribou was full and there was not place to sit!

Dawn, I miss you already!

Dawn, Jess and I on Friday night.

Heidi, Marly and Dean at the BBQ on Sunday.

Pretty Dawn with Vivi Lyons at the BBQ on Sunday.

Four Dear and True and Tried Friends - (Heidi, Jess, Me, Dawn)

...Wow - I am in desperate need of a HAIRCUT! Dear me....

Welcome to Riverview Lane

This Saturday we slept in our home on Riverview Lane for the first time! Thanks to the help of Mark's Dad and Brother, Brett, Rachel and a few gal pals, we had a productive and efficient move. Rachel took the Twinners to Como Park while the men loaded and unloaded the truck. Heidi and Dawn came and set up and made our bed and organized our kitchen. Jesse and Tony came to see our digs and have a beer with us. It was a successful day all around. Dad and Nana Chris brought McDonald's for supper!

Sunday we did some unpacking, a bit of yard work, and I took the kids to the first BBQ of the season at the Lyons while Mark worked. Laura Melberg even drove in from Hector with Will to bring me our oak kitchen table she and Mike have kindly kept since we sold the house at the farm.

On Memorial Day Mark and I put some sweat and muscle into our overgrown yard and ate ribs for supper on our patio. We happily ignored the boxes to unpack inside. I cut back shrubs and Mark mowed the lawn. We were fortunate enough to have my Aunt Toot's deliver a lawn mower from my cousin Kris's fiance in Fairmont last week. It worked great on our overgrown grass.

It turns out we may have moved to the Wysteria Lane of Brooklyn Park. So far my neighbor Tom and his 13 year old son Jared have come to introduce themselves (wife is Patty) on Friday. Saturday we met Mindy across the street and her 10 year old Golden Lab (husband name = ???). Monday Rachel, Brett and their 4 year old son Reed walked by on their way to the neighborhood pool party pot luck. It seems a neighbor fills her pool on Memorial Day every year, and the kids brave the cold. Rachel alerted us she would tell everyone they met the new family. Finally we met David and Molly next door. They have a 1 1/2 year old named Hailey. Each person indicated we were going to LOVE the neighborhood. Tom tells us Jared mows lawn for $40. Mindy tells us they use to live in a new home a few miles away, but had waited for a home on Riverview to come up for sale and bought 3 years ago. Rachel tells us her other son is 13 and will be ready to babysit next year. David tells us if I ever need a beer to come on over. He also indicated Larry across the street is 74 and sometimes gets a little persnickety.

Anyway, we are surely excited about our new neighborhood, home and yard.

Once again, I failed to take good photos. Here is a portion of our helpers on Saturday. There are more photos to come from Mark's camera later. We have already put mom's chain saw (which Rachel is posing with) to good use in the yard.

Here are Marly and Dean NOT sleeping in their new beds with Dr. Suess sheets.

I'm HOT!

Okay, toddler twins has done marvelous things for my sense of romance and passion. Right!!! - Like completely sucked the life out it.

Monday I personally installed the shelving on our naked bedroom closet tracks (bracket holders). I went to Menards, figured out what to buy, used a bolt cutter to adjust the size of the shelving, added the brackets, and then placed it inside. When Mark saw my work he looked at me, grinned and said, "That's HOT!" (He was referring to me and my handman skills!!!)

My poor listening, stupid, un-romantic, mommy wife response was, "What??? It's too HIGH? That's okay. I can move the brackets!"

Update

Last Friday Mark and I closed on our home. Mark did some nail biting due to our seller, but at 1:30 we were on our way with OUR garage door clicker and keys in hand. We picked up McDonald's and ate our first meal (Quarter Pounder with Cheese, fries and cola) sitting on our floor on the blanket our mortgage broker gave us at our closing. Later we got Marly and Dean and ordered pizza for delivery to our new address in Brooklyn Park. Marly would run down the hall, turn circles, giggle and run back. Dean kept escaping outside as we went in and out to play in his new (over grown) hedges.

Saturday Mark set to work painting. Kelly, Brett and Rachel were over to help with various clean up and move in tasks while Dad and Chris took care of the kids. As the days pass, we are prepping and moving over bit by bit. Just yesterday I got the supplies I needed for the tracks in my shelfless, poleless bedroom closet. Aftet the puchase of materials and a bolt cutter at Menards, I can now hang clothing inside of it!

We have eaten supper at the new address every night and enjoy our kitchen and dining area already! Saturday is the big day (or night) when we will officially be sleeping at our new residence.

I know, I know... no photos of Mark and Kelly painting, Rachel scrubbing the kitchen, Brett sweeping the garage, me working on weeds in the yard, or Dean throwing his toys out the living area window while the screen was removed for cleaning!!!

Oh My - We are moving!!!

The Thomberg's are moving! Tomorrow at 10:30 AM we will be signing and signing and signing to be handed over keys for what is to be our new home in the North Metro. We will be cleaning, painting and moving over the next two weeks! (and going on weed patrol for our yard!!!)

So, this Friday, Thomberg Family Pizza Night will take place on the floor at our new address...with more bedrooms, another bathroom, a larger kitchen, a dining area where we don't have to pull the table in and out, a fireplace, a patio, and dandelions in our yard for Marly and Dean to pick!

Mother's Day

On Mother's Day, Kelly and Pat hosted lunch. Thank you Pat and Kelly. I made potato salad and poppy seed cake (my treat to myself I suppose...)

(oh...and I am wearing the JCrew sale sweater I treated myself to as well...)

Grandma Pauline

Pauline with her children and grandchildren.

For supper, we intended to eat at Wagner's Drive In in St. Louis Park, which we have done since my first Mother's Day. Silly, but it was the one thing I was looking forward to. This year we were meeting Brett & Rachel, and the Lyon's. We got there... and Wagner's was GONE. Instead, there were piles of dirt and a sign announcing "Galaxy Drive In Coming Soon!" We ate at the Park Tavern instead. Not exactly the kid friendly outdoor picnic table this mom had in mind, but at least Mark and Rachel chased the kids most of the time so I got a few minutes to converse.

We did not have time for a walk around Lake Calhoun like the past two years. Being Mark had not taken any pictures of me with the kids, I asked him to snap this not so special shot after we got home from the restaurant and long after the kids bedtime.

Thank you God for making me a mama and blessing me with Marly and Dean!

HIT with a memory

Today I spent a copious amount of time in my car for work, so I spent a lot of time listening to talk radio, while setting my mind adrift. I was tuned into FM 107 when the conversation turned to prom cosages... them Mark called me on my cell phone about his Mother's Day work schedule...

and then I was suddenly STRUCK with a long ago, far away memory of....

...the Orchid Corsages my dad would purchase from Sophie Sampson's flower shop in Hector to honor my mom on Mother's Day!

Oh yes, there was my mother at our tiny country church on Mother's Day Sunday with a GIANT orchid adorning her dress (with matching spike heels and clutch handbag). Year after year, my mom would graciously attach the monstrosity (sorry Dad!) to her ensemble. I do recall her muttering something about Sophie selling the Melberg men the LARGEST flower in the shop. Maybe it was because I was small, (or maybe it was my mother's quiet comment) but in my childhood memory, the flower was rather on the large side. The picture above (snagged from the internet) makes the size seem insignificant.

Come back with me to the 1980's. Somehow, Sheldon or David would managed to escape from the tractor and spring planting long enough to run to town and pick up these corsages for Jan and Marlys... because that is what husbands/fathers were trained to do (by Sophie Sampson I think!).

Ladies, do any of you still get a corsage on Mother's Day???

When the memory struck, I started to chuckle and cry all at the same time as I was speeding back to the office on I-94.

What's for supper!

Most nights Mark prepares supper, since he arrives home long before me. I try and decide on the menu and get the ingredients out in advance to help him out.

Once in a while, I actually cook...I am hooked on the BLOG of this mom to quadruplets. She recently wrote about making Chicken Scallopine, and inspired me last Sunday.

I am not a great cook, but occasionally come across a recipe which proves successful. It has to be relatively uncomplicated for me to tackle, with less then three ingredients I need to purchase special. For this recipe, I picked up the fresh mushrooms at Costco (in conjuction with a work visit) and the fresh parsley and Cub while doing my regular shopping. You can guess I had wine on hand (and chicken broth should you prefer)...and I keep capers in our fridge because I love them in tuna fish.

The Chicken Scallopine recipe (linked here with plenty of photos) is worth a try - It is from The Pioneer Woman blog. The Pioneer Woman is pretty darn cool herself.

My chicken was not quite as pretty as the Pioneer Woman's pictured above. Despite this, it was a winner with Marly and Dean. Less sauce equaled less mess for them... and more for Mark and me! Mark actually ate the left overs on Monday. Quite honestly, he rarely eats anything I make as a left-over.

Just Living Life

Basically, the Thomberg's are living life day by day. This past Friday, we took a hiatus from "Thomberg Family Pizza Night" to celebrate an unexpected promotion and title change Mark recieved the day before at the 'Bou. We hit the 5-8 Club in Champlin for Juicy Lucy's instead. (pepperjack cheese in mine please!)

Afterwards we logged some park time...

Saturday afternoon Doris called - "Hey, do you want to meet for supper?"

You bet we do! Out with the Hentges....

more weekend activities...

Soaking up the last of the Sunday sun after supper....