Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween 2010

Well, we are finally caught up on blog posts, as I am now currently posting "today's" news!!!  Today was a full day.  One interesting tid-bit about today is that one year ago today we moved into our house.  It was especially memorable, because we were unpacking in between handing out candy to trick-or-treaters!

One year later, our house is again in chaos for Halloween as we tear out our old linoleum kitchen floor and wood dining room floor and replace them with laminate.  Here are some pictures of the process to date, and I will post more as we finish.  Paul is currently continuing to work on tearing out the old floor.  It is a big process as we are uncovering layers of floor we didn't even know were there!  Previous owners put down floor on top of floor, so it is a surprise what we find as we tear it up.

The BEFORE picture



A close-up of the floor....and...um....Tucker!


Starting....notice that the floors are not flush...one is higher than the other.


The first step was to remove the island.  That wasn't too bad because Paul built our island when we moved in, and didn't bolt it down to the floor, so we just moved it out of the room. 


 The next step was tearing up the linoleum.  There was plywood underneath.

 Surprise!  Under the plywood was ANOTHER linoleum floor!  


Tucker watching the Vikings game while helping daddy.

YAY!  Second linoleum floor is almost completely removed!

Next step, pulling up the wood floor.  Paul said it was wise to do so because of how creaky it was.


  Sure enough, water had rotted through and the creaky spot was really soft... Paul could stick his hammer from the kitchen to the basement!  YIKES!



And I will leave you there....while we transition to Summer's first Halloween!  While we don't support the "evil" undertones of this holiday, it was fun to dress Summer up as a pumpkin!

 I always call her "my little punkin' " so the costume was very fitting!
Notice the back of the hat....a friend made the hat for Summer!  So cute!

No, no candy yet, little one!  Next year!
Look at me!  I am a pumpkin!!

 Mommy with her two kiddos!

Meeting Great Grandma Obermayer

This past weekend was special because Summer met the last of her 3 Great-Grandma's--Great Grandma Obermayer!

My Aunt Nancy, Cousin Amanda, and Grandma O, drove up from Chicago on Friday night.  We ladies (including my mom and sister) spent the day together on Saturday shopping and eating! Then we came back to our house and mom and dad made pizza--yum!




Summer and Daddy

Summer has been growing so much the past few weeks.  Her cute personality is starting to show and her smiles light up our day!  A lot of our interactions with Summer now include reading books.  We visited the library last week and got a bunch of board books.  She loves to look at the pictures.  Here is a video of Paul reading Summer Daddy Promises.

Reading with Daddy




Summer loves to be on her feet whether it be standing, walking, or dancing!  She needs our help with balance, but she has VERY strong legs and supports most all of her weight!

Dancing with Daddy

Bartholomew Cubbins

We have a family tradition with the Kirkwood side to read  The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins when we all get together for holidays.  All the cousins pile on the couch with the uncles, and each uncle is a different character in the story, reading that portion of the book in his own silly voice.  This tradition started when we were little, and even as grown adults, we still look forward to the reading of Bartholomew Cubbins each holiday!  This picture was from 2007, the first time Paul got to be a part of the traditional reading!


Anyway, my sister Kristin heard that Bartholomew Cubbins was to be performed at the Children's Theater in Minneapolis.  And THAT was the reason all 18 of us gathered together during a weekend in October, coming from all across the country including Colorado, Michigan, and of course, Minnesota!  Gotta love our family!

Well, we decided to do Thanksgiving in October in conjunction with this special production, which turned out to be a great idea now that several married cousins have in-laws to visit on "actual" Thanksgiving--we might even start a new tradition of always holding Kirkwood Thanksgiving in October!

Here are some pictures of our silly family as well as the first time that many of the Kirkwood clan had the opportunity to meet Summer and Tucker!

 The  first time Summer met her Great Grandma and Grandpa Kirkwood

The Turkey was bigger than Summer!

The Cousins

Playing "Tucker in the middle" with the frisbee

These silly boys don't get to see each other much--Paul in MN and Heather's hubby Nick in CO.

We got to see Leah's college dorm room


 Yup, we all wore Bartholomew Cubbins hats to the show :)

Paul really liked his hat!


The whole clan after the show!

Everyone came back to our place for dinner after the show.  We managed to all squeeze into our kitchen!

Gotta love family!  LOVE YOU GUYS!

Lebanon Hills

Hello Everyone!  Sorry we haven't posted in a while :).  It is time to update you on the our lives, and it will take several posts to bring you up to speed.  Let's start with our fun Saturday at Lebanon Hills for some hiking in the leaves.  Mommy held onto Tucker while daddy climbed the many hills pushing Summer in the jogger.  Here are a few pictures.  Enjoy!





After a fun afternoon of hiking, we came home and made pizza.  YUM!  Here is a glimpse into our evening.

Saturday Night at the Tommerdahls

I found my thumb!


Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Apple Orchard

Two of my all time favorite things are crunching leaves in the fall and going apple picking.  Paul found a place that had both, and he took Summer and I there to celebrate my birthday.  Here are a few pictures, as well as a video of Summer enjoying crunching in the leaves too!



Summer sleeps through the Corn Maze!




Looking at the map


 Summer's hood serves as a "cup holder" for daddy!


GORGEOUS fall colors!


One of Mommy and Summer's favorite trees--look at the color of the leaves!


Summer "walking" in the leaves


Summer loves her daddy!


And daddy loves his Summer!


Whee!  Higher daddy, higher!


Awe!


Mommy's turn to cuddle!





 Summer poses for the camera...a model for some magazine....


And now, the model with "attitude" :)

Summer crunching through the leaves
 
After we got home, we grilled out cheeseburgers.  Summer sat in her bumbo seat while we ate and provided the entertainment for our meal!