Hot Dog!

The wife and kid are not much into playing card or  board games. Every once in a while I can convince them to play something, but not very often. We've tried Life, Skip-Bo, even a special Bill & Ted board game! It usually ends pretty quickly and one or both of them are pretty bored. There are really only two exceptions: Diana really loves Yahtzee, and all of us love the Hot Dog game!

What is the Hot Dog game, you may be asking yourself? Well, its a really dumb card game that was released based on the Dog Man property. It really simple and made for little kids, but I've got to tell you, we always have a blast when we pull those cards out! Some day I may be able to convince them to play a game that's not made for six year olds, but until then, we will be having a grand ol' time playing the Hot Dog game! 

Restaurant Night

Sunday nights are Ledger's favorite night of the week. Seems strange that he would love that one so much, right? It means its the end of the weekend and he's got to go to bed on time again with school starting in the morning. So why does he love it so much? Well, because it's restaurant food night!

For many years now, Sunday night has been the one night a week that we get restaurant food. It goes back to when I worked the weekend shift at Haworth. I would come home Sunday evening from work, exhausted from three 12+ hour shifts in three days, and I was not at all interested in trying to think about what we should have for dinner. Diana, having just come off of three 12+ hour shifts of being a single parent while I was at work, doesn't want to think about preparing food either! Our solution? We would always get restaurant food that night. It became such a habit that we got to expect it every week. Ledge would ask if we could get restaurant food though out the week and we could always say 'we'll have some on Sunday'.

Even though I don't work the weekends any more, its become such a tradition at this point that it would almost feel weird not to get restaurant food on Sunday night! Ledge's favorites at the moment are Pizza Hut and Wendy's (the two most expensive, of course...).

Jeopardy!

For some reason my son got really in to quiz games. I'm not sure what brought this on, but suddenly he wanted to ask us trivia questions and wanted us to make up questions for him to answer. He really wanted to play Jeopardy, which is weird because he's never really seen the show. He didn't actually want to watch the show, just recreate it at home for all three of us to play. Ok buddy, lets do it!

He still has the white boards up on his wall from when we first moved in, so we took advantage and grabbed markers and made our own game. As you can see, he didn't go with the traditional spelling, instead spelling it 'Jeapurdee'. Makes perfect sense, right? We each created three categories and took turns asking and answering them. We didn't do much planning, so the questions were just from the top of our heads. We had so much fun doing the first round that we played another. I love game time with the family!

Halloween Decor

Finally! Moonlight Jack finally showed up so we can decorate for Halloween! (Read about the legend of Moonlight Jack here) We went downstairs and pulled out the big box of Halloween decorations and brought it up. We dug through it and found spots for all the different holiday stuff we have accumulated over the years. It's even got some of Ledger's old Halloween costumes in it, which of course means that he's got to try them on again! Pictured is the ghostie he wore two years in a row. He loved it so much he wanted to wear it again the second year- except this time with the witch's hat.

Now that we've got the place covered in pumpkins and other Halloween decor, we are ready for the spooky season!

Warm Laundry

It's laundry day, and it's time to do the bed sheets. Ledger helped bring them down to the basement and throw them in the washer. We spent a bit of time tidying up and cleaning the house. He was kind of annoyed that he couldn't lay in bed and play on his padpad, but he also wouldn't let me put any of his other sheets on the bed. He loves his Dogman sheets and was willing to wait for them. When the dryer was done, I brought them up and told him I needed a little help putting them on the bed, he begrudgingly got off the couch to help, but got really excited when he realized that the sheets in the basket were still warm from the dryer! He pulled them out and wrapped himself in cozy warm sheets- he was so delighted and happy that I had to take a picture! So cute! We eventually put the sheets on and he hopped right in bed to snuggle in the warmth!

Finishing Yard Projects

It doesn't happen very often, but every once in a while I get the urge to do some yard work! As the weather gets a little warmer (not too warm, mind you), I decided to get out there and do a bit of cleaning up around our palatial estate. I even wrangled Ledger to come out and help as well! We put in a deck a couple years ago and I had grand plans to put some landscaping around it to make it look nice. I had put in a plastic edge and stepping stones last year, but I never got around to filling the space with woodchips. Well, I corrected that issue and got it looking really nice. Also, a couple years ago Ledger and I tore down the rotted out shed in the back yard, but we left the floor of the shed. We finally went out and tore it apart and uncovered a big cement slab that it was on. All together, the place looks so much better! Both he and I were all sweaty and dirty by the time we were done, but it was worth it to finally finish those two projects.

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Egg Hunt

 Easter is here! That means that the eggs getting filled with candy and the boy gets to do a little bit of hunting. Earlier in the week I got a few different types of candy to fill up the plastic eggs for the morning hunt. Loading them up the night before, I snuck around in the dark of night and found good hiding spots for all 35 eggs. They were scattered around the living room, dining room, and kitchen for Ledger to find. I made sure to put some in easy obvious spots as well as a few tricky hiding spots. When we woke him up Sunday morning we reminded him what day it was, and he hopped out of bed (pun intended) and grabbed the Easter basket- the hunt was on! Most of them he found pretty quickly, as intended, but the last couple took him 10+ minutes to find! He kept asking for clues of the last locations, but I refused. He's got to work for his sweets! Later we headed over to Mema & Papa's house for a great time and delicious Easter dinner with Jill, Tim, and the kids.

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Doggy Steps

We tried to stay strong when we got a dog. We were determined to make his sleep in his crate at night. That lasted about six months. We've been letting him sleep in the bed with us ever since. The bed is way too tall for him to jump up on, so we keep having to lift him up and down from the bed. Way too annoying. Last year I went overboard and build a set of steps for Wiggins so he could climb up to the bed. He's super spoiled, I know. He's been using the steps but Diana keeps worrying that he doesn't like the bare wood and could slip, so I finally got a few carpet squares and covered the steps so its easier for him to get up them. It's kind of disgusting how much we spoil this little pooch!

(Don't forget to check out all the cute pictures of him here!)

New Wall Art

Granted, its been quite a while since Christmas, but Ledger finally got his last gift. He got some awesome wall art from his grandpa and grandma at Christmas time, but when Diana and Ledger came back up from South Bend, they forgot to bring it with them! Argh! Mom and David went to Florida a day or two after the Christmas party, so we were out of luck until they came back- which was almost a month later!

They brought the artwork with them when we saw them for dinner, so now we are finally able to hang the art in Ledger's room.

He had an 'Among Us' flag hanging above his bed for quite a while, but he's kind of moved on from that game. Knowing his favorite animal is an octopus, his grandma and grandpa got him this cool three panel artwork of an octopus to put in his room. Ledge helped me measure out the space and figure out where the nails need to go, and we hung it up. Boy, does it look good! A fitting decor for an older, sophisticated, boy!

Snuggin'

 One of our family's favorite activities is snuggin'. We've been doing it for years. There are, of course, different types of snuggin', but all of them involve us hugging or just being close with each other. Sometimes its laying on the couch, sometimes its laying on the bed, or even laying on the floor. We just kind of lean on each other and enjoy being close. Some of the different types are 'tech snuggin', that means we just snuggle up close to each other and play on our own devices. Diana or I are usually on our phone and Ledger is drawing on his tablet. We do 'reading snugs', which means we get close and each have a book. This one usually leads to me falling asleep... And then there's just plain snuggin', that's where we cuddle up next to each other and have a good chat. I ask him about his day, what he learned, what he liked, what he wants to do better tomorrow. You know, that kind of stuff. It's certainly one of our favorite times of the day! Sometimes the stinky dog even joins us...

Lawncare Boy

Even though its the end of September, coming home from a week away means that the lawn is getting pretty long. When I went out to take care of it, I asked the boy if he would like to give it a try. The last time he helped with the lawn was back when we had a push mower. He's been eyeing that sit-down mower for the last season or two and has been waiting for his turn. He's getting bigger and I figured he could probably handle it.

I pulled it out of the garage and showed him all the controls he would need, and he hopped on ready to give it a shot. We started off really really slowly because he was a little unsure of himself at first. After a few feet I put down the blades and let him take it. He kept the speed slow, and with tense arms, he made his way back and forth. He would have been smiling if he wasn't concentrating so hard! He said he liked it but did not want to go any faster! He was scooted up pretty far in the seat, so I took the opportunity to put Wiggins up there with him- and what a cute picture it made!

After a lap or two he said he was done but wants to try again next time. Little by little we'll get him comfortable on that thing- then he's responsible for mowing the lawn every week! Finally I will be rid of that task, something I've been waiting for ever since my dad passed it down to me!

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Fenced Off

We absolutely love our house and where we live. The neighbors? not as much... Soon after we moved in we realized that it didn't matter how nice we made out lawn, our view from the large front windows is pointing straight at our neighbors. I don't want to be disparaging against anyone, so lets just say it's not the best view. Well, we finally did something about it. Due to the odd shape of our plot of land, this side yard is actually considered a 'front yard' by the city. That means that we aren't allowed to build a 6 foot wall unless we get a variance from the city. Talking with a few people, I found out that the chances of them accepting our application for a variance is slim to none, so we didn't bother paying the huge fee to apply. I guess we are stuck with only a 4 foot fence. Still worth it, we decided. We had a guy come out and measure it out and made plans for them to come and build it. The day has finally arrived, and boy are they quick! They had the whole 80 foot fence up in about three hours- wow! We went to go check it out and, of course, Wiggins had to christen it...

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Easter Hunt

For the first time in many years, I actually get to be home on Easter! The night before, Diana and I filled up and hid a bunch of plastic eggs for the boy to find. When we got up in the morning we gave him an Easter basket and let him know how many he needed to find. Off he went searching, giggling and delighted whenever he found one! Once he got all 24 of them, he started cracking them open to get the yummy treats inside.

Our big plan for the day was going to my parents' house with the whole family and have a great meal together. Jill, Tim, and the kids were there as well and a great Eastery time was had by all! 

One More Birthday

 One more set of grandparents to celebrate his birthday with! Soon after his birthday we got a call that Diana's mom and David wanted to come down and see their newly 10 years old grandson. Well, they don't have to ask us twice! They came down on that Saturday and we got to spend a nice afternoon with them, Ledger showed off his latest animations and drawings, Diana and I got to chat with them for a bit and catch up. One of the gifts they brought with them was a new chair for Ledger's desk! He had been using a dinner table chair, but now he's got a fancy new office chair with wheels- he was so excited to have such a big kid chair!

After spending the afternoon hanging out, they asked him where he wanted to go for his breakfast dinner, and wouldn't you know it? He wanted to go to Culvers again! Alright, buddy, I guess your plan to get more cheese curds worked!

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Basement Organizing

 Whenever I go downstairs to do anything, its always to watch a movie. That only makes up one part of our basement though, and the part where we store stuff usually gets neglected and is a mess. It's about time I address that! I headed downstairs this time with the express purpose of cleaning up the storage area. It's mostly a bunch of boxes and other random stuff without a home, so the biggest challenge of organizing it all is just figuring out what boxes to put stuff in! We have a room off to the side for just such a thing, but its currently filled to the brim with my brother's stuff. We've been storing it for the past couple years while he and his family are moving around because of military stuff. He'll be out soon and then come and get it all, but until then I'll make the most of the areas left. As you can see in the picture, the place is a right good mess. Though I'm cleaning up, I still figured out a way to watch a movie while I do it! We have a tiny 13 inch tv with a build in DVD player that I set on the work bench and popped in a movie to help pass the time! Before I knew it, the place was looking much better! Check out the 'after' picture here.

Blowing Leaves

Autumn is upon us! It's my favorite season: its starting to get cold again and I don't mind being outside anymore. Lawn work is one of my least favorite thing in the world, but once the weather turns a bit cooler, then I am totally fine with it- in fact, I rather like putzing around the yard doing work. It's a good thing too, because all those leaves falling makes for a lot of raking! This year we added a tool to our arsenal: a leaf blower! Suddenly Ledger doesn't mind coming out to help anymore...

Doggy Steps

That pup of ours is so small that he can't even jump on to the bed. Granted, he's got bad hips so he should really be trying, but the bed is too tall for him to make it on. We've been lifting him up every time, but that gets really old and kinda hard to do when laying on the bed, so it was time to find a different solution. I had an idea... We have a bunch of left over wood from when we did the deck, so I rooted around and slapped together this creation. I didn't want the steps to be too tall and the whole thing needed to be pretty thin so it wasn't in the way of either one of us getting out of bed. I got to work in the garage and made it. I brought it in and he was not at all interested in it at first. I was able to coax him up a time or two with treats at each step, but he was pretty skeptical about it right from the start. With enough treats though, you can make a dog (especially our food motivated pup) do just about anything! He's getting used to it at this point and we just have to pat the bed and he's willing to hop up his lil doggy steps to get some cuddling! Mission accomplished!  

Old School Gaming

 Diana has a new obsession: Animal Crossing! Miranda has been playing it for months now and trying to get Diana or Lissa to play as well. It finally worked and I got her the game for my Nintendo Switch. She has been playing so much- and loving it! She's never been a video game kind of person, but this one is basically cute animals crossed with Sims crossed with Barbies- a decorator's dream come true! Diana has been investing a lot of time in making her island look good, and now she wants to show it off to Miranda. Looks like the only way to do that is to get a subscription to Nintendo's online service. It's pretty cheap, so we took the plunge. Now she can take her character and visit Miranda's island, and Miranda can see all the work Diana's done on her own island. They are like kids playing video games while they talk on the phone 'Oh, M, check out my garden next to the house, cute huh?'

One bonus of getting the Nintendo online service is that we also have access to all the free games they offer. There are a ton of original NES games available. We scrolled through all the options and I found a bunch that I used to love back in the day! Figured this would be the perfect time to introduce Ledger to some of the classics. I showed him one of my old faves: Excite Bike! He thought it was pretty cool too, and really simple! Yeah buddy, that's all games used to be able to do, and we loved it. We spent the rest of the afternoon scrolling through and checking out some of those old games and I had a blast reliving my old gaming days!

A Slow Life

With all the hustle and bustle of the outside world, we tend to ignore it around here. Diana and I made a decision early in our marriage that we wanted to prioritize time instead of stuff. Neither one of us are obsessed with having the latest and greatest, we are quite content to get by with what we've got. I have intentionally been working a job that allows me the maximum amount of time off (4 days a week), and Diana is home everyday as well. We could put our focus on making more and having more, but we really just like to hang out and spend time with each other and our boy. It's a laid back life, and that's exactly the way we love it! What gadget could replace the simple joy of cuddling with my son and watching cartoons in the middle of the day? This is what life is really about! 

New Room

Ledger has had his room set up with his bed up high and a desk underneath it since we first moved into this house. He loves the set up, when we were at the last place he always wanted to have a desk, so this has been a dream come true for him- and he has spent so much time at that desk working hard on his animations and drawing! Unfortunately he is getting to big to fit comfortably on that bed. It's surprisingly close to the ceiling, but he has been climbing in there valiantly even though it's becoming more and more of a tight fit.

Its finally time for an update. We knew Ledger's favorite part of his room is his desk, so we needed to make sure we got him a new one otherwise he would be very unhappy with the changes! We took down the bed/desk thing and set up a new bed and put together a new desk for him, much to his delight. Now he get's the fun opportunity to redecorate everything. He has really loved it so far!

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