EJM, INC.

Apparently, it has been too long because I forgot my blogger password... Here is a little from the archives of the past 3 months...

March

We took the first nice day to go to the zoo. Elena was a big fan of the lions, tigers and monkeys.

Flat Stanley came up to Minnesota with us to watch Madelynn swim again.

April

The Easter Bunny came. Luke and Elena got to go on an Easter egg hunt too!We added a bunch of white and jack pines to diversify our tree collection. Some of these were actually quite large. May

We went to the Cubs vs. Brewers game at Milwaukee. It was early in the season this year so it was a little cold. Elena is learning to play baggo...

Here's the portion of the crowd we went to high school with (mostly). Thanks for coming! I know I had a good time. =)

Elena put together her own big bed.

Here she is pretending to sleep.

Accessorize!

We took advantage of the warm weather and finally got the shutters up. They really take the outside to pretty plain and missing something to much more.

Too bad the sunlight is a bit harsh to really see the colors.

If anyone else has some exciting before and after project pictures and you want me to post them send me an email.

En Vogue

Repurposing is so cool these days...but Eric and I were cool before it was cool. Version 1.0-As seen here in the background, this free double wide TV stand left by Eric's roommate worked well for a time, but it was too big and cluttered for selling our house.

Version 2.0 - From double wide to single wide. Custom TV fit!

Version 3.0 - occurred when the DVD player did not fit, so we had to move the middle vertical piece over just a touch...

Version 4.0 - Raze the Roof! It seems our free TV (purchased with credit card points from building the house) wouldn't fit. Oh...but that can't stop us!

Seriously, one day I really will buy new furniture, "but something keeps telling me don't do it yet, not yet, not yet..."

January update!

Oh hooray! The holidays were fun, but I'm enjoying staying home and getting stuff done! How's the house? Oh, it's here. There is always plenty to keep us busy. Thanks to a little help from Eric the 1st floor closet doors should be up in a week or so. He also got the zone system hooked up and a humidifier hooked up on the HVAC system. He's done other stuff too but I never remember once it's done anymore =) Eric also has been on the snowmobile 3 weekends in a row. Nice. It's awesome having a groomed trail right across the street.

Elena is growing up. She is all toddler now. She says lots of single words, loves her bike helmet, monkeys and getting tossed up on the number 3. Here are some pics.

Elena figured out her toybox was a bench!

She gave us a Christmas Eve concert.

She got a new snowsuit,

a new sled,

and a snowmobile helmet!

She's starting to like dolls and thinks she fits perfectly in this little chair!

Man is she starting to look old!

There's no business like snow business!

We had gotten a couple snows already this year. After yesterday's, we thought it was worth bundling Elena up to go out and play in it.

Adding the 17th and final item!

Be afraid be very afraid.

This outfit worked for a few minutes until she fell over and I took too long picking her up and she starteed crying. Perhaps partly because when she moved her head the adult spidey mask stayed in the same place... We went inside and played with the snow stuck to her boots. After a little time with the snow inside, we decided to go back outside and try it again with a little different set up.

Elena was much happier. Dishtowels can make great scarves without adding bulk.

Look at what a great job she did shoveling the sidewalk!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We finally got to put up our Christmas decorations which have been on hiatus the last 3 Christmasses! (Okay. How do you make Christmas plural?)

Elena 1st helped us check the bulbs for the outside lights.

Then we had to put the lights and beads on the Christmas tree.

She helped us put all the ornaments in their place.

Then just before bedtime she got to watch the train with Daddy.

The End of Summer

The snow is flying today, sticking, then melting quickly. I thought I'd take advantage of naptime and post some of my favorite pictures.

Happy 4th of July!

I learned this from Daddy.

Elena in her camp chair for the Marunde family camping trip.

Skip and the lift back at it painting the Cheddar Haus.

The Marunde side at Elena's 1st birthday party.

Happy Birthday to Elena!

Look who's walking now! (14 months old)

"Who's my daddy?"

Elena jammin' out with her cousins Anna, Elizabeth and Sara.

Brewers vs. Cubs Sept.28th

Oh my gosh do I feel behind blogging! Elena doesn't let me on the computer anymore, and I always seem to have too much to do during naptime.

It has been a busy end to summer for us. Since Indianapolis, we've spent a weekend in Milwaukee. We visited Sprecher's Brewery. Other than Sprecher's seasonal Black and Blue Blend which you can only get at the brewery, New Glarus Brewery's beer still tops the list. The headliner of that weekend was the Cubs vs. Brewers game at Miller park.

Pass the baby. We had like 90 tickets. If you are interested in attending next year send me an email! !

Man that is a lot of beads for a little girl
.

Elena and her posse.

MotoGP in Indianapolis

MotoGP ran in Indianapolis for the first time this year. It was worth the drive, the wind and the rain! Saturday was a beautiful day! We met up with Uncle Mike and Auntie Audra. Mike and Eric got to take a Buell, KTM and Yamaha for a demo ride. Eric gave the Yamaha R6 a rave review. His face was awfully bright after the test drive and got him wondering how Honda's new CBR600RR compared. Too bad I think he will just have to suffer with his 2003 CBR600RR for awhile. After the track, we headed downtown for some Japanese food. Then walked around downtown for Motorcycles on Meridian which was a crazy line up of tons of bikes downtown. I love Indianapolis. Where else can you have the Symphony hosting a dinner on the circle with fireworks and a thousands roaring bikes just 2 blocks away? (Sorry we didn't have more time to do some visiting!)

Sunday was all about the races on the track. The Riders Cup drivers raced. I found out I was a mom when one of the 13-15 yr old riders bit it kind of hard right in front of us and I got teary. Seriously!?! Then they ran the 125cc. toward the end of that race, the weather got all Ikey. Freak heavy rain and crazy gusty winds. Since the weather was kind of in bands. They postponed the 250cc race until after the main event (The 250cc eventually got cancelled). The rains stopped and they dried the track and ran the MotoGP race. Around lap 17 the rain started sheeting accross the track. In 3 more laps they red flagged (ended) it and Rossi had another win. Rossi also said those last 3 laps were the worst conditions he's race in. Kudos to the skill of the drivers and the rain tires, none of the 125s or premier class riders bit it despite the conditions. Also despite the 80 closure. it only took us an hour and 45 minutes extra to get home via 30 Sunday night. Yea! Here are some pictures.
Auntie Audra and Elena.

Tuckered out after a late night on the town!

Before the first squal. We camped out at the top of the Northwest corner cause it has a great view and a fabulous fence backrest which helps in the wind...

Waiting for the premier class race out of the wind and rain. Elena slept through most of the worst weather. Props to the Baby Bjorn Active - a baby item that is a must have in my book. Apparently, the gusts were up to 59mph and the track even lost power.

The first lap of the premier GP race everything was dry and nice. My lack of zoom and sound does not do this race justice.

We will definitely be back to MotoGP in Indy.

Camptastic!

More importantly than silly home projects... We took Monday to clean our bikes up, put a hitch on the Civic and prepare for camping the following weekend. Thursday, we cruised up to Penninsula State Park to meet my parents and Team Gemo. Elena got to go tent camping for the second time in her life. Lucian and Elena enjoyed long walks with Grandpa and riding bikes. Eric and I, Team Gemo and our parents all got to take the kayak out. Eric and I got to take a little time for ourselves, so we decided to work out our bikes on the fabulous mountain bike trails. As usual, he totally kicked my tail. All the pictures are on my mom's and sisters camera except these few. Here is Elena chillin' with a bottle in the camper.

Elena thinks riding bikes is hard work. The Co-pilot Limo is a fabulous kid carrier for long rides. It is a lot less work than a trailer and it reclines... (The Bell Cocoon is also a good carrier if you can't find this one on supersale!)

It also detaches and sits on the ground...Where is that do not disturb sign?

Off to Indy on Thursday (before the flood)!

Paving the Way

Labor Day weekend we devoted to another home project - finishing the sidewalk. This is the first home project we've actually have had fun with in a while! Elena wasn't too crazy about the rough gravel.

So we leveled and compacted it.

Then landscaping paper goes down to keep your sand from mixing in the gravel. Elena liked this a little better...

Then the edging gets put in to shape.

Then an inch of level sand goes down. Laying the pavers is the fast part as long as you lay it out to minimize cuts.

At the end of the day Saturday, Kodi was done and so were the easy cut pieces.

Elena explaining to her father the best practices for wet saw use. Cutting is the most time consuming part. This portion took a majority of Sunday. Silly curves...