Where does the time go???

Hello, I'm back!!

After a brief (ok, maybe not quiet brief!) hiatus I'm back to blogging all about life.

Here is a quick recap of what we have been up to since my last post.  I apologize for the lack of pictures, that will be changing!

April '13:
*Moved out of the townhouse and in with my parents.  It was quite cozy but we made it work.

June '13:
*Madison finished 5th grade and officially left elementary school.  Was a very sad day for me!
*Spend a weekend in Rochester for a soccer tournament.

July '13:
*We moved into our new house!!!!
*Justin & Mimi came home (the same weekend we moved) for a wedding shower.

September '13:
*Madison started middle school!
*Flew out to Denver for Justin & Mimi's weekend.  It was an awesome weekend and great to get back      to Denver.

October '13:
*Charlie turned 2!
*Spend the week of Halloween in Walt Disney World.  The girls absolutely LOVED it and it was a great vacation.

December '13:
*We were finally able to host the holidays as we finally have room for the entire family.


2014 is going to be a great year!  Stay tuned for more...

Buying & Selling

Sorry folks, it's been awhile.  Things have been a bit crazy around here.  As most of you know by now the townhouse has sold!  Yippee!!  I am super excited but a little sad too.  This townhouse has so many memories in it.

I was starting to lose my mind as the original close date the buyer wanted was March 14th.  We countered with March 28th, and we finally settled on March 21st.  Then on the day we signed the papers to start building our new house (more on that in a bit) Pete calls me from work and tells me we have a problem. Talk about mild heart attack.  He said that the buyer had some issues with their lender and they just need to move the closing date out 60 days from then.  Everything else was still fine.  Whew... I was definitely okay with more time here.  

So in 6 weeks we get to do what every 30 year old with a husband, 2 kids, and a dog wants to do....... move back in with her parents.  It's going to be quite cozy but not having to spend money on rent will save us a ton of money which makes Pete happy!

Our house should be done mid summer, but once our dig date is determined in a few weeks we will know a definite timeline.  It is only 90 days from dig to close so things will be moving quickly.  We are building in the Lennar community of Ridgestone in Woodbury.  For those of you familiar with the area it is east of 19 (Woodbury Dr) off of Lake Rd.  There are a ton of kids in the neighborhood so Madison is really excited and it is only 6 miles from Pete's office.  Can't complain about that commute.

Here is our lot.  It's hard to tell with all the snow, but it is quite big.  You can't see it from this picture but there is a walking path that goes between the townhouses and our yard.  It will be nice for riding bikes.

This is what the outside will look like but with different colors.

I will post some pictures of the inside soon.  I'm SO excited, I can't wait!!!!!!!

I Really Shouldn't Complain..... But I'm Going To Anyway!

I'm SO excited that our townhouse is FINALLY back on the market!!  BUT, I totally forgot what a pain the in ass it is to constantly keep it up to showing standards.  It sucks!

We have had 6 showings already, 2 more scheduled for tomorrow, an open house on Sunday, and a Realtor Tour next Tuesday.   (And we've only been active since Monday)

A few showings have been over nap time, but I just can't say "No" because I keep telling myself this may be the person that puts an offer in.  So we pick up the few things we've taken out since the last showing, I vacuum, and Charlie and I load up and head out.  Today we visited Pete at work and went to lunch.

I'm just hoping that we get an offer soon so this madness can stop!

Ok, now I'm done complaining.  At least its Friday!!!  WooHoo!

Enjoy your weekend.

Thelen Family Christmas

This past weekend we finally celebrated Christmas with Pete's family.  We were suppose to celebrate on Christmas Day, but with some of us out of commission due to the flu we postponed it.

We headed out to Bill & Colette's house (the only place we can all fit!) and had Christmas in January.  The kids had a blast playing together.

Pictures were taken by Pete cousin Andrea.  She does an amazing job!

I love this picture.  Charlie wanted nothing to do with

sitting still!

No nap today, can you tell?!?!

"It's just too much, I can't look!"

Again, not wanting to sit for pictures!

Pot Roast and Potholes

Well... Hell has frozen over (at least according to Pete).  He came home from work on Monday and Tuesday to dinner made.  I couldn't let him get too use to it so Wednesday we picked up Chipotle and Thursday we had our #1 standby of chicken nuggets, pasta and a veggie.  I was planning on making something tonight but I got hit hard by a cold so Pete ended up making me grilled cheese and soup.  Maybe next week I will go for 3 nights!!!

Monday I made this.  I found it on Pinterest.  I remembered to take a picture after we were done eating, sorry!  :)
I didn't follow the recipe exactly.
I browned a pound of ground turkey and then added in a can of pizza sauce and some pizza spices.           Making my own sauce was just too much for me on a Monday!!
I hollowed out the rolls like the recipe calls for and then spooned in the meat, added a layer of black olives, a layer of turkey pepperoni, and then the cheese on top.

I got the same two remarks from Pete and Madison (Pete ate after us as he had to work late).
#1.  How do I eat this thing, pick it up or cut it up.  My reply was either one would work.
#2.  WOW. that was really good.  You need to make this again.

Score one for me!!!  ;)

Being that Monday night went so well, I thought I would try again on Tuesday.

I decided to try this pot roast recipe.  You can't find an easier recipe than this!  Just dump everything into the crockpot and turn it on low.

8 hours later you have this wonderful looking thing!

I thickened the leftover liquid with a little cornstarch and made a gravy to pour over it.  It was a tad salty from the Au Jus mix but it was still good.

I also made these potatoes from The Pioneer Woman.  They were amazing!

Oh.....I also made this for lunch one day.  It turned out good but not quite what I was thinking.  It wasn't as cheesy as I thought it would be.  Still a valid contender in the "make again" pile!

Public Service Announcement:

Watch out for Potholes or you could end up pissed off and out $800. 

That's what happens when you hit the Monster of all potholes on your way to a morning meeting.  It blew the tire and destroyed the rim.  Now Pete is without his car for 5 days!  Luckily the Jimmy John's billboard on wheels was available to drive until he gets his car back.  

It's about time for my NyQuil coma so I can hopefully kick this colds arse.  I am looking forward to the week where we are all totally healthy!  Hopefully it comes sooner rather than later.

Night all!

Monday Blues

I was just thinking we were finally all healthy, but I was wrong!  :(

Charlie has some sort of bug along with teething.  She is now working on her eye teeth which can be very painful.  She had a fever yesterday and woke up with one today.  On the good side my "never wants to cuddle" girl now just wants to cuddle and watch cartoons!  I'll take that part! :)

Having some milk and cheerios while watching Doc McStuffins

New Year and 2012 Photo Dump

Happy New Year!

With 2012 officially behind us, we all can look forward to bigger and better things in 2013.  For us that includes a Disney Vacation (YAY!!!), a wedding this year??, hopefully selling the townhouse and moving on with life in a much bigger house!  I can't wait to see what else the year brings!!

My resolution for this year is to get life organized.  Living in cramped quarters is hard because we have stuff everywhere, evident by our bread maker being stored under the computer desk in our room, but I am determined to get things together.  Thankfully I usually remember where everything is, but I feel like things are just starting to pile up around here and it's driving me bonkers!  I am also going to try and cook more, but don't hold your breath on that one or you may not make it to the end of 2013 if you do!!  :)


I finally got all of the pictures we took in December uploaded.  Procrastination anyone?!?!

Madison had her first band concert the week before Christmas.  The entire band did awesome.  It definitely did not sound like an elementary school band.  Check it out.

When you tell Charlie to smile this is what you get!

A few pictures from Christmas

Madison opening her new iPod

M's new vest

Modeling her new vest!

Madison received an awesome gift from Nana, Papa, Uncle Justin, Mimi, & B-Papa this year.  They gave her a full day of cooking class at Way Cool Cooking School.  The Friday after Christmas she spent the day doing what she loves most!  The morning class was Chopped Cooking and the afternoon was Chopped Baking.  They even got her her own chef's coat.

I hope you all have a great New Year and try to stay warm!!!

O' Christmas Flu

This Christmas is definitely one that we don't want to repeat!  We are all doing much better now, but I wouldn't wish that on anyone. NOT FUN!
Needless to say we didn't take many pictures.

Charlie got her own set of coasters from Nana & Papa.  She always wants to play with the coasters at their house but they are heavy metal, so they go her soft flimsy Mickey Mouse ones.  Also she got a Minnie Mouse tooth brush set from my cousin which she loves.  She brushes her hair with the toothbrush.  I will get some video of it and post it.  It's pretty funny!

Madison got an ice cream maker from Santa.  Her favorite gift is from Nana, Papa, Uncle Justin, Mimi, & B-Papa.  They gave her 2 cooking classes at Way Cool Cooking School.  She is there all day today.  I'm guessing this will be the first of many classes for her!

Justin and Mimi came to town on Christmas Day.  It was good to see them especially as they just got engaged last week!  Looking forward to the wedding!!!!!


I'll share with you my favorite picture from the Holidays.  It reminded me of one with Madison so here they are side by side.

Manic Monday

Pete had to go to Syracuse on Monday for work.  Little did he know that he was going to get a tour of some east coast airports!
One would think that after all the snow we got on Sunday they might have a few delays on Monday morning but getting out of MSP was the easy part, it all went downhill from there.
They were suppose to go from MSP to D.C. and then on to Syracuse.  Due to weather in D.C they went from MSP to Pittsburgh to D.C to Boston to Syracuse.  They left at 6am Monday morning and finally got to Syracuse at 9:30pm.  

Hopefully his flight home today is much easier!!

Family Photos

A few weeks ago we had our pictures taken by Kim Boatman and we just got them back.  I've been very anxious to see them. I've saved the best ones for the Christmas card, but here is a sneak peak.

Enjoy!