5 Years

I'll be honest.  I have been really struggling with what to write on this day. I started a post on Monday but then just deleted it all.

It has been five years since we lost my dad and I started searching for sunrays.

That's half a decade and it just seems impossible.

To say the world is completely different from what it was five years ago is a gigantic understatement, and I often wonder what Dad would think about everything that has happened.  I have no doubt he would have continued to be a positive light in the world and it is unfair that he didn't get that opportunity.

Pictures from January, February, and March 2015.

The girls are so much bigger now, and that is the hardest part.  If he was still here, they'd have SO MUCH FUN together.  They'd gang up on me together. He'd be the ring leader of the four little girl cousins and they'd get into so much trouble together. It makes me smile and cry thinking about it.

So I don't have anything really profound to say today.  I am just going to post this to mark the passage of time, to say that I miss him every day, and to express once more that I'm still so grateful for the 33 years I had with him.

Love you, Dad.

Timehop Tuesday

The girls and their dad!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Hola!  It was a nice weekend filled with various activities despite it being our 6th week at home.

Yesterday Callie made chocolate-tipped pretzels.  She was going for chocolate-dipped but only ever got the tip.  So it is another Callie Signature Dish, I guess!

Then we took advantage of the lovely afternoon and met G-ma, Pa, Auntie Cat, Auntie Hanna and Mitchell for a social distance hangout at a big field.  It was so nice to be together, even though we couldn't hug or hold the baby (which is TRULY TORTURE).



Then Chris took Maya to go hit some golf balls.  She loved it!



Today I went for a 4 mile run.  I ran past this fence, which had a beautiful chalk mural that said, "Better Days Ahead...Stay Safe MN."  Then Callie helped Chris make Eggs Benedict- a first time adventure for both of them and it turned out pretty well (according to me...it tasted good) and totally horrible (according to Chris because the hollandaise sauce wasn't perfect and the poached egg was cooked a bit too long).  But I hope he keeps trying, because Eggs Benedict is one of my favorite brunch meals.

This morning Boom, Auntie Yoda, Uncle Craigles, Lucy and Mila came over to our side of the tracks and we once again hung out on a big field.  The girls did some scootering too. And once again I was tortured by not being able to hold a baby.  But also once again, it was nice to be together and the sun was shining.



This afternoon I spent a bit of time in the hammock while Luna spent some time in my shade.  It was so beautiful out! And Maya and I later rocked some tie-dye. And have I mentioned that I’m benefitting big time from Callie’s and Chris’ quarantine Master Chef obsession? In addition to Eggs Benedict for breakfast, they made Saffron Risotto again for dinner! Chris adjusted and perfected the recipe he used the first time...this one including a bit of bacon! 

Didn’t make Callie eat it, but at least she enjoyed the cooking experience!

Click here for a couple of various picnic videos.

And I'll leave you with a tweet that I FELT SO HARD IN EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING.




I often get distracted getting everyone going in the mornings that my coffee is always lukewarm at best.

I have an ENTIRE BOX of single socks.  WHERE DO THEY GO?

The amount of times we have had to say "I don't need you to argue with me, I just need you to follow my directions" is in the billions.

SO. MUCH. LAUNDRY. AND. DISHES. ALL. THE. TIME.

Ok that's it.  Have a great week.

A Picture Update: The 38th Birthday in Quarantine Edition

Well it’s my birthday today and here we are still at home with minimal human contact outside our house. But it was a really fun day regardless.

More on that later. 

As for the rest of the week:

Monday:Maya’s outfit, Luna’s leaning, and the sunset

Tuesday: Callie’s pretty hair, and a Zoom birthday party for me and Hanna

Wednesday: Maya’s first class “hangout,” Maya innocently taking over my desk, Maya drawing a “blob,” and dance class getting crazy

Thursday: Maya’s school work at 4pm because I was so busy all day, puzzle time, Callie’s “signature dish” i.e. cereal peanut butter balls.

Today: I went for a sunrise walk and a mid-morning run.

It was supposed to be rainy and crappy today, but it was actually beautiful until about 7pm when the rain started. I chalk that up to my dad! We went on a fun family nature walk this afternoon.

And then FaceTimed with my family plus a surprise visit from Jim and Coco!

The day ended with a video chat from the other room with my crazy children and takeout from a local restaurant.

Thanks for all the birthday messages and calls. I so appreciate it! 

I’ll leave you with a HILARIOUS picture from Prom Weekend 2000...20 years ago! We were up at our friend Leanna’s cabin I think. She posted a number of high school photos this week and I was highly entertained and slightly horrified by some of them. But here’s one for the books...

Have a great weekend! 

Happy Birthday Auntie Hanna!

Yay it is Auntie Hanna’s birthday today!

I had to scroll back to January to find some fun pictures of her with the girls (booooooooo). 

We miss your hugs and hope you have a great day!

Timehop Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Here we go...another weekend in quarantine in the books.

Yesterday the girls gave Luna a lot of love (and yes Maya wasn’t wearing a shirt for awhile...the amount that we have to ask our children to wear actual clothes during quarantine is ridiculous).

We went downtown for a picnic dinner. The girls and Lucy became a pretty cute (and distant) scooter gang and we got to see Mila from afar.

Boom got the girls a new chalk set so they had fun playing with it last night.

This morning we baked Peanut Butte Cup cookies and Callie continued the chalk fun.

And our Sunday tradition has become FaceTime calls with our families. The babies stole the show...but also Auntie Cat led us in a little game of Scattergories.

Have a great week! Stay safe and healthy. And if you want to see a few random videos from the week, 

click here!

A Picture Update

Happy Friday everybody!  The first couple weeks of sheltering in place seemed like weekends didn't mean much since we are all just home anyway, but not having to work or having the girls do school work for two days in a row each week is a GIFT.

Here are the quarantine shenanigans for this week!

Monday: Snow Play

Monday evening: Dogopoly and a virtual EKEBERG REUNION!  We participated in a Zoom call with
Boom, Auntie Mari and Uncle Josh, Auntie Yoda (with brief Mila and Lucy sightings), Great Margie (Colorado),  Uncle
Joe (Connecticut), Uncle John and Aunt Jen, (Colorado)  and my cousin Karl (with brief sightings of his son Gus, daughter Ava, and wife Erica) (New Hampshire). It was amazing!   

Tuesday: what distance learning looks like, FaceTiming WITHIN THE HOUSE with a Unicorn Maya,
and more MouseTrap

Wednesday: girls on devices, Callie had a Google Meet with her class, Maya created a movie, I tried
to run while Maya scootered (it didn't go well), and the girls both had virtual dance class via Zoom.

This is the only picture I took on Thursday.  Yes that is a toy firetruck stuck in Maya's hair.

Today we ran around the field and wore Maya out, the girls spent lots of time playing together, and Cal
and I played Set.

Chris made Saffron Risotto tonight and it was DELICIOUS.

I'll leave you with another couple installment of Messages from Maya (which I always get when I'm in the middle of work Zoom calls):

This one I got this morning when I was out for an early run.  Go figure the child
asks the MOM who isn't even in the house for breakfast, even after being told to
GO ASK HER SLEEPING FATHER. Ha!

And I'll leave you with a screenshot of one of Maya's assignments this week.  And in case you can't tell what her three wishes are, here you go: 1) to get a unicorn 2) for my mom to have a baby (GULP) 3) get a cupcake every day
Sorry little lady, NONE of your wishes will be coming true!

Have a great weekend.  Stay safe and healthy!

Timehop Tuesday

Here’s a Timehop that is pretty depressing at the moment because we can hardly see the cousins play together these days. 

Can’t wait for the day when we can squeeze and hug Lucy-Lou, Mila and Mitchell again!!

Weekend Wrap-Up: The Happy Easter Edition!

Happy Easter! 

It feels like such a bizarre alternate universe so it was hard to feel Easter-y. Today our family Easter pic was a selfie, taken in our jammies on our bed, right before watching a virtual  Easter church service on my computer. Very different. 

I hope next year I can do a very different photo, very dressed up, outside, and taken by one of the many family members that will be around. 

Anyway, I’ll get back to our quarantine Easter in a moment. 

Yesterday we started Easter weekend dying Easter eggs!

And then we made Rice Krispie ball treats to deliver to our family (sorry Mari and Josh, Missouri was out of our delivery range).


We headed downtown first for a social distance picnic with Boom and play time at Gold Medal Park. It was the first time “seeing” Auntie Yoda, Lucy, Uncle Craigles and Mila in at least 3 weeks. The girls did a really good job keeping their distance from Lucy and Mila, even though it was hard!

Then we did our other family treat drop-offs! Maya didn’t want to get out of the car for some of them. But it was so nice to see our family, even from a distance. 

After the girls went to bed, I got the Easter Bunny stuff out (paper bags instead of Easter Baskets because...quarantine) and hid the eggs. 

This morning the girls were up early to get their Easter baskets and do the egg hunt.

Then we made brunch...cheesy potatoes, chocolate chip

pancakes, ham, and deviled eggs (just for me!).

It snowed today. A lot. Enough so that Chris took the girls to go sledding! Luna loves it, and our poor pansies are covered again. 

We did a FaceTime call with both families, which has become a Sunday tradition.

And finally, more Maya texts:

She is a homebody like me, so she really loves that we are just all home together all the time. This also may be a direct reaction to her new Easter basket toys. Ha!

Finally, click here for a few videos. You will notice that the weather contrast is VERY STARK.

Have a great week!