World: Meet the Fruvellhoffs

Alright folks.  Here we are.  Last blog post of 2015.  It's been such an amazing year for all of us.  Lots of growth: personal, professional, as parents, as kids, as a couple, and as a family.  By and large, it's been a very positive year, one for the ages.  Meg and I are filled with much gratitude, and also pride, as we look back on this past year.

Fruvellhoff.  This is one issue that hasn't been brought up yet in this blog.  For those who don't know, we legally changed our last name to Fruvellhoff.  It's a combination of the 3 last names that we had when we were married:  Fruhwirth, and Harvell-Hoffman.  We made this the last name of our kids as well.  Starting our own legacy, while remembering our heritage.

Some people want to understand why we did this, some people could not care less about the matter.  Some will accept this decision and act that we have performed, some will not.  Some will understand the logic, yet still feel that we are shunning tradition.  To each their own.

So why did we change our last names?  We did we feel so compelled?  For me, it really comes down to logic and equality.  Each of us comes from many combinations of many branches of many family trees.  Let's take a closer look at me.  My given name was John Russell Fruhwirth.  In no particular order, I'm a Richardson, a Fruhwirth, a Bailey, a Trumble.  And that's just the first level back.  What is it about the name Fruhwirth that makes it more important than the other 3 names?  Does that lineage define me as a person more than any of the other 3?  Now, imagine all of the last names of all of the humans in each of our ancestry.  How can we possibly pay homage and honor all of those lines of lineage, with our names?  They are all equally important to our own existence and state of being, are they not?

After much thought, I decided that there is currently no good way to pay homage and honor to each of our lineages, all summed up in one last name.  The best idea that we had, in this current time, is to combine our previous last names into one.  A brand new name that defines our family, our own legacy.  Because really, this represents who we are pretty well don't you think?  It contains direct elements of our lineage, yet it is a brand new creation.  Just like us.  Just like our family.  We are a combination that has never existed before, and will never exist again.  We honor our past, and believe fully in creating our own future.  Ties it together kinda nicely, don't you think?

The detail-oriented readers out there will notice that my mother's last name of Richardson was not included in Fruvellhoff.  This name was not one of our last names when we got married.  Also, adding more letters and syllables would be creating a long name, something we are trying to get away from.  Truth be told, I feel a bit of guilt about not finding a way to combine it.  Yet, that doesn't make me any less of a Richardson.  See what I mean?  There's really no good path forward with any last name choices due to puzzles like this.  So ultimately we just chose Fruvellhoff, and that's that.  Still quite proud to be a Richardson and of that lineage of my family tree.

So there you have it.

We created the Fruvellhoffs in 2015.  Lookout, world.

Happy new year folks.

Review of the 2015 Goals!

2015 Fruvellhoff Family Goals-The Official Review

1. Climb our first 14er, just Megs and Russ.   (Meg got 2, Russell got 4)

2  .Go backpacking in the mountains for 3-4 days, just Megs and Russ. (Not quite 3 days, but we got 2 in there!)

3.  Go camping with the whole family.  Real camping.  In the mountains.  And use our thermos. (To be fair, we didn't use our thermos.  We however did use our thermos 2 other times, ok?)

4.  Pay off half of our current short-term debt. (oh whoops.)

5. See whales in New Jersey with the Hoffman grandparents. (Two whales! Check!)

6.  Go to Texas.  (We totally did Texas)

7.  Go to Nebraska for the annual Hoffman 4th of July river party. (Oh heck yes, and check us out we rode the tube!)

8.  Be home for most of the summer, as a family (well, Meg and the kids anyway). (Somehow we still managed to travel quite a bit, but we sure did enjoy our summer)

Um, nuff' said.  What a freakin fantabulous year.  We adventured together, separately, as a family.  We lived in Colorado this year, that is for sure!  We loved each other, and worked out our disagreements especially with things like trains, power rangers, the ipad, etc.  We had a chance to really visit family this year.  We welcomed new family members, new friends (and their new kids), and the new adventures of a kid in school.  We happily will receive for our first time in YEARS only two (that's right folks) two, W-2s.  You know what that means....only 1 job for both of us this past year.  SAY WHAT?  I'd like to say we settled down, but who am I kidding.  We are just getting started baby!  Cheers to 2015, and hell yes bring on 2016!

Love you all,

Meg Fruvellhoff (the 1st edition)

Rykee#4

I'm currently listening to this dude sing the Barney song. It's so him. "I love you, you love me." A lover indeed. This dude loves people, loves his toys, loves doing things. He really loves life. He often, and very randomly, shouts out how much he loves Russell or me.  Car rides usually bring out the random "Mom! I love you."  He tells people that he's excited to see them, can't wait for them to visit, and often doesn't want to leave somewhere because he is having "too much" fun to leave!

"We're a happy family!  With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you! Won't you say you love me too!"

Oh Ryk, if someone could kill you with kisses we would have been dead a long time ago. The kid smothers us in kisses. Russell actually woke up to lots o'kisses this morning.  Ryk wants hugs and loves and without them he might wither away and die.

Over our trip to Texas I watched Ryker do his Ryker-thing.  He connected with every last family

member that he could-Legos with Melissa, wrestling with Travis, more Legos with Troy, water fun with Riya/Arjan/grandpa, Star Wars with grandma, food with Kaval and Jess, playing rough with Michael and Karl,

videos with Emer/Jack/Hud, carrying on his shoulder with Thomas & the list goes on.  Ryk has an art of finding those that you would least likely see playing with kids and makes it happen.  He connects in physical ways (wrestling, high5s) but his biggest connection piece is his smile and laugh. You just can't say"no" to that winning smile and chipmunk laugh.

I've told Russell before that sometimes I don't feel like Ryk is mine.  It's weird to say that, and even harder to explain. I guess because he is just such a different bird than what I was as a little kid. He is so social! And full of energy! And shyness is never a word I pair with Ryk. And also he just doesn't look like me at all. Luckily, Russell is able to lay claim to him with his ever growing/changing dark  features since I've dominated with AJ and Demps.

Whether or not I feel like he is mine, I'm super blessed that he actually is. He kind of is the kid I wished I would have been! So it makes me happy to live vicariously through him.  He has been on a streak of Momma for awhile now. Momma's blanket goes to bed with him, Momma reads to him, Momma holds him when he wakes up slow, he waits for Me when he wakes up early and I'm on the treadmill.  I'm excited to see what the fourth year brings for Ryker. So far we have some soccer planned, sleeping in his room all night would be awesome, and climbing some mountains will do too!

hBD little Ryker 29 dude!

Love,

Momma

This makes me so happy.

Never mind the beautiful scene behind the shoes. But the shoes....my little girl's Nikes fitting into my running shoes. 

❤️momma

Fitting

She cannot get enough snow!!❄️❄️

Freakin Awesome Day

A. It was a completely unexpected SnOW day! AJ's first snow day!

B.Rykee slept in his darn bedroom the whole night. This, my friends, has been a long time coming!

C. watched Christmas movies, drank hot cocoa, played in the snow for awhile, wrapped presents, ate marshmallows,took naps, and officially put a braid in.

Oh and confirmed that we indeed have 10 days till Christmas!

So good!

First tooth!!!

AJ lost his first tooth tonight! It was basically sideways and he said he wanted me to pull it. Before he realized I easily yanked it out, after asking Russell a couple of times, "Do I just pull it??" Duh.

AJ started crying and eventually was just fine. In tears he said, "I was scared because I didn't know what was happening.  That's never happened before."

Love that little dude. He wanted a Batman tooth box, so this is what we created!

The cool part about this is that all 5 of us were in the bathroom, being a part of the first lost tooth!

❤️Momma

Ponies

Cutest ponies I've ever seen.

❤️momma

Hike in December

After hanging with my friend Kellen, AJ and I headed back home. I asked AJ if he wanted to do anything else. He replied, "Dizzy?"  The arcade place. I shot him down and asked anywhere else? He said,"let's go climb watch. You can watch me."  

We turned into Rabbit Mountain and enjoyed a 2 mile hike before it got too cold. Then 20 mins after we were home. ❤️the⛰⛰

First Love Note, First Kiss???? Say WHAT!?

Yes. You read the title right.  WHA, WHA!  So here's what I know.  I know that we watch my friend/coworker's daughter 4 out of 5 days after school.  I know that her daughter told my friend, that when I ran into pickup the little kids from daycare, these two supposedly KISSED in the back seat of my car (last I checked they were both STILL in kindergarten, not high school).  I know that I found out about this the day after it happened.  The day after it happened, I found this note on our table from the little girl.  I know that when I asked AJ about it, he got totally embarrassed and told me "it's NOTHING MOM!!!"  And I know when I told my daycare lady about it, he looked at me, and said "MOM! Let's go!!!!"

  

What I have learned/am learning...I MUST not be that Mom that gets all crazy about this stuff.  OR else AJ will never talk to me.  I MUST let him know that he can talk to me about this stuff whenever he wants, and leave it at that.  I MUST not talk about this kind of thing in front of other people because that is EMBARRASSING to him, no matter how much I may be internally freaking out.  I MUST rely on Russell to help me learn the ways of men, and understand that there are some things that can be changed, somethings that can't...and GOODNESS I MUST learn the difference:)

BUT OHEMGEE my kid had his first kiss, maybe?   This has yet to be fully confirmed by AJ, but he certainly isn't denying it.  HOLYBUCKETS HOLYBUCKETS.  

Not freakin out, keeping cool,

Momma

ThanksGiving Can I get Some Mo' Family???

Thanksgiving vacation was only 10 days long, but we sure packed a TON in.  We had the chance to hang with my sister and her family for the first couple of days, head to Nebraska to enjoy Russell's sister's family, see Granny Barb and Papa, a quick visit with Cristale, be amazed by my bff's house and her family, then onward to Grammy's house to see Grandpa Mark, Uncle Will, and more cousin time, and after returning home got to spend a night out with my rockstar bro and his girlfriend.  We broke the Nebraska trip up nicely and really got to enjoy our stops.  We had the chance to visit the Henry Doorly Zoo, which is legit the best zoo in the world.  Our kids are so into it now that it made the whole darn thing fun.  They were zooming to exhibit after exhibit.  It's kind of crazy to think that we were there at such a young age, and now our kids are there.  We enjoyed one night away from the kids at the Hyatt in Omaha, which happened to be steps away from Granny Barb and Papa's new crib in the Old Market.  Russell and I watched movies and chilled out.  AND then enjoyed 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep.  I truly don't know when the last time we have experienced that.  (Hey-Megan! If you are reading this 5+ years later when all kids are sleeping in.  Please remember this with other people, and give them props daily, when they are going through the young children years.  This shit is real.  The struggle of interrupted sleep is real.)

We realized how we have the best of all worlds, except the beach (hint/hint, wink/wink/nudgenudge), with the Grandparents.  We have urban high rise in Downtown Omaha-complete with bricks and awesome views.  Then we have country time, where you can go out and get your eggs straight from the chicken and spend the night in a camper after driving the 4wheeler, and in a few shorts months we will enjoy the mountain escape that happens to be a short 45 minute drive from our house to their house.  Lucky we are.  I really never take that for granted.

Our kids got to hang with ALL of their cousins, which is amazing.  Dempsey continually disappoints her girls cousins by taking forever to warm up.  AJ and Ryker really enjoy Arjan because he is their boy cousin that has great ideas, and loves legos.  AJ and Annie got to put on a show, which the highlight for me was them showcasing their classroom management skills that they have learned in their kindergarten classes.  "I won't be turning these lights on until EVERYONE is quiet."  "QUIET FOX guys! Ears up, mouths closed."  Hilarious.

We had a great time, and got to enjoy our weekend before we charged ahead for 3 more weeks before Christmas break.
Love,
Momma

She's 2!

I realized that I have yet to post on Dempsey and her birthday.  This year we did a quiet celebration of my sister and her family, Grandma and Grandpa, and our family at the bowling alley.  It is so rare that we are with the extended family for birthdays that we thought we would enjoy a small get together while Dempsey could care less.  

This girl.  She consistently melts our hearts.  As I usually say, I don't know if it is her being the last child thing, being a girl, looking like me, or just BEING so amazing....but DANG she is just so cute.  Even when she is being naughty.  Within the last couple of weeks words are flowing out.  As of late, she enjoys saying "yellow", "Christmas lights", "Momma/Dadda, I love you."  She can withstand the cold, more so than her brothers could at her age.  She LOVES loves LOVES anything that is squishy.  On Friday we visited my good friend and her baby.  Immediately Dempsey scoped out the stuffed owl that was a decoration and enjoyed holding onto it during the visit.  Dempsey tries to hold her own with whatever is going on at home- eating chocolate from a bowl on the counter, flying planes, riding the scooter around, reading books, being a dinosaur, watching a movie, cuddling, coming in our room ALLNIGHTLONG, etc.

It seems that most people are worried to give Dempsey any gifts that involve pink or stereotypical girl gifts.  I REALLY DON"T CARE PEOPLE.  Seriously.  I think, no matter what, this girl will be completely well rounded.  AND honestly have you seen the tights they have now?  I mean cute freakin' kitty cats all over the place, signmeup.  I'm enjoying this girl stuff.  I love the pig tails, I'm starting to embrace pinks/purples.  AND oh best news EVER, Dempsey can officially say, "I'm STRONG!" and "I'm smart."  So all in all she is lining up to be a kick ass individual.

here's to you Dempsey Snow.  The coolest surprise I have ever received at home!

Love,

Momma