The Daughters are So Short!

Getting Ready For Halloween

2010-10-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

We've got a ton going on this weekend as we get ready for Halloween. Lily is all ready for her school parade in this picture, but there's so much going on this weekend that I'm a little scared.
I hope that everyone has a great Halloween and a wonderful weekend!

Going Private

2010-10-28T13:28:00.001-07:00

I've got too many crazy people looking at my blog. I'm going private in a week. Anyone who wants an invite so they can keep looking is welcome, but I want to limit the number of unknown people looking at pics of my family. Thanks for understanding!

The Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

We went to Tweites again this year and the only thing we didn't do was get a pumpkin. We played in Harvest Town, did the Bunny Slides, took a wagon ride, found gnomes and fairies in the Enchanted Forest, watched Lily get eaten by a dragon , got lost in the corn maze (where Shawn purloined corn for the hungry goats), fed the goats, and cheered on the girl's ducks in the duckie races.

It was a ton of fun!

I eat worms again today!

2010-10-13T15:48:00.000-07:00

One of the things i love best about my job is all the fun things I get to do at school. Now i know we all want to believe that we have the best jobs ever, but really, I do. I doubt that anyone reading this has recently enjoyed eating dirt and worms or even been served marshmallows and hot dogs at work recently. But, as a preschool teacher i not only get to eat them- I got to choose them.

Last week C was for camping and we did a pretend camp out complete with campfire songs, a tent, sleeping bags, "roasted" marshmallows and even hot dogs. This week D is for digging and we got to dig in the dirt for worms -and then eat them. Okay so the dirt was chocolate pudding and cookies and the worms were the gummy variety, but it was a TON of fun. I'd love to show you all of the great pictures I took, but I only have asked 3 families (who were already great friends) if they minded if I posted their kids pics. So, you'll start seeing the same 3 kids over and over- but i promise there are a ton more. I've eaten dirt with 30 kids so far this week and have 16 more to do it with again tomorrow.

I hope you love your job as much as I love mine- but if you don't get to eat worms you're missing out!

Fall Fun

2010-10-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

We are having a fabulous fall full of lots of fun family time. This weekend was unseasonably warm. At almost 90 degrees, football was played in T-shirts and shorts- no small miracle for October in Minnesota. It also meant that the party we attended Saturday night was not too cold. Lots

of music, great food, bridges over the canals, a bon fire and sparklers meant that everyone in our family had something fun to do. We finnished up today with decorating for Halloween. We'd received some spider webbing and other treats from mystery friends and got busy hanging the web and adding other decorations including some fabulous pumpkins from our great friend Jill. What a great way to spend the weekend.

Flooding

2010-09-24T12:56:00.000-07:00

Minnesota is called the Land of 10,000 Lakes for a reason. We have a high water table and a lot of lakes. so, when 7 inches of water fall in less than 24 hours, we flood. Many towns are much worse than ours this time around, and the flooding here in Austin is nowhere near as bad as our 2004 flood. But, it is some major flooding all the same. To make it easier to understand what you are seeing, I've posted pictures of our town from other occasions as well as their current status today. You'll see the park where we had Charlie's birthday is flooded- as are both pavillions and the playground equipment. (The picture of Shawn grilling chicken the yellow park and pavillions) The park we had our picnic at by the bandshell is also flooded- (Emily on play equipment 4th of July pic, and from the top of Skinners hill, you can just barely make out the play equipment in the top left of the picture) as is the bandshell where we go for 4th of July fireworks. The Hill we always sled on is covered in geese, and the park by our library is also underwater. Though again, much less so than the 2004 flood. The library was even still opened today.

Spaghetti Tacos

2010-09-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

It started innocuously enough. Lily simply asked if I'd buy hard taco shells for the tacos we were having for dinner on Friday. Of course I said yes- we hadn't had hard tacos in years. The tacos were great and of course there were leftovers. Then the real quest began in earnest. couldn't we have our weekly pasta in those shells? Could we have Spaghetti tacos like Freddie does? Of course I said no right away. What parent in their right mind says yes to spaghetti tacos. Over several days however, her logic wore me down. She would eat the spaghetti taco and LOVE it. We already had the shells. She convinced her sisters to agree to trying them, and then she turned those big blue eyes on her dad- who shrugged and said why not.

So last night my family has spaghetti tacos for dinner- complete with Mexican cheese on top. I had "regular" pasta and was convinced to try 1 bite of Shawn's. It wasn't horrible, but I can't imagine actually asking for it. In the end we all survived and Shawn and I realized that we truly need to live in fear of all of our daughters ' powers or persuasion.

being 14

2010-09-19T14:12:00.000-07:00

Being 14 means going to dances. We don't allow our children under 14 to attend dances or under 16 to date. This weekend was Charlie's 1st dance. She went to Rochester with some of the prettiest and nicest girls we know and had a fabulous time. She can't wait until the next one.

We'll all sleep great tonight

2010-09-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

Well it's Saturday and it's in September, so we must be playing Football. Today's game had a little twist - pint size centers. Lily and her friend Gage played centers. They did a great job hiking the balls, and they even got some touch downs. They also ran the whole length of the field over and over and over. Shawn had a lot of great plays today as well. He got 6 touch downs, several interceptions, and a whole lot of flag pulling. I did my part as well, catching the ball, a lot of defensive blocking and a lot of running. Emily was our ever inportant gold team cheerleader and Charlie, as always, was more interested in the babies and animals than the football. She spent most of her time playing in the barn with the chickens, the horses, and the dogs. We all had a great day and can't wait until next week.

Charlie is 14

2010-09-07T15:58:00.001-07:00

It seems impossible that I've been a mom for 14 years. During those early months I thought I'd never sleep again, and that the warm drowsy afternoons spent snuggled up with my baby would last forever. Now I know, the next few years are just going to fly by. Charlie brings such joy into our home and family. She

sings like an angel, is (often) willing to help and is the kind of young lady who lives her values without embarrassment. I am so grateful to call her my daughter.

1st Day of School

2010-09-07T15:50:00.000-07:00

All 3 girls had a great 1st day of school. They were all excited to go back. Lily couldn't wait to ride the bus and be a kindergartener. Charlie was excited because it was not only her 1st day as an 8th grader, but her birthday as well. And Emily was nervous to start middle school. They all had amazing days. Em LOVES being a middle schooler, Charlie loved 8th grade and Lily, who is quite tired, loved going to kindergarten. I hope my first day goes just as well!

Labor Day

2010-09-06T12:44:00.001-07:00

With great friends who have truly become our family, we always celebrate birthdays. We're the smallest family with only 3 kids. Two other families have 5 each. (And no, we don't plan to "catch up" to them.) So, when the newest member of the clan, Griffin, was born last year- on New Year's Eve, We had to smile, because now each family has a "Holiday" baby. Our holiday baby is Charlie, who turns 14 tomorrow. Her actual birthday only falls on Labor Day every few years, but the cookout tradition has been going on for a long time. This year we chose to rent a pavillion rather than try and hold it at home. It was a great choice because we had cover and the kids had several great parks to choose from. I hope your Labor Day was as great as ours.

Lark's

2010-09-04T21:15:00.000-07:00

With it being our final weekend of the summer, we decided to spend the afternoon having a little fun. So we took off to Lark's Toy Store. While we definitely spent some time looking at toys, really, a thip to Lark's is all about the experience. We were able to show the girls the toys we played with as kids- as well as toys our parents might have played with, rode the carousel, played mini-golf, checked out the Olde Curiosity Shoppe, and nibbled some candy. We followed it up with dinner in Rochester and finally got home around 9:00 p.m.

So, a fun afternoon excursion really extended itself, but was so very worth it. I hope everyone else who is still on summer vacation also had a great day as well.

Fall Football

2010-08-22T12:04:00.000-07:00

Nothing says Fall at our home like the Flag Football we all love to play at the Helgesons. Shawn and I play football and the girls play with their chickens, the horses, on the swing set, or run around chasing the cat and dogs through all the grass. This week was really hot- almost 90 degrees. So, Shawn still played but I hung out with the other wives who didn't want to play in the heat and the kids had water gun fights and did the slip and slide.

After all the football, everyone got cleaned up and we had a corn feed. (It's a midwest thing to call a big dinner a feed) We had wagon rides and eat some of the best of what everyone had grown in their gardens. Fabulous salads, the sweetest corn, pulled pork and chicken sandwiches and wonderful desserts. What a great why to spend a Saturday!

Trip to the Zoo

2010-08-14T14:35:00.000-07:00

We're trying to squeeze every last minute of summer into our final weeks. This weekend we hit the fair and the zoo and have a birthday party for a friend tonight. The zoo today was a ton of fun. We have a great zoo up in the Twin Cities. We can never get everything done so each visit is a little different than the last. Today we got to spend some time in the new play area by the grizzly bears. Em and Lily loved the splash park and playground as did our several of our friends. Charlie humored us, but as only an almost 14 year old can.

The animals are always fun to see and Lily was estatic to see the butterflies in the butterfly garden and the dolphins. The girls all loved the grizzlies and tigers as well as the aquarium. Em was especially happy to have been able to touch 2 sharks in the touch pool. I don't remember what kind of sharks, except they are non aggressive :) It was a great day and a ton of fun.

The Fair

2010-08-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

We had a good time at the fair. We decided to go to Godfathers for dinner before the fair. It cost $15 for a jumbo pizza with 12 huge slices vs $3 a slice at the fair. Then we hit the fair and the rides. The girls always start with the ferris wheel and then they moved on to more daring rides this year. Next year all 3 want to do the bracelets so they can ride all day. After some rides, we viewed the animals, had some treats and visited with friends. We didn't stay too late because we're leaving for the zoo early tomorrow morning. It was a lot of fun.

So Special

2010-08-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

I'm glad that we live in a time when we can use the internet so that our children can keep in touch with their grandparents. They can send emails, facebook, and chat with them all the time. This is incredible and so beneficial for them. But, if you took our cells phones and internet away, our girls would still know that their Grandma loves them and thinks about them often. The need only to look in their closets or snuggle the Raggedies and they know. From the time Charlie was 1, Shawn's mom Kathy has been making her dresses. Beautiful Christmas dresses, fun summer dresses, and pretty Easter dresses. In addition to dresses, she has made them shorts, pjs and Raggedy Anne and Andy dolls. Each girl has received her own set, with Lily's just arriving yesterday. Here are a few shots of some of the great things she has made. In the shot of all 3 girls and Shawn, she did not make Lily's dress, but she did make Shawn's tie. And really, how cool is that? So thanks again mom, for always thinking of our girls.

Splish Splash

2010-08-09T15:52:00.000-07:00

Nothing says summer like bathingsuits and water. This weekend Lily enjoyed some slip and slide/pool time with her friends, and then all 3 and some of their friends enjoyed a day trip to a nearby pool. Lily loved the slide- she did it over and over again. She is beginning to swim- enough to make me very nervous- and so very proud. She would swim from the wall to me and back again for as long as I was willing to play.

The older girls loved the lilypads (green platforms) as well as the slides- especially the ones that shot you out into the air. It was a great way to spend a summer day- especially when we're starting to make the count down to school......

Flying by so Fast

2010-08-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that the summer is almost over. I know it must be because I have to take Lil to school tomorrow for school pics and kindergarten assessments, and all 3 for registration next week. I know it is because I'm going crazy trying to get everything done at work so I'm ready to meet all of my new preschoolers. Sometimes I swear I can hear each minute ticking by. I know summer is coming to end, and I know I will miss it. I hope the next 9 months just fly by so it can be summer again and I can enjoy each and every minute with my girls. The slower pace, the sounds of their laughter as they swim, and bike, and hang out with thier friends. It never seems the same during the school.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-07-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

Why wait until November? Gether your family and friends, roast a turkey, bake a ham, bake up some rolls and pie and you too can have Thanksgiving any time you want it. And if you plan it in the summer you can even do it outside. A GREAT place to hold this meal when you're serving 32 of your favorite people. Of course if you hold your meal in the midwest you'll probably have severe storms and have to have it inside anyway. At least if you planned it for this summer!

Flying By

2010-07-18T12:22:00.000-07:00

Our summer is totally flying by so fast. We've played with friends, had picnics and BBQs, seen movies, played games, and of course gone swimming. Thrown into that are trips to camp, parts in plays, birthdays, sleepovers, holidays, and so many other things it's hard believe that we've fit it all in AND that so much time has passed by. The one constant this summer? Crazy weather- from incredible heat and humidity to sunshine and tornadoes all in the same day. It's been crazy and fun.

Who Says?

2010-07-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

Who Says that there's no such thing as a free lunch? Not me. I may be land locked with no chance of seeing the ocean, have no fresh fish, Friendly's, or Kimballs. No Old North Bridge, no T, and no Fenway, but our little town has got a lot of things to reccomend it. Family friendly activites that are totally FREE.

We have miles of bike and walking trails, a fabulous nature center, and more parks than any little town needs. (Though to be honest, we have so many parks because our town buys land in flood zones and then builds parks on the land. ) Now this in and of itself is fabulous, but there's more......way more.

We have.... free lunch. Yup it's true. Every Monday-Friday from 11:00 to 1:00 Everyone 1 to 18 can go to our High School and have a free lunch. And not just any crappy little lunch- a huge lunch- full of many choices. There are about 8 sandwich choices and 1 hot item you can choose from plus a plethora of fruits, veggies, and treats, and of course a little carton of milk. So, lunch for my girls may be a smuckers PB&J (with a string cheese) one day, and pizza the next. Adults can buy a lunch for $3.50 and all the kids are free. You don't have to live here to eat free, you just have to show up.

Now I totally miss museum library passes. We'd get a pass to a favorite meseum and either go for a super discounted rate or else for free. That's common all over New England and a great program I wish we had here. Still, to get the passes meant waiting in line and a huge fine if the passes got returned late. Here we don't need a pass to attend our local museum, The Spam Museum, because it's totally free. So if you come out and visit us we'll take you there. You can see how Spam is made, the kids can pretend to make it themselves, and if you're lucky you can try a "Spample". (A chunk of Hot Spam on a pretzel). Now in all honesty I must admit that I always skip the Spample and after almost 8 years in Austin I still don't eat Spam, BUT I love the Spam Museum- and it's totally free.

We have a great library for such a little town. Not only are the books all free, but there are a ton of free library programs as well. Reading programs that earn you prizes and coupons for free food at the fair, but actual shows and science classes all for free. Want to see a magician? Launch a rocket? Touch a shark (totally serious)? All you have to do is show up on the right Wednesday afternoon and you can. It's free, it's fun, and it's a great way to pass the summer.

Now summer isn't summer without some swimming, and you can of course do that for free -or really cheaply, here as well. Here in our little town everyone from 2-12th grade can join our YMCA for $1. This means huge discounts on classes AND free swimming every afternoon from 1-5 p.m. Want to swim outside? No problem, just make sure you go on one of the 5 free swim days at the public pool. My 2 oldest went today and had a blast AND were given free samples of sunscreen.

And if you don't mind spending a little money, we've got some great deals as well. For instance, our park and rec classes are dirt cheap or free. Lily's swimming lessons will be $25 for 2 weeks, 40 minutes of tennis twice a week for 9 weeks is only $18 and comes with a free water bottle, a juggling class with balls you keep is only $10. There are a ton of free classes as well. Weekly cooking/nutrition classes at the free lunch are free, master gardening classes for kids are free (and you get to eat what you grow-and they bring you a free lunch from the lunch program).

So, While I freely admit missing New England, I must admit that I love my little town and all of the free things we get to do here every day. So the next time someone tells you there's no such thing as a free lunch, you'll know they're wrong... atleast during the summer.

the Zoo

2010-06-21T07:04:00.001-07:00

We had a great Father's Day weekend. We had a trip to the zoo, the girls finished the last few days of their play and we had a wedding reception. Tons of fun. We hope that you had a great

weekend too.

Spongebob

2010-06-12T07:55:00.001-07:00

Oh the irony of parenthood. Shawn only really dislikes 1 kids TV show. That show would of course be Spongebob

- Lily's favorite. So, being the kind of dad that he is, Shawn agreed that Lily could have a Spongebob birthday party even though he REALLY dislikes it.

We went all out Spongebob and pinned the nose on Spongebob, played pass Spongebob, had a Spongebob pinata, and had a great Spongebob cake with a few of Lily's best girlfriends. (Last year in an effort to include everyone, we ended up with 15 4 y/os. This year we limited it to the girls she plays with most often and had a more managable 7 friends) So Lily had a great birthday. It was a lot of fun for everyone.

5 years today

2010-06-11T07:46:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that this little girl has been part of our family for the past 5 years. (Longer if you include my pregnancy) She is sweet and kind, smart and funny, stubburn and fiercely loyal. She is our "now or never" baby. We have never regretted having a third daughter - even when we realized that her birth meant that we would have 17 YEARS of a teenage daughter in our home! She is (usually) a ray of sunshine. She has the sweetest laugh, the brightest smile, the kindest words.

Happy 5th Birthday Lily! We love you!

The Catapult

2010-06-08T16:18:00.000-07:00

If May wasn't busy enough with all of the girls performances, Emily also needed to build a catapult. One of the reasons why I LOVE being married to Shawn is his ability to lead and guide without taking over. One of my biggest pet peeves are parents who do their kids projects for them just so their kid can win. (and you parents totally know who you are, BTW. ) Well, there were several of those projects there, but I'm happy to say that the catapult that went that won was built by a kid

Em did very well but she did not win. But, she had a great time building it with her dad, so in the end, I guess she was a winner.

The Crazy month of May

2010-06-07T16:05:00.000-07:00

We have had just a drop dead crazy month. In May Charlie had a choir concert and a band concert, Emily had a choir and orchestra concert, Lily had preschool graduation (which means I did as well), and all three girls had a dance recital. In addition to numerous other projects, awards cermonies, etc. It has simply been crazy. I'd like to say that everything is slowing down now- but the oldest two are both in our college's production of Joseph in the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. This is a lot of work and has put us back in the position of deciding which activity that must miss with all of the end of the year stuff. Luckily the play opens on Sunday and ends the Saturday before Father's Day. Of course, Charlie leaves for camp the Monday after Father's Day, so things might slow down in July :)

April 23, 1994

2010-04-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that we we've been married for 17 years. We've been so many places and done so many things together in the last 17 years. We've been to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as the Gulf of Mexico. We've been to Disney World twice- once before kids and once with our oldest two. We've lived in Massachusetts, Idaho, Washington (state), and Minnesota. We've been so many road trips- to Toronto, Idaho, Florida, and Chicago. We've driven across country more times than I can count. We have brought 3 beautiful daughters into this world- the 1st two while we were still in school, the last one after buying our very 1st home.

We've faced our share of trials and have had many more good times. I married my best friend 17 years ago. He's made me laugh so hard that I almost wet myself, and he's held me when I've cried so hard and couldn't stop. It's been a great journey so far, I can't wait to see where it takes us.

Our newest additions

2010-04-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Our newest additions are... chickens. Now we'd totally be on the cutting edge with our urban chickens if they were in our back yard, but quite frankly, we're just not that trendy. So, our newest pets are out on a friends farm- where they have room to run and play. Each of our girls got to pick out 1 chick. Charlie named hers Chipotle, Emily Chrissouls (I think) and Lily named hers Fluffy. Every couple of weeks the girls get (?) to go out and clean the chicken coop, feed their chicks and have a good time, and by late this summer, we'll have farm fresh eggs. So, our pet count total currently stands at 6- 1 cat, 1 dog, 1 hermit crab, and 3 chickens. Twice as many pets as kids, but only 1/2 actually reside in our house :)

Grandma would be so proud

2010-04-18T19:31:00.001-07:00

While all of our girls enjoyed playing with Tinkerbelle, it was Lily who really had a great time. since Shawn's mom and husband Tom have "Wiener dogs" we thought we'd get one too. Okay I'm totally kidding. This is not our dog. But the girls loved playing with her and she loved playing with them- especially Lily and her hair. And no, after taking these shots Shawn again let me know that we are never going to cut her hair.

We did, however get some new pets. They're small and cuddly now but they are going to get louder, larger, and smellier.......................................

Easter

2010-04-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

We had the best Easter we've had in the 7 years we've lived in Minnesota this year. First, by some great miracle, we have had the mildest and nicest of springs. This meant that we were actually able to dye Easter eggs outside-at night in MARCH - no small feat here in Minnesota! In addition to the great weather, we also got to take part in some very fun events. We got to have breakfast with the Easter Bunny at Preschool and took part in 3 different Easter egg hunts. We also got to spend time with the fabulous friends who have truly become our family out here in Minnesota. We hope your Easter was as wonderful as ours.

Gratitude

2010-04-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

What a great few weeks it has been. I am reminded over and over how blessed my family is.

We have great friends. Friends we laugh with and cry with, friends we stay up way to late with and get up way to early with. The kind of people who take their own hair out of a ponytail so they can braid Lily's, who insist on taking our kids (and dog!) so that Shawn and I can have a night to ourselves. Friends who drop off treats, send us cards, include us in their holidays , making us part of their families. These are the kinds of people that truly bless our lives.

We're also blessed to have healthy children. Children who are bright, articulate, and kind. As a mom, the thing that humbles me the most, is when these 3 children forgive my short comings and carry on as some of the kindest people I know. They easily forgive the unkind people in their lives and move on quickly. They love fiercely and make every day brighter for me and those around them.

We're blessed with the gift of music. Some of my family sing like angels. And, more importantly, they think the rest of us do as well. I can't imagine a day that isn't filled with music. Home (and at Grandpa Al's) we can belt it out no matter how we sound.

We're blessed with laughter. There are days when our home, car, friends' homes and cars just ring with laughter. Laughing til we cry and are afraid we might wet ourselves (well at least those of us who have given birth) make for some of my favorite days/memories.

Spring. We're blessed with a beautiful and mild spring. After more years than my whole family has lived combined, we had a March with not only no snow, but warm spring days. After months of cold, dark, days, we have crocuses and daffidils in bloom and irises on the way.

So, we are truly blessed and have so much to be grateful for. We hope you do as well.

Cinderella

2010-03-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

This past week has been full of fun events. Charlie was in her school play, Cinderella and the Glass slipper. she did a really great job and we really enjoyed it. :)

Wild Things

2010-03-23T18:48:00.001-07:00

With Shawn for a dad, I shouldn't be surprised by what great storytellers all of my kids are. Emily really showed us her skills tonight as she narrated her school play, Where the wild Things Are. We couldn't have enjoyed a play more. Not only did em totally rock it, but the play itself was a ton of fun. They used black lights, great music and added extra places (space and the ocean) for Max to visit. They also did a preplay talent show which em also got to MC.

So, great job Emily- and look for another update Thursday night after we see Charlie in her school play.

Em's birthday

2010-02-09T18:09:00.001-08:00

Emily turned 10 - or as we like to say- became a zero-teen

the beginning of January. We celebrated by inviting our family over to celebrate. I of course forgot to take pictures until everyone was leaving, but I did get a few. We haven't done her friend party yet- which will be her very last one as we stop doing parties when they go to middle school (we can't believe that she's going to middle school either!), but she had a great time turning 10.

Snow Days

2010-02-09T17:51:00.001-08:00

Well the snow keeps falling and we're starting to run out of room. Our yard is REALLY starting to pile up. In December, the girls stood next to the ornaments our friends, the Nesvolds, gave us for Christmas. Now, those ornaments are totally buried and the girls are right up in the branches. I'm not sure how much more snow our yard can hold. For now, we're just hoping for an early spring!

When it rains.....

2010-01-27T10:33:00.000-08:00

It freezes to the ground . At least that's what it does here in MN. The last week has been crazy- between the freezing rain, wind, and snow, and Emily being home with the chicken pox, life has been a little crazy. Add to that Shawn being gone for the last 5 days (To warm and sunny Pheonix) and you end up with some crazy homebound fun.

Now, Em is on the mend- but still out until Monday, there's no more snow, and Shawn comes home tonight so things are looking up. I'd show you some pics of our week but our camera is in Pheonix with Shawn.....

Giant Macaroni

2010-01-11T10:07:00.000-08:00

One of Emily's birthday presents was the Movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. CWACM was one of my all time favorite books as a child and I expected to dislike the movie since it wasn't true to the book, but actually, I loved it. So, Sunday afternoon Lily looks out the window and says, "Mommy look at the giant Macaroni!!!" So, I look at the window wondering what she thinks she is seeing, and there, in our yard, is what looks to be a rather large elbow macaroni. In fact, it is the same color and shape of the elbow macaroni in the sensory table at preschool. I immediately realize that despite the resemblence, in actuality it is not a piece of macaroni, but the top of the red ornament handle in our front yard. The same one in this picture. The snow is now so high in our front yard (pics to come soon) that only the very top of the handle of the red ornament is still showing. All 3 ornaments are totally buried in our front yard under

feet of snow. I wonder how long until we see them again- and if the weight of all that snow is going to pop them.......

the 9 days of Christmas....

2009-12-29T09:20:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas celebrations started the day after Thanksgiving and will have lasted through the whole month December and into January. We've had a great time. Highlights included the girls dancing in the Nutcracker, sleighrides, many parties (especially at the Peters) and a surprise visit from Santa on Christmas Eve. We also started a new tradition this year of wrapping our living room so that the kids couldn't see into it on Christmas morning.

We're finishing the season off now with our 9 days of Christmas. Shawn has taken the rest of the year off so that his vacation is as long as the girls. In a lovely box on our kitchen table sits 9 envelopes- one for each day of our vacation starting the day after Christmas. Each day we get to do something totally fun as a family. So far we've gone sledding, played games, rented movies and today's activity is a trip to the movies. We've got another 5 great activites planned for the rest of our vacation as well. We hope you are all having a great vacation as well.

update: so we've been sledding, to the movies, played tons of games, rented movies, rented wii games and been to dinner. We still have a couple things to do that I can't say yet........

A Labor of Love

2009-12-25T10:39:00.000-08:00

It all started innocently enough in September. A group of friends and I got together to scrapbook and started talking Christmas gifts. We each wanted to create special presents for our children's grandparents. We decided that it would be a lot of fun to make special cookbooks with pictures of our children, favorite family recipes, and thoughts/quotes from our kids.

We started with the plain white binders you see here and ended with individual books, unique and special for each set of Grandparents. Naively, we thought it would take 5-6 hours per book. It took many, many more hours than that, and a lot of help from Shawn, who took all the pictures and wrote all the recipes. I'd love to say that all 3 books were perfect, but they were all uniquely flawed. Hopefully they are well loved by all 3 sets of grandparents, because by the time we were done, it was really hard to give them up. It was a lot of fun to make them, and I've actually already have the plans for next years Christmas gift- which I'll start in January so it's done well before mid December :)

3 Little Maids

2009-12-20T12:31:00.000-08:00

In 1st Grade I was in my schools Christmas musical. It was a ton of fun. I wanted to be one of the 3 Little Maids in Santa Land. They reminded me of mermaids and they got to song a great song. Instead, I was one of the bakers. I got to hold a huge card board/aluminum foil Hersey Kiss, but I still had a longing to be one of the 3 Little Maids. Many years have passed and then today, I looked at our three beautiful daughters in their beautiful dresses and remembered the 3 Little Maids.

How lucky we are that Shawn's mom, Kathy, makes our girls such beautiful dresses each Christmas. It's a wonderful tradition and means so much to all of us as we anxiously wait each year for the dresses to arrive. She has never dissappointed us and really continues to out do herself each year. Each of our girls feels so special to know that their Granma spent so many hours working out their special dress each year. I can't say enough good things about Shawn's mom. We're so lucky to have her. :)

Getting Ready for Christmas

2009-12-20T12:17:00.000-08:00

There's just so much to do this time of year- especially when it snows. We were very concerned that we wouldn't be able to cut down our own tree this year because of snow.

We were very glad to be able to cut our own down in the end. It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed it.

SNOW DAYS!!!!

2009-12-10T08:58:00.000-08:00

Monday the news started all the ominous reports about the up coming blizzard. I wasn't to concerned until the blizzard watch became a blizzard warning a good 15 hours before the storm was going to hit. So, Monday afternoon we conquered all of our errands and our home was well stocked. Tuesday started out innocently enough, but by 3 o'clock or so, the wind was really starting to get strong. By 9 p.m. the storm was raging and school was cancelled for all 5 of us. What do you do then? Why plan a great day full of all of our favorite activities. We had a huge breakfast, played in the snow (when the wind was taking a break. After the picture by the ornaments, the winds picked back up and the little gold one is buried), watched a movie and had pizza.

The fun continued this morning when the school district had a 2 hour delay. This meant that C and E didn't have to be at school until 10 and that Lily and I had the day off. Shawn of course didn't get today off which was just fine with us as we were all able to bring him doughnuts and balloons at work to celebrate his birthday. So, we'll finish up his birthday with a concert at both C's and E's schools, a nice dinner and a tasty surprise dessert.

It's been a lot of fun the last couple of days. I hope you are having fun as well!

Geography Bee

2009-12-06T13:13:00.000-08:00

Thursday was an exciting day for Emily as she partook in her school geography bee. This year over 150 students tried out for the Bee, and 27 qualified for it. Emily made it all the way to the championship round- where she qualified by knowing that Australia is the continent associated with eculyptus. she was the only student to answer this question correctly and we were very proud of her. In the end, she came in 6th. We're all so very proud of her- Go Em!!!!!

Building a Home

2009-12-05T12:21:00.000-08:00

We build a very special Home each year- one that wouldn't withstand even the smallest of storms, but is always a lot of fun. We've done it as a family for as long as i can remember, but the last few years, we've done it with our daughters' youth group. It's been very nice to have Em go into youth group as Charlie has come out so that we can continue this Tradition. hopefully her youth group will keep doing it for the next few years... then we'll be on our own again.

Christmas in the NW

2009-12-04T08:55:00.000-08:00

As our town continues to celebrate for the holidays, we continue to attend great celebrations. On Tuesday night, we attended Christmas in the NW. This celebration is probably the largest one that our town holds for as part of Christmas in the City, and we simply were not able to attend all of it. We were able to go fishing for prizes, see Mr. and Mrs. Claus, and meet a lot of great animals, from Reindeer in training to furry sheep and adorable baby goats. Lily was incredibly happy to meet Scoopy, the ice cream cone mascot of her favorite burger place. We had a ton of fun, and I am so glad to have such great daughters- who put up with their mom begging for the pics with Santa. :)

Christmas in the City

2009-12-03T11:33:00.000-08:00

One of the things I love most about living in a small town in the midwest is that December is still Christmastime and it's an all out celebration. Our little town holds a numerous Holiday Events. Some of them ( such as the touring of lovely homes all decked out for the holidays) predate our nation, and some are not quite so old but still have been going on longer than we've been around. The first major Christmas event is Christmas in the City which is held each year on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The town's Christmas lights get lit, there are carolers, wagon/sleigh rides, and some many free events and activities that it doesn't seem possible that such a little town could put it all on- until you meet the people here, and then of course it does. So this post includes pictures from the night after Thanksgiving. Our girls all danced in the Nutcracker which is also part of the celebration. alot of time and work goes into the performance both from the dancers and the teachers, and it's another one of the great free events going on during December.

The last picture is of course of our very own home, all decked out and ready for Christmas. We're still snow free, but thanks to my awesome husband, at least we've got great lights. And yes, those are the old fashioned big bulbed lights that we love so much.

Halloween and other old news

2009-11-29T09:58:00.001-08:00

As we get ready for Christmas, I really wanted to get these pics posted. We had a great Halloween. We got to spend it with great friends. I LOVED Shawn's Halloween costume. He got a lot of great comments on it. He did NOT get near as many comments as our friend Eric did. His costume really says all that needs to be said on it. We also had a great time at preschool carving pumpkins. Lily was especially happy to be able to do a "potato head" style pumpkin this year. It really worked out nicely.

Now,

the WORST gifts EVER

2009-11-25T16:12:00.001-08:00

I know this post needs some really great pics, but I'm really far behind on baking pies, so the pics will come later.
Anyway, this time of year my favorite stories are always the ones about the worst presents people ever got. I can't wait to read them b/c I laugh so hard that I almost wet myself. So, please share here the worst gifts you've ever gotten. Here are my 2 favorite.

1. the year one of Shawn's boss's gave us a Thanksgiving turkey. He did that every year ans normally that's a very kind gift. That particular year, he was out of town and din't get the turkeys to his employees until 2 weeks after Thanksgiving. This again, would not be so bad except that the turkeys had sat in his garage for the 2 weeks during an unexpected warm spell. When he got around to handing out the turkeys, they were already rancid- and he still handed them out! (One guy left his in the bed of his truck and would shoot it full of nails from his nail gun until a cat dragged it off.

and 2. someone once gave us a joint gift of a set of glasses. As we opened them, she announced that she had recieved the same set the year before and had chosen to keep 1/2 the set. When we got them home we found a little "extra" gift in our half- mouse droppings. Needless to say, we never used those glasses.

Now it's your turn- what crazy, wierd gifts have you received that made you think "what were they Thinking?" BTW please don't use the names of the gift givers or post one here from a giver that reads this blog. :)

Pumpkins, pumpkins in the patch

2009-10-30T14:09:00.001-07:00

My family LOVES pumpkins. Each year we go to the same pumpkin patch which is really more low-tech amusement park than patch. This year we tried to convince our girls to go to the Fall Lightshow (http://www.bluffvalley.com/ ) which is actually cheaper and can be enjoyed (at least at some level) from your car incase of inclement weather, however, the youngest two daughters were adamant that we must attend the pumpkin patch. So attend we did. As we arrived, the snow was meltong off the roof of the harvest town buildings. You can see in the shot of the beige building that it was indeed snowy, but we still had a great time. We did, however learn some things this year:

* While finishing the corn maze quickly is fine it's far MORE gratifying to do so with out ever falling in the mud. Shoes will all still need to be washed though......

* It's more fun to play jumbo size games.... like checkers

* Feeding the goats is always more fun if you have free corn

* And me telling every person I see that i like their Red Sox cap does eventually pay off- as i met a family from the town next to my hometown. (They live in Boxborough) The dad is from Massachusetts and has lived their forever while the wife is from Rochester. We're pretty much living mirror image lives.

Anyway, we had a ton of fun and can't wait to go again next year- though we hope to do so without the snow.

My poor sick family.

2009-10-27T09:57:00.000-07:00

This fall has been really hard on so many family and friends as far as illnesses go. So, I really shouldn't be surprised that my family has also been sick. Emily and Shawn both had really bad sore throats and coughs/colds. Emily was able to throw hers off after about 4-5 days, but Shawn just continued to be sick. He missed more than a week of work- including 2 days he'd scheduled off to do fun stuff with the girls over their fall break. We ended up spending fall break at home and weren't able to do anything fun at all. In fact Shawn is still coughing now, 2 and 1/2 weeks later. Poor little Lily threw up on Sunday (on her dad and all over our bed) at 3 a.m. and was then just fine all day Sunday and until late Monday night when she spiked a fever that was over 103. She tossed and turned and whimpered all night, but finally woke this morning in a much happier state. Luckily, we are now able to control her fever w/ medicine, but she's still a sick little Bean. We're just hoping that her fever is gone in time to go trick-or-treating this weekend.

I also had a bad cold that continues to linger but isn't so bad now. The only one of us not to get sick? Charlie. i say that it's the 2+ hours a day she spends swimming that keeps her so healthy. Either way, I'm glad that one of us has stayed healthy!

Minnesota IS nice

2009-10-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

While I am often homesick and just wish that I could get back to New England- where the seafood is fabulous, the people are fun and fall colors are beautiful, I have to admit that this week has been a great week to remind me home fabulous the nice people of Minnesota can be. First, several people have called me up out of the blue to say really nice things about my children. Then I received a raise at work . (Wahoo), a great friend dropped off fabulous cookies as well as a cute basket of fall treats, another sent cookies with Shawn, our neighbor sent over some cake and another great friend heard that I wasn't feeling well and brought my family dinner, and another friend is bringing Em home from school so my sick Lily can stay in her PJs on the couch. Add to that the fact that we finally had a sunny and warm day yesterday after 2 weeks of rain and the fact that our tree actually did turn a beautiful shade of red and orange (instead of the ugly brown leaves it started dropping a week ago), and the sky is that beautiful October blue. I know you can't tell it from my poor pictures, but I swear it's that exact October Blue. So, while I miss New England so much- especially during the fall, I've got to admit that the great friends and joys of this October day, really do make it so nice to be in Minnesota.

A reminder of home

2009-10-08T11:49:00.000-07:00

We stopped in Owatonna, about 45 minutes from home not long ago and decided to stretch our legs. Shawn asked a friend where a good place to get ice cream was and she immediately responded w/o hesitation "Blast". So we went to Blast knowing that we'd get great ice cream, and were excited to find a reminder of home. Blast is an old fashioned order outside ice cream stand. Like Kimballs and Dairy

Joy, you order your food at 1 window and pick up at the other. The ice creams were HUGE (Em is about 1/3 of the way through a small in the pic above) and really cheap (less than $10 for all of us including a tip) and well worth it. We hope to go back one day this spring and enjoy pizza in the parlor above, take a nice stroll and the beautiful trail, and then finish it all off with some great ice cream.

Swimming

2009-09-13T19:58:00.000-07:00

Charlie is on the swim team again this year. She's doing great this year and has really improved her times. (It probably helped that she grew almost 5 inches in the last year or so). Shawn and I love that Charlie is on the swim team for a a few great reasons. First, the whole team cheers each other on. They are just excited when you beat your personal best time as they are when you win your race. Second, all the girls are so nice, and third, Charlie enjoys competing against herself and so swimming is a great sport for her.

Her are some pics from her 1st home meet- which actually occured before school had even started. (Swimming started back up mid August- 3 weeks before school started).

Teenagers

2009-09-13T07:22:00.000-07:00

On Labor Day we started our first of 17 years of teenage girls in our home. What better way to start this great occasion than with a cook out in the back yard? We invited friends to come and share the day with us while we feasted on great food, (The chicken was good enough that Claire gave Shawn uncle status) and excellent company. Thank you to everyone who came- especially to Vanessa who baked the cake and taught me to make the frosting. So that I could decorate Charlie's cake myself. (Okay I only did the pink parts, but watchout, at the next birthday I'll do the whole thing!!!!)

Footballl

2009-09-13T07:12:00.000-07:00

Football is back on again. We started the week before Labor Day and have been having a really great time. Shawn had several great plays at yesterdays game including an intercepted pass that he turned into a touch down. The girls all love to go and jump on the tramp, hang out in the barn, and meet other kids. At our first game, Charlie was able to meet a special little friend. A baby girl named Charlee. We;ll be playing most weekends, so they'll be plenty of updates.

What kind of blogger are you?

2009-09-12T16:20:00.000-07:00

Do you ever wonder what kind of blogger you are? Take this quiz and find out!

1) Your dog eats your daughter's birthday cake an hour before her party. Your post shows:

A) a picture of the dog, the cake and the solution (a new cake from Walmart or the grocery store)

B) Your blog talks all about the huge amount of time you spent making your daughter's dream cake- how the dog ate it- and how you quickly whipped up a beautiful substitute- and shows pics of your well groomed dog, the beautiful new cake, and your sweet princess in her birthday tiara.

C) You get a couple of pics up from her party and call it good.

D) What idiot leaves a cake where a dog can get it?

2) Your son smears a whole jar of peanut butter all over the walls and himself. Your blog shows

A) A picture of your son, the wall, the jar of peanut butter and tells of your horrow when you found it- especially since you were on your way out the door.

B) Talks about how boys will be boys. Shows a picture of your boy dressed looking so cute and a jar of your favorite organic peanut butter.

C) You post a picture of your son and the wall and the caption reads "Peanut Butter Days"

D) After the dog who would be stupid enough to leave a kid with a jar of peanut butter?

3) Your family takes a short trip to see your family. You blog:

A) About all the fun you had- especially the stuff that made you cry at the time but are now laughing about AND how you almost peed your pants laughing when your kid puked on his childless uncle and all other sorts of funny now things. You also post a picture of the uncle...and the puke.

B) You have lots of beautiful pics on your blog. Your favorites include the one of all the cousins in matching polos and the grown ups night out at that great fish place.

C) You steal a couple of pics off your sisters blog and just type "Thanks for the great memories and fun" underneath

D) Why would I go see my family?

4) You blog about the 1st day of school. You :

A) Show pics of all your kids in front of your house and talk about how excited you are for the peace and quiet...and wonder how long it will last

B) You have pictures of the kids in the exact same spot as last year in the exact same order and talk about how you cried a little bit leaving your baby for the 1st time and how she didn't cry at all and already has made tons of friends.

C) People blog about the first day of school?

D) After the peanut butter and the dog- why would I EVER have kids?

5) How many embellishments are on your blog?

A) I added music but I had to disable it when my kids thought it was funny to change my play list. My MIL didn't find it funny when she started reading and was hearing Five Finger Death Punch.

B) I have music, wall paper, a marriage ticker, site meter, and so really cute buttons!

C) I have the basic blogger stuff- no embellishments

D) What's a freaking embellishment?!?!

Results:
If you had mostly A's you are : The Cheaper by the Dozen blogger. You tell it how it is and in the end, it's usually pretty funny. Your blog keeps your friends laughing and you too- once the pain of the post is over.

If you had mostly B's you are : A Christmas Newsletter blogger. your blog is full of your. wonderfully perfect family. You're not above SSSSssssstttttrrrrreeeetttccchhhhhiiinnnngggg the truth or even out right lieing (if only to yourself) to make sure others see how much better off you are. You think your kids are brilliant, your spouse superb and see yourself as a great (and oh so modest) blogger. Your blog also keeps your friends (or frenemies) laughing as well- mostly because they're aware of how much stretching is really going on.

If you had mostly C's you are : The Reluctant blogger. someone convinced you that you had to blog. you're blogging so that your mother (or mil) can keep up on your kids, your kids won't feel unloved, or because everyone else you know does it, but you just don't like it. To you I say it's okay to stop blogging.

If you had mostly D's you are : so not a blogger. You read blogs and maybe even follow one or two, but there's no way that you'd ever waste the time that everyone else is blogging. That's for all those crazy people with too much time on their hands.

If it looks like chicken......

2009-08-26T18:09:00.000-07:00

If it looks like chicken and smells like chicken it might be..... bocca chik'n patties. These are great tasting soy protein patties. They really are yummy- but not so good for dogs. When they eat one out of the garbarge you will need to induce vomiting or else deal with it when it tries to exit on it's own accord.

Bad food choices so far:

Lily's chocolate birthday cake
Acorns
Bocca chik'n
antibiotics that last more than a week or so

update- Sam was also on an antibiotic for his ears. He was on it too long and it caused stomach issues as well. This meant another unplanned vet visit on Saturday. The actual visit was only $37, but we went ahead and picked up his heartwarm meds ($37) and dog food ($85) since our vet is 20 miles away. Total cost of the visit was about $165. This is why you are all getting socks and candy from us for Christmas. All the rest of our money has gone to the dog.....

We'll keep you posted

The Secret to Learning

2009-08-18T17:45:00.001-07:00

Today I discovered the secret to learning and remembering what you learn. Charging learners for not knowing information. I was able to discover this today when I paid (about) $50 to learn that dogs simply can not eat acorns. Eating acorns is particularly bad if the dog chews the acorns before he eats them. Indulging in the behavior causes a dog to have many gastrointestinal problems. More often than not these problems will require the dog to be seen by the vet-and put on a special diet as well as antinausea meds as well. All of this is a bargain at $50- Especially when you consider that his special diet dog food is $85 per bag. (And, no the new cheaper dog food is NOT normally okay for his diet...sigh.

Anyway, here is some of what i learned today. hopefully it will be of worth to you...especially if you have a dog.

*Dogs can not eat acorns for the same reason they can not eat grapes. The acid in both can be deadly to dogs. Especially if they are chewed.

* If your dog won't eat or drink try ice cubes. Dogs love ice cubes and they will often stay hydrated from the ice cubes. If they won't even eat ice cubes, call your vet ASAP

* The dog antinausea med is the same as reglan- a drug that 2 of my children were on as infants for reflux. Reglan is no longer used in anyone under 18 as it can cause major organ issues.

* it also knocks the dog out- for HOURS

* Sick dogs are as bad as sick babies. They can be lethargic and whimper the same as a baby. And it's almost as frustrating to not know what they need.

*There are some scary meds out there. While Iwas waiting for Sam's meds, one of the vet tech's was on the phone to a sales rep to ask some questions about a medication from the horse. This medication looked like a caulk gun. It was at least that big and actually looked a little bigger. What was so scary about this medication is: one that it was a supository and two: that the tech was calling to find out if this medication was safe to give to horses. Apparently it was meant for a different animal. All I can think of is maybe it was meant for a cow, but the gun looked like it was meant for a clydesdale. It's still scary to wonder who normally took that medication!

Anyway, Sam is on the mend and even tried to eat several more acorns today. So, we'll have our hands full here for awhile as our neighbor's oak tree drops tens of thousands of acorns each year (Seriously, I think he filled 50 5 gallon buckets last year.) So learn from us and keep acorns away from your dogs- otherwise these too might be facts you never forget......

The Fair

2009-08-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

We spent a couple of days at our local county fair. We took the girls Friday night and did a lot of our traditional favorites. The girls road rides, eat their favorite foods, played games and saw tons of animals. We also saw something new to our fair- Cannonball Smith was shot out of his cannon, over the ferris wheel and then landed safely in his net. It was a sight to behold. Besides all the fun we had as a family, Shawn and I are getting ready to go back tonight where we will watch the conbine derby. It will be one of our most interesting dates ever!

a crazy weekend

2009-08-09T14:39:00.000-07:00

We had a super busy and crazy weekend last week. We spent Friday night with friends doing a family movie night. We chatted so long that we didn't start any of the movies until after 9, which meant it was so hard to get up and head to our cook out the next morning. The kids all had fun at the cook out. (Charlie now wants a Harley of her own...) and then we headed to the zoo. We dragged ourselves home just in time to head out for the Relay for Life. We finished up on Sunday with church, followed by a cookout/birthday party and then another cookout and game night with friends. We were all so wiped out and did a lot less this weekend, but we still managed to squeeze in a sleep over (the girls), scrapbooking with a friend (just Mer), going to the movies (Shawn) and a trip to the pool. I have to admit I LOVE summertime!

Kids College

2009-08-03T20:20:00.001-07:00

While many kids look forward to summer as a break from school, Charlie and Emily always look forward to going back to school the end of each July, when they attend Kids College. Over the years the girls have built and launched rockets, ridden in police cars and used the police sim labs to shoot the bad guys, taken acting classes and done animation. This year, much to our surprise they both took the same 2 classes, Harry Potter and scrapbooking. Both girls had a blast. They were sorted into houses (both in Gryffindor), made potions, wands, and the Daily Prophet (complete with moving pictures), created potions books full of real Harry Potter recipes, (They LOVED the butterbeer), and made their own owls and of course hunted for the golden snitch. They then followed up every class at Hogwarts with scrapbooking. They scrapbooked numerous pages for each season as well as their birthdays and made a mini scrapbook as well. They had so much fun and can't wait to go again next year. Lily, who is way to young to attend, had to content her self with several visits (it's a nice perk when you know the teachers) and swimming lessons. As with both of her big sisters, Lily has no fear of the water. So last week was a fabulous week. The weekend was just as much fun and just as busy, but I'm too tired to blog about it tonight, so it will have to wait until next time.

The House of Bounce

2009-08-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

We had a great family night last Monday. We took a trip tp Rochester to the House of Bounce. Tucked away behind one of our TV stations is a fabulous place for people to let off a little energy. A huge room full of blown up "jumpy things" You can climb Jacob's ladder, hang from rings before you plunge down the "cliff" or just jump inside Walle. It was a ton of fun and full of people of all ages. (We were greatly out numbered by teenagers on this night) Hof B has a great family night special on Monday nights that includes a slice of pizza per person and soda with free refills. All of their consessions were really reasonable (though we just stuck with the free pizza) and for our whole family to spend 2 hours bouncing around it was less than $25. So, if your in our area try it out, it's really worth it. Our only complaint is that Em, Lily, and I all got burns from where our bare skin touched the plastic as we were sliding down. The cliff hanger is REALLY fast ! (You can see Em in her red pants, belly down after she just released from the rings) and is the only one with a height requirement, and you can see Lily climbing up the raging river in her pink shorts- which is almost as high as the cliff hanger.

a walk in the park

2009-07-26T14:06:00.001-07:00

It was one of those perfect summer nights. Warm and sunny but without bugs or humidity so we took a picnic and played at the park. We played ball with Sam, tag with each other and watched the girls swing as high as they could. It's one of those great nights that really make you smile- made all the better by a stop by the Connetts where Nessa had just baked her famous chocolate chip cookies. YUM!!

Things we love:

2009-07-20T12:11:00.001-07:00

The new vent in our bathroom. Gone is the old popcorn ceiling which couldn't be washed and hated the humidity our bathhroom often had when a family of 5 (including 3 daughters!!!) all shared the same shower.

Emily's new chalkboard which covers the access door that Shawn needed to make so that he could access the roof to install the vent work to our new bathroom vent. This was a huge project that turned out so well

New clothes all handmade with love. Shawn's mom has been sending our family care packages. Each one is addressed to 1 family member and contains a beautiful gift that she has made for them. In this picture Charlie and Emily are both wearing new dresses that she has made and Shawn is wearing one of the 4 new ties she has made for him.He loves that they are all long enough, something that many store bought ties are not. Lily's the next to receive a package which is already on it's way so we'll update this post with a picture of her when it arrives.

Lily's dress has arrived and it too is beatiful!!!!

Thanks to Shawn for all of his hardwork on our home and to Shawn's mom, Kathy for sharing her great skills with our family. We so lucky to have both of you!

4th of July

2009-07-05T22:21:00.000-07:00

And here of course is the 4th of July. We started with the annual parade, went to a BBQ and ended with fireworks. We hope the you had as nice of a 4th as we did.

3rd of July

2009-07-05T22:02:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about living in a small town is that you can choose to do things your own way. Our town chooses to celebrate the 4th of July over several days. So, we were able to have 2 nights of fireworks and several days of fun including all 3 girls dancing on the 3rd for the community. Here are so pics of the 3rd. And, I would have to mention that Lily is a darn good driver- it scares me a little bit.....

stolen from Dawn's blog

2009-06-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

okay i liked tghis idea but I had a ton of trouble trying to copy and paste so now I am handwriting it.....

So the 1st 5 people who respond to this post will get something homemade from me. I get to choose what and I get up to 1 year to do it- but I promise it will be sooner than that b/c I'll forget if I wait that long. I get to choose what it is and if you are one of the 1st 5 people, then you have to do the same thing for 5 people on your blog.

2nd Oh crap moment of Dog ownership

2009-06-18T21:07:00.000-07:00

That Sam is still alive is due to Shawn's great sense of self control- and his desire not to have our daughters in tears for weeks because he killed the dog. This evening Shawn took Sam for a bike ride. We did this last weekend with Shawn holding on to Sam and pulling Lily in her bike trailer and it was a great experience. Tonight Shawn went alone with Sam and they rode quite fast. At on point, they were going REALLY fast and Sam saw a rabbit. Sam chased the rabbit even though it caused him to pass right in front of Shawn's bike and continued to chase the rabbit even as Shawn started falling on him. Shawn hit the payment with his chin and arms and damaged his bike as well. Sam, however was not at all hurt and in fact continues to chase the rabbit. Shawn had to walk the bike and dog about a mile to get home.

He came home as I was return from chasing down the women who brought Charlie home from camp because 1/2 our stuff was still in the van. Shawn's car was so full of camp stuff that I could not get him to the ER until I moved some of it. Even though that took a minute and he was in severe pain, Shawn refused to go to the ER until I took pictures of him. (the pre ER pics are the ones w/o bandages). The whole time we were at the ER Shawn kept telling me that I would need to take post pics and blog this ASAP. Since he is in considerable pain, I readily agreed.

So we are home now and he's doped up on vicodin and ibuprofin and luckily didn't break anything. Still he's probably staying home from work tomorrow since both hands are bandaged and his chin is so nasty. BTW- the black eye is from earlier this week from a basketball game.

Special thanks to Sarah who dropped everything to come over and get the kids to bed. I told that she could leave right away since Charlie was there, but when the ER told us that it looked like tornadoes were on the way, we asked her to stay until we were done. (And it's kind of freaky to have the nurses pulling out all the flashlights) and then she came and jumped Shawn's car b/c I left the lights on. I owe you big time.

And yes Nessa, I totally know you would have come but you've just moved and got hurt last week yourself so we asked Sarah.

Tornado

2009-06-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was quite an exciting day for us. We went to check out a friends new home. They wanted Shawn to check out their fireplace. With no radios or TV, we had no idea how bad the weather was getting until the sirens started going off. We decided to head back to our house with our friends since this was their 1st tornado. As we came upon the track near our home, we could see the cloud rotation, which appeared to be very near to our home. We realized that we really couldn't head to our house at that pointed and started heading to the home our friends were currently renting. Then, as the fast moving clouds passed in front of us we again headed to our home.

We spent about an hour in the basement in the dark before it was clear for us to come back upstairs. During that time we had 4 kids (9,4,3, and a baby) and upto 6 adults and a dog hanging out listen to our weather radio. This was a pretty scary time as the last NWS kept announcing that there were tornadoes touching down in the NW. In the end, the closest one was more than 2 miles away, but having seen the damage it is really scary.

We're happy to say that as of last night their were no deaths or serious injuries, though we have heard the police, fire, and ambulance sirens pretty regularly through last night and this morning.

Also, Charlie, who was away at Girl's Camp for the 1st time, called early this morning to let us know she was okay and to check on us, and that based on the NWS predicting more storms this evening, camp is ending early and she'll be home tonight.

As special thanks to the Connett who came to check on us when we didn't answer any of our phone (because I promise they really never rang)... It's wonderful to have the kind of friends that go out in a storm to make sure that you're okay.

Here is a link of some of the damage that occured. Thank you Brad (Weber) for sharing the pics you took. Our new camera should be here sometime today........

Piano Recital

2009-06-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

Charlie and Emily started piano this year and they had their recital on Tuesday. Both girls did a great job. Unfortunately some of the pictures were kind of blury. Since our last camera died after it's trip through the wash, we have been trying out different camera to see what we like. We also took some pics outside by the Irises. The girls loved the location and we wanted to get on final shot of Lily in the dress Grandma Camp made her last year.

Camping

2009-06-12T07:51:00.000-07:00

Well our camera didn't survive the trip through the wash, but luckily our memory card did. So here are some pics from our trip. We had a great time (Except for the early morning rain).

Can we say crazy??

2009-06-11T16:20:00.001-07:00

It's hard to believe that Lily is really 4. To celebrate her birthday she invited 14 friends to come over for her party. We made visors, did side walk chalk and bubbles, opened (way too many) presents, had cake and ice cream and then played in the pool, went down the slip and slide and had a water balloon fight. It was a ton of fun with only a few mishaps (see the previous post about taking the cake). The hardest parts were having 2 Claires, Emmas, and Abbys. Every time I said anything to one of them 2 would respond, and trying to keep track of the shoes, towels and bags that all these kids brought with them. I finally just gave ups. It was so much fun, especially since 7 of the kids were from preschool.

He really takes the cake....

2009-06-11T16:10:00.000-07:00

Here is our 1st really big "oh crap" moment of dog ownership. After spending about 4 hours last night baking 2 cakes so that we could make Lily the doll cake she swanted for her birthday, Sam ate them. So, in the middle of getting ready for Lily's party today, I dropped everything and went to Walmart and purchased 2 caked there so I could feed the masses (14 3-5 year olds). Then, on the way home I calmed down enough to worry about Sam. So I could the vet who informed me that really, that much cake- especially chocolate isn't good for any dog, and since Sam already has allergies it's even worse. So, I got to give Sam 2 tsp of hydrogen peroxide (1 tsp per 35 lbs of dog in case you ever need to try it.) And wait for him to expel it. I couldn't believe how much cake he had actually eaten until I had to clean it up. It was a very nasty experience. And now of course, his ears are REALLY stinking!

BTW- a very HUGE I love you and thank you to Vanessa, who's 2nd response (the 1st of course was a LOT of laughter), was to ask if she could bake Lily a new cake. Since she had just moved into her new home this week, I went with the Walmart option, but it's great to have a friend who would seroiusly drop everything to bake a cake for Lily.

Ballerina Girls

2009-06-05T16:17:00.000-07:00

Charlie, Emily and Lily have their dance recital tomorrow. We got their dance pics back today and Shawn was able to scan them in- a good thing since :

1) I can not figure out the scanner

2) The camera is so not working.

Unfortunately, the scanner was very dirty so the pics are quite dusty. hopefully we'll be able to get a new camera soon

Enjoy the pics

In the leg of Emily's wet jeans

2009-06-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

I had a conversation that went like this:
M(eredith) "I have some good news and some bad news"
S(hawn) "okay".
M"In the leg of Emily's wet jeans is the bad news."
S "Huh?"
M "That's the bad news"
S "Well what's the good news?"
M "I found the camera"
S "Great!"
M"I found it as I pulled Emily's jeans out of the washer'
S "Oh"

So, I have found the camera but I still have no new pics for you. The load that the camera was in was washed twice because I forgot it in the washer overnight and they smelled funny. The batteries are rusty, so we'll see what happens when it dries.....

sink holes and I'm never camping again

2009-05-31T20:27:00.000-07:00

I had to pick Shawn up Sunday night and I was shocked to find a sink hole on the way. It isn't a very large one, but it appeared to be deep. We decided that it would be a great thing to blog about. Unfortunately we couldn't find the camera. The last time I remember seeing it was in my bag at 5 a.m. in our tent. We're hoping that somehow Lily ran off with it and it will turn up this week, but so far no luck. If we don't find it by the end of the week we'll start looking into getting a new one.

Last year when we went camping I lost my cell phone. We never found it and believe that it got thrown away. Since we were at the same campsite this year with some of the same people I have a new superstious belief that either:
I should not go camping
I should not go camping at Oxbow
I should not go camping with the Peters family
I should not go camping with the Peters family at Oxbow
I should not take anything of value camping

either way I'm still cranky and since the town has filled the sink hole, I have no pictures for you.

Lily

2009-05-19T15:53:00.000-07:00

This week is Lily's last week of preschool until next fall. We took a trip to the park last week where Lily (and all of her friends) had a fabulous time.

Shawn's new toy

2009-05-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

We have been limping along with our computer dying a slow death. As a type this now, my computer is driving me insane. So, Shawn, ever the helpful and curteous husband- and so very attractive as well, started looking into purchasing us a great new computer. I went to bed one night thinking he was ordering one using a special discount her gets through work, and woke up to find out that he ordered one that he has to build himself. His brother, Jon actually ordered all the parts, and Shawn built it last night. He did a great job. It pays to have your guy work in OIT! (and have a fabulous brother that fills your online basket so all you have to do is check out!!!) Unfortunately, one of the cables is taking it's own sweet time to get here, so while it looks pretty, we aren't using it yet. Shawn promises that I'll really love it and i can't wait to blog from it really soon.

Ballerina Girls

2009-05-19T15:29:00.001-07:00

With all 3 girls dancing, we were excited to have them in ballet costumes that go together so well. For the record, Charlie and Emily both feel that they look much cuter in their jazz costumes and that the ballet outfits make them look like little girls. I have to agree that they look so grown up and adorable in their jazz costumes, but i only was able to get pics of them in their ballet costumes on this day. Luckily, we ordered some pics of them in their jazz costumes as well.

Charlie

2009-05-19T15:11:00.000-07:00

Charlie has also had a very busy spring. She had her band concert last week as well as her choir concert. Charlie did very well and band, and really excelled in choir. Charlie was 1 of 2 soloists in her 6th grade choir concert. With 130 members in her choir, this was a real accomplishment. She did a fabulous job and we're all so proud of her. Maybe it's all the rockband and guitar hero she plays with her dad??????

Emily

2009-05-19T15:01:00.000-07:00

Emily had her spring concert a few weeks ago. She did a great job singing and playing her recorder. It was a lot of fun to see and watch. She also had her track and field event last week as well. She took 5th (out of 40) in the frisbee throw and did really well in her other events.

uncommonly common

2009-05-15T05:45:00.000-07:00

Apparently Sam is a very distinct and unusual looking dog. His uncommon looks seem to be particularly common in our town, however. What makes Sam so unusual is that he is a lab/pointer mix who has a white spot on his chest. This makes him so unusual that people feel very comfortable telling me how they all know Sam. At Em's track and field day (pics to follow this weekend) a man approached me to ask where we got Sam. He's sure that Sam is the son of his sister's dogs. I explained that Sam was found loose in a town about 30 miles from here where his sister doesn't live, but he's sure that Sam must be one of her puppies who somehow got lost/abandoned. Then yesterday at school another girl approached me and asked me if Sam was the dog from track and fiels. When I said he was, she blurted out, "your dog got my dog pregnant!" Now, Sam has never been "lost" in the month that we've had him and he came to us already nuetered, so my answer was, "he's never off the lease and he's been altered." I repeated this 3 times before I finally said, "He can't have babies." This girl was a sweet 4th grader and very polite but insisted that Sam is "the one". I am pretty sure that "the one" is one of the other 2-3 lab/pointer mixes I sometimes see walking w/ their owners, or even more likely, the one I see running through the neighborhood.(The 1st time I saw him I ran to the back yard to make that Sam was still on his run playing fetch with Charlie. So, for all those people out there who think Sam's "the one" they know, he's probably not.

a kidnapper, a dog trainer, and the blue sky...

2009-05-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

This sounds like a start to a joke but is actually a list I got from Lily. Can you guess what she says this list is?

I didn't know.....

2009-05-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

Well honestly I don't know a lot of thing, but in this post I'm talking about some of the changes I didn't know would happen when we got a dog. First, I didn't know that I would come to really treasure the early morning walks that Sam needs. This has become a very special time for Charlie (who is a true early bird, just like her grandpa Charlie) and I to walk and talk about all sorts of things that matter to young lady in her first year of middle school. Even today, we laughed so much as Charlie walked under her umbrella and Sam and I got soaked. I didn't know that I could drop everything right after lunch on most days to walk downtown and around the pond, stopping at the park. This is something that seems so unattainable since returning to work this fall, yet most days Lily, Sam and I make it. It's a delight to watch Lily squeal "Sam look, ducks!!!" and hear Sam bark back excitedly. I didn't know how much I missed time alone with Shawn. Our nightly walks have become the highlight of my day. I didn't know how much Ebay (our cat) loves us. Now he climbs on top of us purring as soon as Sam goes to bed. We know that we're loved.

There are a lot of other things i didn't know as well. I didn't know that dogs poop is much larger than people poop. It also stinks more and they poop 3 times a day on average. I also didn't know how hard it would be to master the "poop pick up". i have endured MANY a friend (or family member) bursting into laughter when they hear about how i got poop on my hand and/or got stuck carrying a bag of poop for a mile b/c there wasn't a trash can around.

I didn't know that dogs like butter and that it can not be left on the counter anymore.

I've learned that Sam doesn't like to take showers-but has no problem jumping into the town pond.

I've learned that Sam wants to be with us all the time -even if he's just going to nap

and I've learned that Shawn should not be allowed to feed Sam italian sausage unless he's going to walk the dog next time. (It goes back to all I've learned about poop)

So, I've learned a lot and love it so far. i imagine I'll have a different view of walks this winter....

Lazy Days

2009-05-03T18:31:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend as a family. It started off a little rocky with all 3 girls coming down with colds (NOT h1n1/swine flu), but this afternoon they were all feeling better and we got to spend some time taking the dog for a walk- followed by a bath since Shawn let Sam "explore" a little too close to the edge of the lake. I hope that you all had such a great weekend as well.

med mixup

2009-04-30T18:21:00.001-07:00

The drugs on the left are blue and green and in a container with pictures of animals on them. The container says in very large letters, "for animal consumption only". The drugs on the right are white and pop out of their packaging and are not at all similiar. However, if you are talking to a guest and trying to give the dog drugs and yourself drugs at the same time, you might just swallow the wrong pill. I won't tell you who made this mistake, but I will mention that I love Shawn so much for his great sense of humor and his ability to make me laugh. He also made both the vet and our regular doctor laugh as well. :)

Sam

2009-04-21T13:20:00.000-07:00

So we got the very first dog we looked at and we're happy with him so far. Lily got her chance to "name someone" and chose Sam. This was definitely her choice as Shawn and I were both pulling for Salem. Shawn more than me once the vet weighed him in at 66.6 pounds. Anyway, Sam is a great dog. Our only problem with him is that he did chase Ebay who now hides from him as much as possible. Still, we optimistic that they'll work it out.

Also, he is a bit spoiled. Notic the nice dog bed besides the chair he's sleeping in. While he does sleep on both, he really prefers the chair.

Gratitude

2009-04-20T15:42:00.000-07:00

Life has been really crazy around here lately. Sometimes we are so busy that we forget to take a minute to even breathe. Right now, some very important people in our lives are facing serious health issues and others have lost family/friends unexpectedly. So, I have been thinking a lot about everything I have to be grateful for. Here's a partial list:
My family- each of my children and my husband who freakin rocks. Thanks for always forgiving me when I'm stupid and for always loving me. I'm grateful for every day you're part of my life- and for the eternities beyond.
Great friends who have become extended families and for my extended family who have become my great friends. Our lives would not be the same without you. My phone would never ring at 8 a.m. to the question, "Did you work out today? What do you mean you didn't save that tax receipt?, or want to scrapbook today? I never knew I'd have friends and family (except for Shawn and the girls of course)that I'd love so fiercely.
I'm grateful for my health and the health of my family.
I'm grateful for a job that I love AND that I get to bring Lily to each day.
I'm grateful for the good weather and for snow days
And for way tasty foods- anything Shawn makes, Nessa's frosting, roasted veggies and those freakin cookies we'll never get the recipe too, Lisa's bars and pooh balls, Carolyn's potato casserole and Boston creme pies. They have nourished my heart.
I'm grateful for a ton more things but I'm off to make dinner so I can walk the dog again (for the 4th time today) and yes, I will blog about him soon!

And so it begins...........................................

2009-04-10T17:06:00.001-07:00

Well life has been a little crazy around here lately.

With everything else that's going on, we've decided that we are ready to add on to our family. We are using Petfinder to find a dog. We have some important stipulations for our new pet. He/she must be okay with cats, get along well with children, be house trained (unless they're a puppy) and be okay with being crated. I found the most perfect dog, a black and white Basset named Russel. On paper he was perfect, and probably he really was because he was gone before we could even talk to anyone about him. This dog here is currently named Sid. On paper he sounds great- he's good w/ kids, crate trained, house trained and gets a long with cats. As a labrador/pointer mix, he may be just a little more than we can handle. Shawn and I are off to see him tomorrow morning and we'll update you from there. (We did make the great decision not to let the girls meet any dog until we were pretty sure that they were "the one", you guys reading the blog should be old enough to handle if sid is not "the one" BTW- as a side note, several years ago the girls realized that everyone had a chance to name someone in our family except Lily. Our response was that she would name the dog. So, currently our new dog will be renamed, Mina. We'll see how that goes, but I do like the name Mina better than Sid. We'll update you more tomorrow.

Facts about Sid: Sid is a 60 pound, one year old (born 9/6/07), black Lab / Pointer mix. He is housetrained and very well behaved! Sid knows many tricks and commands such as come, sit, down, speak, shake, stay, and wait for a treat on his nose. He fetches balls in the air, sleeps on his back under the covers with his feet in the air, and really enjoys spending time with his human family. Adopt Sid, and you will get a great house-trained companion who will give you such comic relief! He is good with other dogs and respectful of cats.

So cute

2009-04-09T10:21:00.001-07:00

Okay, I know that we all think our kids are so cute, but this one really is adorable. Last night Lily and our cat, Ebay, were

meowing out the window. It was so adorable I had to share. :)

The Science Museum

2009-04-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

What breaks up your week in the best of ways? By taking the entire 4th grade to the Museum of Science. Shawn joined Emily and 100 plus 4th graders as they went on their trip. They had to be at school by 7:00 a.m. and didn't get home until after 4:30. That stopped at the Miniaha Falls as well. We weren't sure that Emily was going to be able to go because she had started coming down with a bad cold the night before, but we put her to bed early and gave her medication in the morning and she did great. (Sleeping up and back on the bus helped too.) The girls are all so lucky to such a great dad!

Grease

2009-03-25T14:24:00.001-07:00

Charlie under "S", center stage

Charlie was in her middle school's adaptation of Grease last week. She did a great job. Unfortunately, the lighting was terrible so the pictures I took aren't that great. Shawn took a lot of what we hope are great pics the old fashioned way, which we are now trying to decide where to develop. Charlie looked fabulous in her purple poodle skirt that her Grandma Camp made her. Her skirt was the envy of all of the girls and several of the teachers. Several of her friends asked if her grandmother could be theirs as well. Her cousin, Qatar, (it's a long story how we're related,) looked great as well and did a fabulous job. He's the boy leaning on the car in the glasses. Great job Charlie and Qatar!

Be careful What you wish for....

2009-03-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

This morning, after Charlie and Emily had gone to school and the house was quiet, I wished that it was the end of May so that I wouldn't have to wake Lily up and we could just stay home. Since it's still only March, I woke her up and off we went to preschool. By the time I got to school, I was no longer thinking about staying home but was ready to have fun with my kids. Unfortunately, this was not to be. As I arrived, I saw Beth pulling the computer out of Dawn's room and steam pouring out into the hall. The whole room was a sauna, the windows were swollen shut and humidity was dripping from everything as steam hissed it's way out of the broken radiator. The fish were belly up the water was 92 degrees over an hour after we opened windows, got the radiator turned off and the fans blowing, the bulletin board was wet all the way through, the walls were wet and bubbling, and some of the books were puckered.
We spent the morning cancelling school, pulling out books, pulling down the bulletin board and positioning fans. It was a crazy morning. All we could do was work and laugh- at me for wearing a white T-shirt- that was pretty wet from forcing the windows open, and for my straight hair way fizzing out, and for the situation. Becasue laughing beats crying any day. so, be careful what you wish for- the days off I was wishing for were not the one I received. :)

A great day for a field trip

2009-03-13T11:51:00.000-07:00

Charlie had a field trip yesterday. After going on numerous with Charlie, Shawn choose to go on this one. He's was very excited because it was a skiing field trip. As a kid, our field trips were required to be educational. Here in Minnesota, apparently, they can just be fun.

According to Shawn, Charlie did a fabulous job. Being short has some real perks. :)

cooking when compacting

2009-02-24T13:24:00.000-08:00

Well our family continues to compact. We have fallen off the wagon a couple of times and heeded the call of the golden arches, but mostly we've done great. Last night however, we started a new chapter in compacting. How long can we go without an oven? After we put dinner on the table, our oven started beeping at us and flashing the message F-2 on the display . By hitting the oven cancel button, the stove would stop beeping for about 30 seconds and then it would start to beep again. We decided to google our oven (it's a Roper Nouvelle) and see what we could find. What we found out was that our heat sensor was gone. It was going to cost between $80-$160 plus S&H to replace the part. Our oven is really old- maybe 25 or more and we were trying to decide whether or not to fix it. While we both want a new oven, our current one vents underneath- a way that is no longer done on ovens, which means buying a self venting hood or microwave to go with it. This would be very expensive. We decided that we were going to buy a new oven if the part we needed was the $160 part and that we would pay for part of it with reward point gift cards from one of our credit cards. This meant waiting a month or so for the points. So, i have a month of menus using just the stove top (which still works), the crock pot, and the grilled. Then Shawn called, it's the cheapr part and it will be here later this week. Still, I have the next's week menu done all w/o an oven- and I'm sharing it because i can. Tuesday-pasta, Wednesday Tacos, Thursday roast pork (in the crock pot), Friday a huge sub sandwich, Saturday BBQ pork sandwiches (in the crock pot w/ the leftovers), Sunday Shawn's chicken noodle soup and next Monday Breakfast for dinner. So, happy eating every one- and no trips to the golden arches for this ovenless compacting family. :)

Superbowl Sunday

2009-02-01T17:50:00.001-08:00

We had a few friends over for the super bowl. We started with a pregame dinner. Shawn made some of his fabulous chili and we did a potato bar with chili and all the fixings. Our friends brought all the best sides including fabulous nachos, buffalo chicken dip and chips and oriental salad. We finished up with Lisa's famous bars and a

football cake that Nessa made. Sadly, I was too busy talking and laughing to take many pictures. It was a great time. But here's what I've got.

The Minnesota Way

2009-02-01T17:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a very warm day- about 40 degrees. Lily wanted to spend some time playing in the back yard, so out we went. We had already been sledding and as hot as Lily felt, she decided to take her coat off. She then went down the slide and decided to play in her play house. Unfortuantely, she was unable to get in. She kept ringing the bell, but with all the snow in the yard, she couldn't open the door. As our only child born in Minnesota, Lily has really embraced her home state and shown us how real Minnesotans play in the snow!!!

A perfect Day

2009-02-01T17:16:00.001-08:00

We had a perfect day with friends. A miracle occured and it was almost 40 degrees out on Saturday. We had already planned to go sledding with friends, so this was a massive bonus. We had a ton of fun- especially when the guys were running sled trains. I almost peed myself laughing! and Nessa and I got a great work out running up and down the hill.

More holes in her head

2009-02-01T17:13:00.000-08:00

Charlie decided that she wanted to pierce her ears. We found a reputable place in town that does piercings and went and got it done. The whole eperience took less than 10 minutes and she is already planning what earings she wants next. Cute and fun.