October

 October was one of those months that felt like I went to bed on Monday and woke up on Friday.  We were so busy the entire month that it was hard to keep track of the days.  A lot of things happened, a lot of time passed.  And I was going to try to keep up with the blog better.  Ugh.  Oh well, here is a photo recap of the month.

 Lilly turned 7 on the 7th, which means it was her golden birthday!   She had 7 friends over for a party that included lots of outside play, a horse pinata, supper and cake.  They all had a blast!  (Marley also celebrated a birthday in Oct and it was her golden birthday, too!  3 on the 3rd!)

 

Lilly lost her first tooth on the top--literally lost it!  She doesn't like to pull her own teeth and will get them super loose, then have Dad pull them.  Unfortunately, he tied it with floss and when he made the knot tight to sever the last bit of whatever holding the tooth in, the tooth flew across the room!  Oops!  That was Friday and when we got to church Sunday, her best friend had lost the same tooth the night before!

 

 Alayna got an award through 4H for being the junior beef showmanship champion for the county.  She accepted the award in front of an auditorium of people and also has her name engraved on a plaque that hangs in the county 4H office.

 Alayna also got her braces off!  :-)

They girls didn't have school for a Wed-Fri in October, so we went on a mini-vacation to get some quality family time that had been lacking with all the busy-ness of the last several weeks.  We headed out Thursday morning for drive up to Ashland and around to Superior, where we stayed for the night.  We met up with our friends in Duluth for a visit to Enger Park and dinner.  Friday morning we woke up early to drive to Ely, MN, in the hopes of seeing a moose.  We didn't see one, but we still had a lot of fun driving around, checking out the shops, and playing at the park.  When we got back to Duluth, we did some shopping and then went swimming at the hotel.  Saturday morning my friend met us at the hotel with coffee for a visit, and we headed home late morning.  It was so nice to get some great family time!

The last weekend of October, we finally got our project day in!  We re-shingled our roof, put concrete in the barn, replaced my cracked picture window and cut down a tree in the yard that leaned toward the house.  It was so great to have everyone here, helping out and volunteering their time.  Thank you to everyone!

Of course, we ended the month with Halloween.  I don't know what's up with the picture, but I can't change it now.  Ugh.  Anyway, Mikayla was Belle, Lilly was Jasmine and Alayna was a punk-rocker.  The girls had a lot of fun and got WAY too much candy, but that's okay.  They already have plans for next year.  :-)

Girls Only!

Thanks to all the storms this summer and it being a normal fall, Daddy is now busy every weekend for about 2 months.  He's either shingling houses, doing farm work or putting up grain bins.  *sigh*  The girls and I just keep holding on, trying to find fun things to do and hoping Daddy will be done early on Sundays (which most Sundays he's been home around noon).  A few weeks ago, we decided to head to Duluth for the day.  I'm so glad that we did!

It was such a fun, beautiful day.  Duluth is usually cool, since it sits on the SW corner of Lake Superior, but it was in the 70s that day!  We have a family pass to the Minnesota Zoo, and it gives us reciprocity to the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth.  We started the day there, looking at all the fun animals and walking around the grounds, which include a great little hiking trail to a river and waterfall!

After the zoo, we ate our picnic lunch in the park next door.  The girls had a good time playing on the playground equipment once done eating, and I was attempting to keep my cool with all the seagulls that were invading my territory, hoping for some leftovers from our lunch.  I don't do well with wild birds that get too close.

When we were done playing, we headed to Enger Park.  Duluth is right on Lake Superior, and part of the city is at lake level while the rest rises above the city on a huge hill.  Enger Park is at the top of the hill and has a tall observation tower that you can climb.  At the top of the hill you can see for miles, but from the top of the tower it seems like you can see for days!  It's always a favorite place to visit in Duluth.  When we were there, there was one wedding party just leaving in limos, another was just arriving, and another party was taking pics overlooking the city.  The girls thought that was pretty cool to see all the brides and bridesmaids in their pretty dresses!

View from atop the tower (zoomed in quite a bit)

 View from the cliffs the tower is on (zoomed in quite a bit)

We were going to go into Canal Park, but I had checked with a friend and there weren't any ships coming into or leaving port for quite awhile.  So we just decided to head home.  We stopped for ice cream on the way home and then sang silly songs the majority of the drive home.  It was a great Girls Only day!

Grampa

I have been very fortunate in my life to have known not only all 4 of my grandparents (all into adulthood, no less) but also my Great-Gramma.  I know several people who have never known a grandparent, or maybe only 1 or 2 for a short time.  My life has been so full of family and love from day one.  Unfortunately, as time goes on, people get older.  My Great-Gramma passed away when I was about 10, dad's mom passed away in fall of 2001 and my mom's dad passed away in early 2005. Now, my dad's dad has also passed away.

Grampa and I have always had a great relationship.  As a child, I remember anxiously waiting for him to get home from work at the saw-mill when Gramma would watch us so he would play with us.  There were always puzzles to work on their huge dinning room table.  Grampa would always have a smile and a playful joke or story to tell us.  When we would go to Great-Gramma's house, Grampa and I would "race" eachother on the sidewalk in front of her house--me about 6-10 yrs old and Grampa in his late 50s.  He was always one of the biggest men I knew, he seemed so tall and commanding.  When I was older, he'd always ask about school, or my horse, or my job.  Once I had the girls, he was quickly one of their favorite people.  They loved seeing Great Grampa, who would always greet them with a big smile, a huge hug and listen intently when they told him all the random things that kids do.  At his 80th birthday party just last year, he was running with the girls in the church basement, as they pretended that the nursery was full of spiders, bats and dinosaurs.  He lived on his own until just a few short weeks ago.  He's always been so strong and healthy and lively.

And now he's gone.  Grampa battled cancer early this year and we all thought he'd beat it, though we were apparently wrong.  The cancer resurfaced in July and he lost his battle yesterday.

Grampa--We love you and will miss you dearly, but we know that you are back with Gramma.  Just like I know Gramma is always with us, I know you will be too.  And when I smell woodsmoke or sawdust, I will forever think of you.  Thank you for all the years, memories and love.

Fore!!

I'm not sure which fore/four/for is used in golf, but we're going to pretend it's FORE because that's what I want to use because we went golfing!

This past week has been a very long one.  Andy worked 10-12 hours each day, not including his 1.5 hr commute each way, and 6 hours on Saturday.  I had extra daycare kids because my very good friend Karla had her baby, so I watched our friend's girls that Karla also watches.  We had late evenings and early mornings with extra kids and no Daddy.  Our family was in some desperate need for family time.

We started the day yesterday with church.  Not only was it great to see our new pastor in action, but the lessons and sermon were all about storms and how God is with us through them and will always be there for us.  Yeah, we needed that.  Mikayla was very talkative during the Children's sermon, relating how we need the rain for plants to grow, not all storms are bad, the lightning makes the grass green and the thunder is God bowling and/or telling us he's there.  Oh yeah, she's been listening to us while we try to calm her and her recent storm anxiety.

After church we came home to nap, clean and hang out to watch the Brewers game.  Then we brought the rest of our calves (8 of them) over to Andy's parent's house so we can make some improvements to the barn and hopefully get it cleaned and dried out (darn rain, again!).  When we got home, we headed in to town for dinner and mini-golfing!

We had a lot of fun.  Mikayla was starting to get the hang of it after the first few holes--it was hard for her to see us stand one way and then have it feel uncomfortable for her to stand the same way.  Andy and I are both right handed and Mikayla is left, but we tried our best to help her and by the end of the evening she was able to hit the ball pretty well.  It wasn't pretty, but it worked.  Alayna and Lilly had a great time golfing and were old pros--Alayna even got a hole in one!  After we were done, we had dinner at Dairy Queen, one of the girls' favorite places on earth!  It was a great, low-key day that we all needed to recharge for this week.

4H, Fair and Fun

This past week/end was our county fair.  It's something that we all look forward to each year.  The girls do projects and work with their animals, us adults help them and get things like decorations for the barn ready This year our house was command central for new barn decorations for 4 nights before we were finished with the new decs--red lattice cut and framed with white boards and a wooden 4-leaf clover on each panel.  They were a lot of work but looked great!  And I neglected to get a picture.  :-(  Anyway, it's a lot of work for everyone, but we all love the fair and it's so worth it.

ALAYNA took a lot of projects this year.  She didn't get her photography done, but she made a pillow, bulletin board, jewelry (bracelet and matching earrings) knit a scarf, made chocolate chip cookies.  She also showed 3 calves and her horse.  Alayna was a busy girl, but she did a great job and we're so proud of her!

 Judging her blue ribbon cookies

 her blue ribbon jewelry

 Alayna and Chloe--they got 1st blue and a trophy in Showmanship, 1 red and 1 white

Judging her pillow (red), bulletin board (blue) and knitting (white) 

Alayna showing her beef cross bred steer calf, Doof (blue in fitting and grooming, red in finishing, and first blue and trophy in showmanship--my camera died so I don't have pics of this but others took lots of pics for me!) ((I don't know why this is on it's side and not rotating...grrr)) 

Showing Ferb, her jersey steer calf (1st red) 

Showing her cross bred heifer calf, Isabella (against another in our club--she got 2nd blue)

LILLY is a Cloverbud, which means that she's a junior 4H member.  (The youngest 4H kids are Cloverbuds from K-2 grade.  They have a set catalog of projects they can do for their age but cannot show animals.  They get participation ribbons but aren't actually judged and don't get premiums.  The summer after 3 grade they are an Explorer, which means they can bring a few more projects and 1 animal exhibit.  Explorers are judged, but not as strictly as older ages, and they can get premiums, though they have a set project catalog as well.  After 4 grade, they are a full 4H member and can bring up to 23 projects total.)  She brought a plate of 3 cookies, 2 key chains she made in the arts and crafts division, and a drawing of an International tractor in a corn field.  She did so well with her little interview from the "judge" asking her about her projects.  We all had to laugh when the judge asked how she knew when the cookies were done and Lilly responded, "When it dings."  She also showed Alayna's calf, Doof, for Little Britches.  Little Britches is for kids too young to show an animal, so they can show an animal by leading them in the arena and answering questions about the animal to a judge.  They ask things like how old the animal is, what it eats, etc.  The kids all get a participation ribbon and a free root beer float at a stand on the fairgrounds.

MIKAYLA isn't in school yet, so she's not able to bring projects to the fair.  However, she is able to show in Little Britches, so she showed Alayna's heifer, Isabella.  She was so excited to show and did a great job.  She had all her information down perfectly and was very confident in answering her questions and leading the calf.  Even when Isabella got a little stubborn, Mikayla threw her entire 37 lbs into it and got her going again.

It was a great fair.  We are all exhausted, but it was a very busy week.  We were at the fair from Wednesday afternoon to Sunday evening, with each day in the 80/90s and high humidity.  We had some storms on Saturday, including a particularly fast forming one in the morning that took us all by surprise and was horrible for Mikayla, but we all survived.  It was her worst reaction yet and since we were in the barn, almost our entire beef/dairy crew from our club witnessed it.  Needless to say, few people adult and kid alike had dry eyes.  It broke my heart and we're praying that this stormy summer is soon over and the time winter affords us helps her to forget and get over her fears.  But besides that moment, it was a very fun and successful fair for the whole family!  Oh, and we bought a new camper last Friday and it was GREAT!

So Much

I seem to be getting into the habit of not posting for awhile, then writing a catch-up post and posting consistently for about a month, then falling out of posting again.  Rinse, repeat.  I hate that it's been happening but some days I am just so busy.  Other days, I just honestly don't feel like doing anything with the blog.  Other days, like most this recent dry spell, I just don't feel like hashing everything out.   But here goes--here's a recap of the good, bad and ugly that has happened since my last post.  There is just so much.

*In May we had a hail storm that totalled Andy's car, almost totalled the Durango and camper, caused damage to the truck and resulted in us needing a new roof on the house/garage and our shed. 

*2 days after buying Andy's car back from the insurance company, something in the transmission broke.  We decided that at just over 300,000 miles, it was time to just let Rhonda the Honda go.  We retired the old girl and bought a new commuter car for Andy.  Then only a week later, the Durango (which we were only driving sporadically anyway) started having some issues in the rear-end.  Sigh.

*School ended for the girls and we started our summer non-routine of storytime, extra kids, sleeping in, playdates, softball games, 4H functions...

*Alayna attended a week of horse camp through 4H at the fairgrounds.  I went along as an additional adult to help with classes, workshops, food prep...basically whatever was needed.  Alayna and Chloe worked well together and had a great time.  The only downfall was literal--Chloe tripped while Alayna was working with her in the arena and they both went down.  Thankfully, they were okay and got right back up, Alayna got right back on, and they finished their lesson.

*We participated with a group of our friends and their kids in the Kiddie Parade for the local town festival.  The kids got second or third (I honestly don't remember...it seems eons ago) for their entry.  All the kids (22 of them from 9 moms!) were dressed as various farm animals, with strollers and wagons for the younger kids decorated as a barn, tractor, field, etc.  It was so much fun for everyone involved!

*We went to Milwaukee with our good friends for a weekend in late June.  We were just 40 miles from the city when we hit a ridge in the road from construction and broke a motor mount...on Andy's new-to-us car.  The next morning we discussed what to do.  We still had some of our insurance money, since the Durango wasn't worth fixing and Andy could re-roof the house himself, and we'd talked about buying a new SUV this fall or coming spring.  We decided to look for a new vehicle and if we found one, great.  If not, we'd get a rental to drive home since our car wouldn't be ready until Tuesday.  We got a great deal on an Expedition, a steal really for the shape/year/mileage (perfect condition, 2004, 80K miles) and drove that home.  Our friends were staying until Tuesday anyway and drove the car home with them.

*While in Milwaukee, we went to the Brewers and Twins game.  They are our 2 favorite teams, one being NL and the other AL.  The only time we don't cheer for the Twins is if they are playing the Brewers, our overall #1 baseball team.  The Brewers whomped the Twins!

*July 1 we were heading out to go camping for Fourth of July weekend.  We left the house at 7, after a severe  thunderstorm warning had expired by 30 mins and not left a drop of rain (it went north of us) or any wind at our house.  We got only 3 miles from home when we saw a wall cloud, and the wind went from nothing to breaking trees.  We got to a T intersection and turned around to head back home, since we knew we were at the front of the storm.  We went about a mile back towards home before the wind caught up to us again.  We attempted to make it to our neighbor's parents' house but the wind actually caught our camper and blew it over while we were driving, pulling the truck over with it.  It was the most awful thing ever, hearing the girls scream like that.  But thank God, we were all buckled up and safe--not a scratch on us.  The dogs were in the back of the truck and were okay, too.  After we waited out the worst of the wind still in the truck, Andy then pulled us all out straight up through the driver's window and we ran to a house across the field.  The next 2 days were spent going through and cleaning up our camper, now with only 1 wall standing.  Obviously, insurance totalled the camper and truck.  Ironically enough, our lawn-mower trailer was hooked to our camper and that never moved--it was on it's wheels and the straps never loosened, the mowers never moved an inch on that trailer.  100+ mph straight line winds swept through the area without any warning, causing severe damage to homes, trees, buildings, and taking the lives of 2 people.  A picture of our truck and camper on their sides was the top picture on the front page of the newspaper that covers our 2 area counties that week.  We never wanted to be on the front page for something like that.

*In the midst of everything, Andy and I celebrated our 30th birthdays.  To us, turning 30 wasn't a big deal like it is to some people.  We didn't have panic attacks or go out and do something that could be construed as an early mid-life crisis.  We just celebrated them low-key and moved on with life.

*Alayna and Lilly have been busy getting things ready for the county fair, which is coming up very quickly.  The are both bringing calves and cookies.  Lilly is also doing a report/poster on birds and a drawing.  Alayna is adding her horse, jewelry, photography, knitting, a pillow, and a bulletin board to her cookies and calves.  It is Alayna's first year as a full 4H member, so she can bring and do a lot more than Lilly, who is a Cloverbud, or junior 4H member.

*We've been dealing with some major storm anxiety with Mikayla.  She's now realized that the little box on the bottom of the tv screen means that somewhere near us, there is severe weather.  She is terrified of storms, where before she liked them, and will shake, break out in a cold sweat and sob if she thinks there is going to be one.  We have been working through it with her and she was getting better, but the other night we were at Andy's parents' house and there was a tornado warning, so we had to seek shelter.  That started her fears again and now she doesn't want to leave the house in the evening, convinced that it means it will storm if we leave.   It's heart-breaking to see her like that.

*The storm that triggered the tornado warning while we were at my in-laws' house caused one of their big pine trees to fall over.  It also produced lightning that hit a different tree in their pasture and killed 9 cattle (5 cows, 2 heifers and 2 calves) who were seeking shelter and shade under the tree.  So sad.

*Alayna is coming home tomorrow from a week at Bible camp with her best friend.  They were so excited to spend the week together, and I can't wait to hear all about it!  We've missed her so much!

*This past week has been the hottest week in a very long time in our area.  Our actual air temps were above 95 for 6 days in a row, with dew points in the 70s and 80s causing 110+ heat indexes.  We broke records for the highest recorded dew point and heat index.  I loathe heat and humidity.

So that's the quick but not so quick recap of everything that's been going on.  Of course, in the middle of it all, I'm still doing daycare, Andy's still working, we're still running here and there for everything under the sun.  Needless to say, I'm done with this summer.  I've had enough and just need things to settle down, cool down and be plain and boring for awhile.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there!  I wanted to take a moment to tell you all about the mothers in my life...

First, my mom Paula.  She's an amazing woman who is always there for us, no matter what it is we need.  She's kind of crazy like me, and that's why we work so well together.  She has taught me how to be a better mom with everything she has done for me in the past and the present.  When I need advice about something, she's the first person I call.  She never judges me (or at least makes me feel judged).  And when I don't need advice or just want to vent, she understands and lets me figure things out on my own or just get it off my chest.   

My Gramma C is another mother in my life who has always been there for me.  She has always made sure to have time for her grandkids, whether we were 4, 14 or 24.  When I was finishing college and had baby Alayna to find daytime care for, she was the first to volunteer her time to me.  It was such a blessing to know that our little girl was being cared for by someone we loved and who loved her as well (and her fee of "bring me to breakfast every so often" was perfect for a college student and her hubby who worked barely above minimum wage at the time!)

My Gramma L is no longer here on earth, but I know she helped shape me in my own journey as a mother.   When I was younger, we spent a lot of time at her house and she was always patient with us when we helped make cookies or dinner.  On New Year's Eve, she'd let us cut up page after page of newspaper into tiny pieces and throw them as confetti, telling us a mess can easily be cleaned up after having some fun.  She was also a tiny woman with a huge giggle who could surprise you with things like a homemade meal from seemingly nowhere, or her abilities to shoot a woodchuck in one shot from quite a distance--through the open bathroom window.  My only regret is that she passed away when Alayna was only 8 months old, so none of my girls got to know her.

My mother-in-law Lynn is not the typical "monster-in-law."  She is my husband's mother, but she's also like a second mother to me.  She and I get along great and though we have differences in some ways, we never let that come between us.  I feel just as comfortable spending a day with her as I do my own mom.  She is always there when we need her, for a recipe or advice or help with the girls.  She lets me be me in all my quirkiness and just laughs when my crazy ideas come flowing out.  I am so thankful for all she did to raise her son, who is the perfect man for me.

I have a huge network of aunts and friends who are amazing moms.  They have all taught me something about motherhood--from craft ideas to tips for medicine taking to discipline plans and everything in between.  Each person brings something new, important and different to the table.

My life is infinitely better for all the moms in it.  I love and thank you all!

American Cancer Society Walk

This morning, our family participated in the American Cancer Society Walk/Run in our community.  We woke up early, donned our matching shirts, grabbed the dogs and drove to the school.  We have done so for the past few years, but this year it was closer to my heart.

I have been blessed with incredibly healthy people in my life.  At almost 30, I haven't had a lot of personal connections to cancer.  There has been the other parent I kinda-sorta know, the friend of a friend, or the person I know of but don't know personally.  Not many people I love had been touched by it, and I am ever so thankful for that.  But in the past 2 years, that has changed.  Andy's cousin's little girl was diagnosed with Leukemia in June of 2009 at almost 3 years old.  We are very close with them, and that was so hard to watch what they all went though.  Karli is now doing well and being a typical 4-year-old, but she still has a long way to go.  My mom's dear cousin Anna Mae battled breast cancer recently.  She's also doing well and living life to it's fullest, staying healthy and active.  And this winter, my Grampa was diagnosed with bladder cancer.  After surgery, he's doing remarkably well and everyone has commented on how great he looks, how much energy he has, etc.  We're so hopeful for everyone's recovery and that they all continue to feel and do well.

There is so much that we can do to help those with cancer.  We can pray, bring meals, do laundry, transport to appointments, and other things that directly affect the person or family of those who are battling this horrible disease.  But we can also do things like participate in walks, runs, fundraisers...things to bring attention and money to the cause, to help find a cure, pinpoint a cause or develop new screening tests.  There is so much that can still be done to help everyone affected by cancer!  Please, consider donating your time or money to the effort to stop cancer and celebrate more birthdays.

Call me Gramma

With three daughters, this post is something that surprises me greatly and will probably surprise many of you, as well.  I am just now becoming a Gramma.  Alayna and Lilly never really had a desire for children when they were younger, but Mikayla already has 3--their names are Toni and Brianna (they are twins but about 20 yrs apart and one with blue, one with green eyes) and their baby brother Chip.  Yes, Mikayla is the only one of our girls to really get into playing with dolls.

It probably started about a year ago at my parents' house.  The girls were there overnight and Mikayla needed a toy to snuggle.  Mom brought out my old Cabbage Patch Doll, Toni Roni Macaroni, and it was love.  Since that day, Toni has gone along on several day trips, outings, overnights and playdates, and she's even received birthday and Christmas presents.  Then this fall, Mikayla found a Cabbage Patch Doll that Alayna had received as a toddler that was identical to Toni, but with blue eyes and about 20 yrs newer.  She was buried on the top shelf of Alayna's closet and forgotten (I told you, she and Lilly never got into dolls for more than occasional play)  Well, Brianna soon became Toni's twin sister and together, they went everywhere.  Even more recently, Mikayla has become attached to another Cabbage Patch Doll, this one an itty bitty baby, whom she calls Chip after the little boy/cup in Beauty and the Beast.

The imaginative play she enacts with these dolls is adorable!  I must watch them every now and then so that she can go to work, or on a date with her husband.  Sometimes they just want Gramma, too, and cry for me even when Mommy Mikayla is right there.  And the other day, Mikayla came to me just exhausted and sad because the girls were throwing up all over their clothes and blankets, and she had to tell me she just couldn't make it to my wedding with Daddy.  Then I heard them "puking" while Mikayla shushed and rocked them, telling them they were okay but asking them to please stop puking so she could wash laundry.  She's a pretty good Momma.

Brianna, Mikayla, Chip and Toni

(Mikayla said her husband was at work, so he couldn't get in the picture)

Hoppy Easter!

We hope you had a great Easter celebrating that Jesus rose from the dead!  We had a wonderful day.  It started with our egg and basket search, then church service, then we hosted Easter dinner for my mom's side of the family.  We ended the day with a nice afternoon walk and family movie night viewing of "Tangled."

Let's go camping!

This spring, we were able to pay off several bills and what's better to do when you pay something off than buy something new?!  I know, not the best strategy, but it's what we did.  Thankfully, our new payment is going to be less than what we were paying for the others combined.  So we're still ahead, and with a new toy, too.

We bought a camper.  We've been wanting one for awhile and finally took the plunge.  I love to tent camp, but Andy's not a fan of it.  And during horse camp and the fair, we stay at the fairgrounds and have had to borrow a camper from family for those 2 weeks.  So it's something that has been on our minds for years.  This spring, when we paid off those bills, we started to look at campers.  Since it wasn't something we needed, we were willing to wait until we found just what we wanted.  Andy insisted on it being a 5th wheel, I insisted it have bunks for the kids so we didn't have to mess around with converting tables and couches several times a day.  We found our ideal camper, in our price range, on about day 2.  Seriously.  We hemmed and hawed, looked at a bunch more on-line, and kept going back to this particular model.  It was ours a week later.

The whole time, we didn't tell the girls anything.  My parents had taken them overnight for a visit with family friends, so that day Andy and I went to see the camper in person and put down our deposit.  When he pulled in the driveway with it a few days later, the girls were so excited. "Is that a camper?  Whose is it? Is it OURS?  Do we have a CAMPER?!"  It was a school night, so they were disappointed we couldn't sleep in it right away.  But that weekend (after the play on Saturday night) we stayed in the camper for the first time.  So far, we love it.

(I don't know why this won't rotate)

We're Baaa-aaack

Did you miss me?  Yeah, I know it's been awhile...again.  But the last few weeks have been busy.  At first, I was busy doing tons of laundry, cleaning and packing for our trip.  Then we were gone for 8 days on our trip.  Then we were home and had to unpack, settle in, buy groceries, etc.  But we had such a good time!

We flew out on Friday morning and landed in Orlando around noon (after a slight medical emergency on board).  There were 10 of us--my 5, my parents, my in-laws and sister-in-law.  We met my sister at the airport, who had flown in from VA.  It was great to see her for the first time in over a year!  We had rented a house but couldn't get in it until after 4:00, so we got our rental vehicles and headed to Cocoa Beach.  It was the first time to the ocean for our family.  We had a great time playing in the sand and waves.  Mikayla didn't like the water (it's yucky!) but she really enjoyed playing in the sand on "Coconut Beach."  After the beach we checked into our rental house and then went grocery shopping.

Day 2 was spent at Animal Kingdom, but before we got there I had to buy a new camera--mine crapped out after the beach when I plugged it in to charge.  Of well.  We got the new camera and headed to the park.  We had so much fun walking around and looking at all the various animals, many of which (hippos, rhinos, elephants...) aren't even found in zoos around home.  We went on a few rides, including Lilly's favorite roller-coaster "Expedition Everest."  We also sat in on "It's Tough to be a Bug" in 3D by the Bug's Life crew, but Mikayla did not like that at all.

Day 3 (Sunday) started with waking up and looking out the window to about 10 hot air balloons flying over our neighborhood.  The girls thought that was really cool.  Then we headed to Magic Kingdom.  We got to meet Cinderella and Ariel, went on a bunch of rides (including Space Mtn and Big Thunder, which the big girls loved) and sat in on Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor.  The Laugh Floor was really funny and they even picked on us and our matching shirts, particularly singling out Grampa Bill.  We watched the Celebration Parade and ended the day with ice cream and fireworks over the castle.

Day 4 we went to Hollywood Studios.  It was our first day of meeting a lot of characters--Buzz, Woody, Green Army Man, Mickey, Lotso, Frozone, Mr. Incredible, Mater and Lightning McQueen.  We also saw Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid plays.  The girls each bought some souvenirs and we went on the Rock-n-Rollercoaster, which went 0-80 in about 2 seconds and went upside down!  Alayna didn't know what to think of it but Lilly, our thrill-seeker, loved it.  For dinner we went to Ponderosa Steakhouse and came back to the house to find out we'd missed out on 12" of fresh snow back here at home.  Oh darn.

Day 5 was the day to say goodbye to Bill, Lynn and Alicia.  They didn't get to stay the whole time, so after saying good-bye to them and getting them off to the airport, the rest of us headed to Epcot.  We were able to meet Daisy, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Minnie, Snow White, Mulan and Marie from Aristocats.  While in line to meet some of the characters, we started chatting with a family that commented on our Packer jerseys (we were all wearing jersey's but my sister)  The daughter said she cheered for the Packers in the Super Bowl since the Panthers weren't in it.  Turns out it was Thomas Davis and his family--he plays for the Panthers!  After that we did the Nemo ride and looked at all the aquariums while Gramma Paula took a survey and received $150 to spend at the parks!  When she returned, we watched Turtle Talk with Crush and we completely recommend that.  It was hilarious.  Then we started the country tours and had some Italian gelato.  We ended the day with the ride that goes through the "big golf ball" and all the girls really liked that.

Day 6 we went back to Magic Kingdom.   The first thing we did was go back to meet the princesses because Belle was on duty.  Belle (Yellow Belle, to be exact) is Mikayla's favorite princess and she was so excited to meet her that she was shaking!  It was too cute.  We also met Aurora/Sleeping Beauty.  We did a few of the rides we didn't have time for the other day, like Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, rode the train around the park and finally, Splash Mountain.  Mikayla was so happy to make the height requirement (barely!) and loved the whole "roller-coaster" ride, keeping her arms up the whole time!

Day 7 was our last full day in Florida.  We took our time in the morning and then headed back to Cocoa Beach.  We played in the sand and water for a few hours, then anxiously waited for 4:50...when Discovery was going launch.  We were able to watch it launch and it was so cool.  The blast was VERY bright and it went so fast you almost could have missed it.  But we can now say that we watched Discovery launch for the last time in person.  Since the beaches were so crowded, the normally 45 min drive back to the house took 3 hours!  We got back to the house and got everything packed up to go home the next morning.

Day 8 was time to go home.  We gathered everything, did a quick tidy of the house and headed to the airport.  Our flight was delayed almost an hour, but we finally were put at a new gate and given our seating assignments.  It was hard to say good-bye to my sister, who had a flight later than us back to VA.  Our flight was uneventful and we landed safely at MSP.  Mikayla slept for about 2 hrs of the 3 hr flight, even sleeping through landing!

We had a great time and are so blessed to have such wonderful family!  I took about 450 pictures--actually, I probably took about 550 but each night I would go through my camera and delete the blurry or bad pics from the day.  I came home with about 450 on my camera.  I uploaded a whole bunch to FaceBook and honestly don't want to go through that again.  SO...if you want to see the pics, just let me know.  I can send you a link to my album on FB, even if you aren't on FB, and you can view the 125 I put on there.

Christmas was here

Christmas was last week, in case you didn't know. We had a crazy busy few days, like normal, but it's always so fun and well worth the lack of sleep and minor temper tantrums that may appear.

It started off with our daycare Christmas party on Thursday. I had all my daycare kids here and we made ornaments, watched "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas", had a dance party and played freeze dance (both with Christmas music), baked some cookies for them to take home, had lunch, read a few stories and then opened up presents...all before 2:00 when they were all picked up so I could go to a funeral in the cities. Whew, it was a crazy day (and I didn't even tell you about having to pick up Lilly from school because she threw up. Twice.).

Christmas Eve started out with sleeping in until 8:00!! It felt like a Christmas miracle, I tell you. And everyone was healthy and feeling great! We had a few screaming sessions that resulted in children finally helping clean the house so that it was presentable when our company came around 9:15. Since the house was now clean, we could all be happy the rest of the day...which we honestly were. My parents, Andy's parents and Andy's sister all came over for brunch and the present presentation. Together we prepared eggs, fried potatoes, bacon, sausage and toast. It took about an hour and it was all gone in 4 minutes. Then we opened presents from my parents and the girls didn't catch on that there were only a few presents from one set of grandparents, but not the other. Or that all the presents had a theme...like princesses, Tinkerbell, Mickey Mouse...you see where I'm going here? They finally figured it out when a calendar with a countdown was opened.

We're going to Disney World. Yep, my parents and Andy's parents are taking us all to Disney World--all 11 of us (my 5, my parents, my sister, Andy's parents and Andy's sister) It should be crazy, stressful, and a whole lotta fun!

After presents, we got ready for church and headed out. I managed another Christmas miracle by getting a picture in front of the tree at church with my girls and my 2 close friends' 5 kids all looking at the camera, smiling, and looking great! One picture and they all scattered. It really was a miracle. Then we went to dinner at a family friend's house, where Mikayla chewed her turkey for so long she turned it into paste and gagged herself...all over my shirt. Greatness. Mikayla, of course, was just fine and played hard the rest of the night. After dinner, we went over to Andy's parents' house and opened up some presents there before heading home with 3 very sleepy girls.

Christmas morning was our third and final Christmas miracle--the girls slept in until 8:15! It was crazy to wake up and have the sun up already, especially on Christmas morning when the girls were chomping at the bit the night before and telling us they would be up at 6. We opened presents and then raced to my parents' house for our family gathering with all her siblings and family. Sunday was spent at Andy's cousin's house for that side of the family's gathering.

Very busy, very fun, very crazy. I would post pictures but for some reason, it's not working right now. *sigh*

We love Como Zoo!

For those of you who aren't somewhat local, Como Zoo is in St Paul. It's open 365 days a year and is affiliated with a large park system and conservatory, plus a small amusement park in the summer. Oh, and it's all free (except for the rides). They ask for a free-will donation when you walk through the doors, but if you have nothing to give you are still allowed in. It's worth every penny you do, or don't, spend and then some.

Como is a rather small zoo. You can walk through the entire thing in about 1-2 hrs without rushing. It has an Ape Building with about 5 different species, including little Tamarins -- which we all love and refer to as the "Little Old Men Monkeys" -- and going up to large Gorillas. There is a large cat building, which houses lions, tigers and leopards, and next to that is an enclosure for 2 grey wolves (which I see plenty at home, thankyouverymuch). There is a nice central building for African hooved animals--giraffes, zebras, various deer--and then an aquatics building with penguins, puffins, lots of fish, seals and sea lions, and polar bears (which will open their new exhibit later this spring). Scattered around the way are also bison, long-horned sheep, caribou, various bird and waterfowl species, and giant tortoises. Attached to the zoo is a large conservatory with tons of exotic flowers, trees and plants. There is also a newer exhibit, the rain forest. In here you are able to walk amongst the tall trees and see some of the rain forest inhabitants, like a huge anaconda snake, tarantula, and 3-toed sloth (Alayna's favorite).

Again, this zoo is not huge, but it's so much fun for the whole family. You don't have to make a huge time commitment to go there, it's not hard on the wallet, and the animals are pretty close and easily visible. We love it. Which is why we went there again this past weekend. We had a prior engagement with our 4H club that was going to be as far south as the cities but just a bit further east. This commitment, while important, was only for about an hour total. We couldn't drive all that way for such a short time, then turn around and come home. See, Como was the perfect choice!

I took some pictures, but they'll look like any other zoo picture. The big cats and wolves were actually out and active, because it was a cool day--usually we're there in summer and it's so warm they're rather lazy. But because it was a cool day, the giraffes and zebras were kept inside their barn, where we were able to see them but it wasn't as great as when they're outside. All the apes were indoors instead of in their outside pens, and the tortoise was nowhere to be found, probably nicely tucked into a warm room.

We go to Como 2-3 times a year, if not more. And if you're in the St Paul area with an hour or two to kill, we totally recommend Como!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Today is my parent's wedding anniversary! They've been together, for better or worse, for over 33 years! So Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad! We all love you!

2010 Family Winter Olympics

We've been meaning to do our family Olympics for the last month. Since there just isn't enough time to do it on a weekday after school and work, we had to plan it for a weekend. Well, the first two weekends of the actual Olympics were just too cold, and the final weekend I was gone. So we had to do them this weekend if we were going to do them at all. So we did our family Olympics--in 47 degree, snow-melting weather. It made for a challenge, but also pleasant conditions to be outside!

Event #1: Snow Angel Contest. This event was judged on style, performance and overall appearance. Alayna's angel is the first one shown. She received a score of 17.9. Mommy marked her down a few points because of the obvious butt print.

Mikayla's angel scored a total of 17.3 points. She had great form and a wonderful giggle while executing her performance, but the legs span lacked a little bit.


Lilly's angel scored a 17.9 as well, tying her for gold with Alayna. Her angel didn't have the obvious butt-print, but did lack a little in the leg span.

Final Snow Angel standings: Gold-Lilly and Alayna Silver-Mikayla

The next event was the target portion of the Biathlon. The girls threw 3 ice cubes at a target drawn in the snow with food coloring; a cube in the blue was worth 2 pts, green was worth 1 pt. I forgot to take pictures of this entire event, but did catch a picture of Mikayla throwing her ice cube (which if you look closely is against Lilly's snow pants in the picture below) She eventually got it in the green circle for 1 pt.

Below is the final target shot--1 ice cube in blue, worth 2 pts for Lilly; 1 ice cube in green, worth 1 pt for Mikayla.

Final standing in the Ice Cube Throw event: Gold-Lilly Silver-Mikayla Bronze-Alayna

The next event was the sled race. Daddy made a snow track with the snowmobile, and the girls pulled the sled around the track in a timed event. Alayna pulled Lilly and Mikayla, Lilly pulled Mikayla and Mikayla pulled an empty sled.

(The horses liked spectating at this event)

Final Sled Race Standings: Gold-Alayna Silver-Lilly Bronze-Mikayla

The final event of the games was a Hockey skills test. Each of the girls had 5 chances to make as many goals as they could. Alayna had to stay back 12 feet, Lilly 9 and Mikayla 6.

Final Hockey Skills Event standings: Gold-Lilly Silver-Mikayla Bronze-Alayna

The total medal count for the day was 4 medals for each of the girls! They were all great sports and wonderfully skilled athletes. Until we meet again in 2012...

I's gots me RED on

Are you wearing red today? I am. Wanna know why?

Today is National Wear Red Day. Heart disease is the #1 health threat for women, but few people recognize that and think the #1 is breast cancer or other types of cancer. The worst thing is, heart disease can often be a silent danger. The person with heart problems may not realize it until it's too late.

I lost my gramma 8 1/2 yrs ago to a massive heart attack on Sept 9, 2001. I was floored and had no idea that gramma was at risk. Maybe she didn't know herself. Looking back, she had some risk factors but nothing that put up the huge red flag. Now I wish that we'd all noticed something, some way, to help her so that wouldn't have happened. She only knew Alayna for about 9 months, and never got to meet Lilly and Mikayla. She didn't get to come to my wedding. She didn't get to see her other grandchildren graduate from high school, or her own children celebrate milestone birthdays and anniversaries. I miss her with every holiday and family gathering we have.

So please, support the National Heart Association. Please look at your own health and see ways that you can improve your life and decrease your personal risk for health disease. Be evaluated by your doctor to determine if you have any risk factors. Be proactive about your health and your life. You owe it to yourself and those that love you.

Christmas 2009

Our Christmas was a great one this year. We had a lot of wonderful family time, time with friends, and some yummy food.

Christmas Eve my parents came over to do presents and brunch--steak and eggs and hashbrowns. After opening presents (we got family themed gifts of new sleeping bags, air mattresses and a huge new tent!!), we played a few rounds of Disney Scene It and then took naps. We made it to church on Christmas Eve, in the middle of some pretty heavy, wet snow, then headed to Andy's parent's neighbors (who are like family) for dinner. Then it was off to the in-law's for presents.

The girls helping my parents open presents

Ready for church!

The snow from church to dinner at 35 mph

My baby-the Cricut I got from Andy's parents!

There are too many pictures to post them all, so I'll add that Andy got a miter saw from his parents that he's been wanting for a long time. We all got some really great gifts from Bill, Lynn and Alicia and had a lot of fun visiting and being together. We also got a great family gift--a year's membership to the Minnesota Zoo! It will be so nice to be able to go whenever we're in the cities and have some time without having to worry about cost! The girls and I LOVE the zoo, and Andy tolerates going there...

Christmas morning Alayna woke up about 6:45 and it killed her to wait for her sister to wake up at 8:00! The 3 of us snuggled in bed until the little girls woke up, then we headed downstairs to see what was under the tree. There were filled stockings on the stair railing and presents for everyone--including the dogs.

Marley and Sunny anxiously waiting for their bones--Sunny is excited, Marley has no clue but is excited because Sunny is

Mmmmmmm
Sunny tried to steal them both
Lilly got some new V-Smile games

Alayna got a new camera!

Alayna found Mikayla the purple rescue Mermaid that she'd been asking for--we have no idea what it is, but a purple mermaid was found and it fit the bill! She was so excited!

Lilly was relaxing on our new air mattresses and playing her new game

The Christmas pic in front of the tree

Christmas afternoon was spent at my parents' house, visiting with mom's side of the family. Saturday was a day to relax a little, and we went to see the Chipmunk's Squeak-quel. Saturday night Andy's cousin and his family stayed overnight. The kids had a sleepover and played, watched movies, did kid-stuff, while us adults played games. In the morning, the kids played outside with the dads while us moms cleaned up from the previous night. That day at noon, people from Andy's side of the family started showing up and we hosted Christmas for 24 (I think).

All in all, this Christmas was a wonderful time and we are now anxiously looking forward to the new year and all that it has in store for us!