Merry Christmas!!

We had a wonderful Christmas yesterday and we hope all of you did as well. Amazingly enough all of our kids slept until aftef 7 a.m. except Whitney who was up at 5:30 begging to wake everyone else up. Todd and I had time to get up and shower and I even made cinnamon rolls before most of the family got up. Dustin had his deepest wish come true and he got a gun for Christmas. We decided that if he didn't have toy gun he just uses other things as pretend guns. He likes to walk around telling people to "stick them up". Santa brought Lauren a surprise. She got a scooter for Christmas and since we live in the frozen tundra she has been riding it back and forth across the kitchen. The most exciting thing for Whitney and Katelyn, and lets be honest about it Todd too, was the Wii. I think that we are the last people on earth to get one, but better late than never.

On Christmas Eve we had some friends over. We had a Mexican themed dinner with authentic tamales. We played some games and the kids acted out the Nativity. Lauren was a wonderful Mary. She wouldn't let anyone touch the baby Jesus. Dustin was a shepherd. We realize that shepherds didn't carry around toy cars, but we couldn't get him to put it down.

A Chat with Santa

Santa Claus paid a visit to our ward Christmas party. All of the kids sat on his lap. Lauren stressed and stressed all day about what to tell Santa she wanted for Christmas. She never did narrow it down so she ended up telling him she wanted a surprise. Also, Dustin was looking forward to telling Santa he wanted a gun for Christmas all day long and when it finally came time to sit on Santa's lap he lost it. It wasn't until I picked him up and we were walking away that he yelled, "Santa, I want a shooter gun." We also had a close call with the Santa secret. The Santa looked a lot like Santa, but he sure sounded a lot like Ray Larsen from our ward. Lauren decided that Ray must be one of Santa's helpers.

Brunch at the American Girl Place

Recently we got an American Girl Place at the Mall of America. It isn't as big as the Chicago American Girl Place, but still quite an exciting thing for the American Girl fans at our house. For a fun girls activity I took the girls to brunch at the American Girl Bistro. It was pretty funny. They have little chairs for your dolls. They bring a menu for your doll. They even have loaner dolls if you don't have your own doll. The food and service left something to be desired, but I guess you are paying for the experience.

Happy Halloween

Here are a few pictures from the Pumpkin Patch, playing with leaves in our yard and Halloween night.

Oh, the joy of finding the perfect pumpkin.

The kids had a blast playing in the leaves. It was 71 degrees this day. Unfortunately, I am still finding leaves in Katelyn and Lauren's hair even after a couple of washings.

Our neighborhood fire station had an open house tonight and so our little fireman got to sit inside a real fire engine and an ambulance. He was on cloud nine. We had a beautiful night for trick or treating. Whitney went with one of her friends and they weighed their candy when they got back. She has 6 pounds of candy. It makes my stomach ache just thinking about it. She is planning to enjoy all the chewy candies this weekend because next week she is having some teeth pulled and a retainer put in. No more chewy food after that.

Our Future Olympian

I have been a slacker at updating our blog, but this video is hilarious. I just hope he doesn't try to do the same thing without pillows.

Dustin's Birthday

We can't believe that Dustin is 2 already. He is growing up so fast. We celebrated his birthday a day early so that he could go on the Father and Son campout with Todd. He loved his birthday party. We couldn't wait to open his presents so instead of waiting for us to bonk him on the head when we played Heavy, Heavy Hangover he would jump up and bonk his own head and grab the present. It was hilarious. He also loved his cake. It looked like a race track with cars on it. He was a little disturbed when we cut into it and wouldn't even eat it. He also had a blast on the campout. It was a little hard as a mom to let my 2 year go camping, but Todd's a great dad and he's waited a long time to have a little boy to go camping with him.

Goin' Buggy

Katelyn had a program at school all about bugs. She was really excited that she got to be a Lady Bug because she got to sing with a small group and had a speaking part. I didn't get a very good video of the song they sang, but here is a picture of Katelyn and our next door neighbor Hannah who was also a ladybug. She helped me make the costume and it turned out pretty cute.

Here is a view of her costume from the back.

Bailey Night at the Twins

Last night Whitney's school choir got to sing the National Anthem at a Minnesota Twins game. Students and their families also get discounted tickets for the game so Todd took Whitney and Katelyn to the Twins game. They had to leave at the end of the 9th inning because it was already 10:00 o'clock. They were tied with the Texas Rangers when they left. The girls were glad to see in the paper this morning that the Twins won . . . in 12 innings. I'm glad Todd left when they did. One of the girls told Dustin that they were going to a baseball game and as they were leaving he was standing at the door crying and yelling, "I go too please". They had fun, unfortunately when they got in the car to leave they discovered that someone had broken into the car and taken Todd's Ipod and his laptop from work. The Ipod was in the glove box and the computer was in the trunk so it wasn't like they were just sitting out for anyone to see and the doors were locked. Just bad luck I guess. At least they didn't smash the window out like last summer when someone broke into my car. Anyway, here are some cute pictures. You can't see Whitney, but you get the picture and the other is of Katelyn and some of her friends in her class.

Warm is Relative

We have had a pretty cold and rainy spring this year (almost like we live in the Northwest), but the last week we finally had some sunny days with temperatures in the 70's. It is funny how as soon as the sun comes out and the snow melts our kids think that it is time for shorts. Lauren keeps asking if it is time to set up the swimming pool. Even Dustin makes a run for freedom any time we open the door.

Anyway, last Saturday the weather was okay. It was sunny, but only in the low 60's, and the kids were acting like it was the middle of July and scorching hot. They filled up water balloons and had a water fight in our backyard. They all came in with teeth chattering and asking for Hot Cocoa, but they had fun while it lasted. I guess to them 60 seems really warm compared to -20.

Spring Recitals 2008

This always seems like a busy time of year with all the concerts and school programs there are to attend. Whitney just had her Spring choir concert. She had a little solo part in the program and did a really good job. Katelyn was once again the appointed cameraperson and she got a picture of Whitney at the microphone, but instead of videotaping the solo we have a video tape of Katelyn's Littlest Pet Shop animals. I guess you get what you pay for.

Whitney and Katelyn had a piano recital last week. It was pretty low key. Their teacher only has 8 students which was great because we were in and out of there in about an hour including refreshments. This was Katelyn's first recital and she was very nervous. Nervous almost to the point of being physically sick (sounds a little like her mom) anyway she did her best and we were proud of her. Whitney also did a great job.

Here's a little quick funny (or not so funny) that happened after the recital. After we got home, Katelyn told me that she had a headache so I gave her some Tylenol and sent her to bed. About 15 minutes after she went to bed she came out and said that her tummy didn't feel so good. I told her to go stand by the toilet and I would go get her a bowl. When I came back downstairs she had indeed thrown up, all over the toilet seat. I guess in the future either I need to be more clear about puking in the toilet not on it, or I should just open it myself. I found out afterwards that she had eaten 4 or 5 cookies (not small cookies) after the recital along with some carrots and cheesecake. I think that the nerves and all that food didn't agree with her. This will definitely be a story to tell her kids.

Spring Break 2008

For Spring Break this year we decided to do a few fun things around home instead of taking a trip. We went bowling, to Nickelodeon Universe (formerly Camp Snoopy), to the Great Serengeti (an indoor waterpark) and we saw Horton Hears A Who. Todd was even able to take some time and do a few of them with us. I think that the waterpark was the highlight of the week. The park was small enough that Whitney and Katelyn could do whatever they wanted and we could still keep an eye on them. They had a little area with a small slide and some fountains that Lauren and Dustin liked. Dustin found a basketball and he played with that thing the whole time we were there. It doesn't take too much to entertain him, just a ball or some type of vehicle.

Whitney's Spring Band Concert

Whitney had her spring band concert last night. She started out the school year playing the tenor saxophone, but decided to switch to the oboe. She has only been playing the oboe since January and her teacher asked her to play a solo in the concert yesterday. She played "The Candy Man". She was really nervous before the concert, but she did a great job. Compared to some of the other duets and solos she sounded like a pro. Todd wasn't able to go so Katelyn filled in as cameraperson. She did a pretty good job. She got most of Whitney's solo and at least you can see part of Whitney's face in the video.

Easter Festivities

Not much exciting has been going on here. That's why it has been so long since our last post. Just the same old stuff, we live in the frozen tundra, we can't wait for spring, all the kids are growing like weeds, etc.

We had a lot of fun celebrating Easter this past weekend. Our Easter traditions include an egg hunt, dying eggs, and decorating cookies. This year the Easter Bunny hid the kids baskets instead of eggs and left clues for them to find them. The hunt was interrupted shortly by a little spider (who found one of the clues before they did) and 3 screaming scared little girls. After the spider was "taken care of" they had no problem finding their baskets.

All the kids got new outfits to wear to church on Easter as well. Gone are the days of having everyone match though. Whitney and Katelyn said they would rather not get new dresses than get ones that match Lauren and Dustin. Lauren and Dustin still match however because they wear what I tell them to wear.

Wheels on the Bus

Here is Dustin doing the actions for the wheels on the bus. It is one of his favorite songs.

Here are a couple more cute pictures of Dustin.

Walking on Water

It might be cold here in Minnesota--and believe me we are feeling this week-- but that the cold weather and the many lakes that we have we get to walk on water!



This is a video from our Sunday walk down to the lake by our house. We found some winter ballerinas and some great slip sliding runs!

We also did some slip sliding!!

And then we decided to float on our backs for awhile on the water! :)

2008 Winter Carnival

So, after having subzero weather for about 10 straight days we finally had a heat wave. Of course that is relatively speaking. The temperature was actually only about 25 degrees, but that seems warm after -14 (that was the air temperature, with windchill it felt like -25). Anyway, I think that half the city of Saint Paul had a little cabin fever because I think they all went to some of the Winter Carnival festivities this weekend. We were included in that group. We all bundled up and went to see the Winter Carnival Parade and the Ice Sculptures. We also walked through the Minnesota "Hot Dish" tent. In Minnesota they call a casserole a "Hot Dish". Todd calls a "Hot Dish", and a casserole for that matter, a pot with a bunch of random stuff thrown in and called food. We got to watch some figure skaters and just enjoy being outside for a little while.

These were our favorite ice sculptures. Above is "And we're off. . ." that is the Emerald City in the background and in front you have the Scarecrow, Tinman, Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion. Below is called "Where's Frank?" it has 2 snowmen sitting by a fire and a third spot where there is just a puddle, a hat and a pair of boots.

Every year they carve an ice throne. It is a little cold on your bottom, but still fun. I think that Todd needs one of these at home.

The highlight of the parade was a man with a dog standing on his shoulders. The funny thing is that he wasn't even in the parade. I guess he wanted his dog to be able to see.