Carrie & Crew

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2012-02-14T19:54:00.001-06:00

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Pretty Sweet

2012-02-13T15:22:00.001-06:00

How's this for brotherly love: James' kindergarten bus driver gave James three heart lollipop treats as he got off the bus today. He must have shared with the bus driver that his little sister has a bunch of food allergies. James came in the door with three lollipops and bag the lollipops came in so that we could see if they were safe for Claranna. That's pretty sweet all the way around! James is really watching out for his little sister!

Snow Day!!

2012-01-23T21:55:00.000-06:00

We had our first SNOW DAY of the school year today and it was awesome! We didn't go anywhere. We just stayed home and enjoyed a day of doing fun things that we often don't have enough time to do. We were outside a few times shoveling snow, sledding and playing, there was lots of Lego building, lots of reading time, lots of drawing and coloring time, rest time and time to make some yummy treats. We made these sugar cookies today and I ate way too many of them! Plus our wonderful neighbors brought us more cookies tonight as a thank you to Mark for blowing the snow out of their driveway. I have a pretty great husband and sweet kids, too! I love snow days!!

Grandpa Makes Music

2012-01-22T22:23:00.001-06:00

So, I think the last time I heard my dad play the piano was the day that the piano arrived at our house when I was little. On the night of the piano's arrival at our house, my parents came to inspect the restored piano. My dad sat down to pluck out a melody to test it out. The kids were pretty impressed, as was I. I'm hoping his next little concert will be sooner than twenty-five years from now!

Let There be Music.... Again!

2012-01-22T21:30:00.006-06:00

before

When I was young, I learned to play piano on an old upright. The piano was beautiful...a true oldie but goodie. A few years ago, Mark and I started talking about getting a piano and we both agreed that we would own a piano some day. Over the past couple of years we did a little piano browsing here and there and we looked at some shiny new pianos and modern used pianos, but my heart kept remembering this beautiful old piano gathering dust in my parents' basement. After showing Mark the piano, he agreed that one day the piano could come to live at our house. While the piano appeared to just need a little cleaning and polishing on the outside, the inside was a different story. Being over 100 years old, the piano was definitely showing its age on the inside. After a consultation with a piano tuner and restorer, we learned that the piano would never hold a tuning to the correct pitch unless it had major restoration done on its pins, strings, actions and dampers. None of which would be cheap, but a new piano isn't cheap either. After waiting, discussing, budgeting and waiting some more, we finally made the call for restoration to begin. On a beautiful October morning, the piano left its home at the farm and began its journey to our house.


keyboard before	The restoration took about two and a half months. Every part of the piano was restored piece by piece. The keytops were replaced and the case was polished and received a little TLC.


old and new dampers

restored action

This is the piano as we saw it when we visited it during the restoration process. Here the piano is disassembled and resting on its back. The soundboard and shiny new strings are visible and since all the decorative and function pieces have been removed, it doesn't look much like our piano at all!

In mid December we received a call that our piano was ready. The kids were very excited and I was very anxious to see the end result. Here Claranna is watching out the window as the movers wheel the piano to our house.

On its way in!

The big reveal. It looks beautiful and sounds like a brand new piano.

Everyone that was home had to check the piano out right away. Even our kitty, Thorn, gave it a good inspection.

We've had the piano just over a month and it has added a whole new layer of beautiful sound to our busy home. There hasn't been a day that has gone by when it hasn't been played by someone big or small. After years of wishing and months of waiting and fretting over the restoration, I am so thankful to have this beautiful piano revived. It is glorious to hear the kids plunk out a melody when I am working in the kitchen. It makes my heart happy!

Wacky Hair

2012-01-22T19:00:00.001-06:00

Right before Christmas Ella had wacky hair day at school. We came up with this very high ponytail by putting a plastic cup on her head and forming the ponytail around it. Amazingly, it stayed put all day!

2012-01-22T17:03:00.001-06:00

So it has been quite awhile since my last post. This seems to happen every January. With the rush and business of the holidays, I always think that January is going to be so calm and uneventful. In reality, all the things that get put on the back burner as Christmas approaches need their attention in January and then there are the new things that begin with the start of the year. James is now in a Lego club which Mark is helping to lead. They are meeting on Tuesday nights when Claranna and I are at Claranna's dance class. Now Tuesdays are just as full as Wednesdays and Mondays with multiple activities for the kids which we juggle with our own meetings and activities. Each week just seems to fly by as we move from one activity to the next. I'm afraid summer will be knocking on our door before I am ready!

Just a few days before Christmas we went downtown to see the the giant gingerbread house that was built in one of the locally owned hotels. The house was constructed of real gingerbread bricks and tons of candy. It was pretty amazing and the lobby of the hotel smelled just as Christmas should, all cinnamony and sweet. We can't wait to see next year's creation!

The Whole Crew on Christmas Day

2011-12-27T17:08:00.001-06:00

Family is like fudge... mostly sweet, with a few nuts!

Christmas Day at the Farm 2011

Santa

2011-12-25T09:00:00.000-06:00

I set up the tripod and the timer on our camera last night and caught two pictures of Santa in action at our house. The kids were so excited to see the pictures, but now Ella is concerned that we all might be on the naughty list next year because we took Santa's picture!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T22:35:00.000-06:00

Annual Self-Timer Christmas Eve Family Photo

After Christmas Eve Church

Cuteness!

Love!!

Reading Stories


Spreading Reindeer Food

Ready for Santa

Celebrating the Season!

2011-12-19T15:27:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a very busy, very perfect day of Christmas worship that we and Ella will probably remember forever. At the beginning of November, the director of our adult church choir that I sing in asked me if I thought Ella would sing the children's choir part as a solo in our Christmas Cantata called "Celebrate the Season". I told him I would ask her and let him know what she said. That night, I explained this unique opportunity to Ella. I told her she'd have to sing in front of the whole adult choir at practice and then stand in front of the whole congregation and sing into a mic all by herself on the performance day. A year ago, I know her answer would have been an immediate, "No!". So, I was honestly a little surprised that Ella said yes without too much hesitation the day after I asked her if she would sing. What sold her on this opportunity was the word microphone. Ella REALLY wanted to sing in a microphone.

Ella learned her part by practicing with me at home. After Thanksgiving, she had her first sing thru with the choir and pianist. She did great and her enthusiasm never wavered. On Saturday, she practiced like a pro with the full choir and mini orchestra. Yesterday, Mark and I were over-filled with happiness and so very proud as we watched our little girl spread the message of God's love through music. She brought smiles to faces and tears to the eyes of many (including, but not limited, to Grandma Judy and Grandpa Jim!) while singing her solo so beautifully. She was poised and seemed so calm, like this was the most natural thing for her to do. The entire choir was so supportive and encouraging of her and helped to make the entire process a very positive experience for Ella, for which I am very thankful. Ella was so excited to have so many of her special family and friends there to share this experience with her. It meant a lot to all of us that you could share in our delight and celebrate the story of Christmas together with us yesterday.

I wish that I could have bottled up all the beautiful music and all the Christmas love and energy that filled our sanctuary yesterday to keep forever. Instead, we are grateful and blessed to have lived the moments together and will forever cherish the memories we made. This year will be hard to top, but I am looking forward to singing with my children at more Christmas concerts for many more Christmas seasons to come.

Our friend captured this video at the first service. You will hear the narration, choir, orchestra (piano, synth, bass guitar, cello, violin, oboe and flute) and I think you won't have any trouble figuring out when Ella is singing. If you look very close at the beginning, you will find me sitting second from the left in the second row wearing red. Enjoy and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Big Day Tomorrow

2011-12-17T20:16:00.000-06:00

Ella's dress is hanging at the front of her closet, her shoes are set out and her nails have been painted a sparkly color. She is very excited for her big morning tomorrow and Mark and I couldn't be more proud of her! It's our annual Christmas Choral Worship Service tomorrow. Ella will be singing two solo verses of "Away in the Manger" that are arranged into the song "How Quietly" that the adult choir is singing. We were at church for practice all morning today and she did an amazing job singing her part. She sang right in time, even when the adult choir started their counter melody. She is pretty excited about singing with a microphone and has loved all the extra attention the other members of the adult choir have showered on her. I am just so thrilled that Ella is singing tomorrow and even more excited that she loves music as much as me! I think I was about her age when I sang a duet up front for a Christmas service. It's pretty amazing that my daughter will follow down that same path tomorrow.

Not to be out done, both Claranna and James had to step up to the mic at practice this morning. James tested out the sound a bit and then Claranna sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" for everyone. Hopefully little Claranna won't try to steal the stage tomorrow!

2011 Santa Photo

2011-12-17T16:34:00.001-06:00

Click on the link below to see our 2011 Santa photo!
MyAlbumPics.com - Check out my Photo

May You Be Blessed

2011-12-06T14:30:00.001-06:00

I friend shared a link to this short movie today and I spent some time reflecting on all the many blessings in my life. I encourage you to take a quiet moment to read the text below and watch the movie for yourself (click on the link): http://www.beblessedmovie.com/

May You Be Blessed

May You Be Blessed by Kate Nowak is not about religious beliefs...It's about joy, appreciation, kindness and love. Events by themselves are not a blessing or a curse; it's all the way we choose to see it. May You Be Blessed is filled with inspiring stories, beautiful photographs and life-changing insights that can help change your perspective just when you need it most. You’ll have a new awareness of powerful and practical ways to reconnect with those around you. May You Be Blessed will help you count the blessings in your life you may have overlooked. http://www.mayyoubeblessedmovie.com/words.html

May you be blessed
with all things good.

May your joys,
like the stars at night,
be too numerous to count.

May your victories
be more abundant
than all the grains of sand
on all the beaches,
on all the oceans,
in all the world.

May lack and struggle
only serve to make you stronger
and may beauty, order
and abundance
be your constant companions.

May every pathway
you choose lead to that which
is pure and good and lovely.

And may every doubt and fear
be replaced by a deep abiding trust
as you behold evidence
of a Higher Power all around you.

And when there is only darkness
and the storms of life
are closing in,
may the light at the core of
your being illuminate the world.

May you always be aware you are
loved beyond measure and may you
be willing to love
unconditionally in return.

May you always feel protected and
cradled in the arms of God
like the cherished child you are.
And when you are tempted to judge
may you be reminded
that we are all ONE and
that every thought you think
reverberates across the universe,
touching eveyrone
and everything.

And when you are
tempted to hold back,
may you remember
that love flows best
when it flows freely
and it is in giving that
we receive the greatest gift.

May you always have
music and laughter
and may a rainbow
follow every storm.

May gladness wash away
every disappointment,
may joy dissolve every sorrow,
and may love ease every pain.
May every wound bring wisdom,
and may every trial bring triumph
and with each passing day,
may you live more abundantly
than the day before.

May you be blessed and may others
be blessed by you.
This is my heartfelt wish for you.

May you be blessed.

First Snow Fun!

2011-12-03T17:04:00.001-06:00

We are enjoying the first major snowfall of the season today. Claranna thinks eating snow is yummy.


The Official First Snowman of December 2011. His name is Frosty!

James might be pretty good at snowball fights this year!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2011-12-03T17:00:00.001-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-27T21:31:00.001-06:00

We had a very wonderful and busy Thanksgiving weekend. Our house was overflowing with family, laughter, food, silly cousins and memories to be made. One of my cousins got married this weekend and it was a great time to gather and celebrate. We hosted some of my extended family for Thanksgiving and enjoyed a great meal together. To add to the fun, my Aunt Lois, cousin Jennifer, her husband Mike and their two children, Shelbie and Rachel stayed with us from Thanksgiving day until the wedding on Saturday afternoon. Then we all traveled to the wedding and we stayed at a hotel last night with my brothers and parents (so the little cousins played some more!). Rachel and Ella spent much of the weekend playing with Fuzzy. Claranna spent a lot of time snuggling with Shelbie and playing with her phone. James enjoy all the extra attention from his far away cousins and aunt. I was able to spend some special time with my extended family and my friend Shawna and her family visited us on Friday morning. It was so wonderful to see all these great people that we don't see nearly enough. I have such a wonderful husband, beautiful children, loving parents, great brothers, and so many wonderful people I can name as family. My family along with my fabulous and loyal friends make me feel so blessed. It really was very easy to count my blessings this weekend. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, too! Here are a few random pics from our house from Thursday and Friday.

One of our turkeys.

Cousins being turkeys!

Silly little cousins!

Reading with Grandpa.

Snuggling with Shelbie

Shawna and me

Lolo (Great Aunt Lois), Fuzzy and Claranna

Kittens

2011-11-14T20:26:00.001-06:00

Our cute little kittens are getting big enough to have a new home. If you know of anyone who needs a kitten to love, send us a message. We'll be happy to share Fuzzy and Luke Skywalker with them. We will all miss them and the kids will be very sad to see them find their new homes, but we've known all along that we would only be able to foster them a short while. Our two big cats are still not very fond of the babies, so it is very unlikely that we will be come a four cat home. Since the kittens have been in our house since they were about three weeks old, we hope to find them an inside forever home. If we can't, we'll take them to the farm and they can become barn kitties and my kids will be happy to visit them there. They are just so cute right now running around our house. They pounce, chase and run at warp speed. They are also quick to purr and snuggle when we hold them, but they don't stay still too long unless they are sleepy. I really had to tire them out before they would stay still enough for pictures. Enjoy their cuteness!

Happy Birthday, James!!

2011-11-07T22:15:00.000-06:00

James turned SIX today! It is so hard to believe that it was already six years ago tonight that we were holding our tiny little baby boy. We blinked a few times and he grew up on us! James is such a sweet little boy and I am so blessed to be his mama. His smile lights up a room and it is a delight to watch him explore and discover the world. Happy Birthday, James!

Love

2011-11-05T23:06:00.000-05:00

I love how much these three love each other. At least they love each other most of the time!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T23:21:00.000-05:00

A cupcake, Darth Vader and a somewhat scary witch had a fun night at the Haunted Hallways this weekend and trick or treating tonight. We had a full day of fun today. James and Ella had parties today at school. Claranna and I watched James in his costume parade and then Grandma Judy babysat so that I could help out in his classroom.

We had a full evening visiting family and then walking the neighborhood with friends. Claranna even sang "This is Halloween" at some of the houses we went to this evening. She earned lots of candy that we will help her eat. And, we learned having her walk a mile or two at bedtime helps her to fall right asleep at bedtime. She was fast asleep without her usual nightly crib concert. Happy Halloween everyone!

Kittens!

2011-10-12T11:33:00.005-05:00

We've been caring for two extremely cute little kittens for the past 11 days. They were born to a stray cat who moved her litter of six kittens into a storage shed next to our church. She left these two sweeties behind and we were called to see if we would care for them. Of course, Ella said YES! The plan is to care for the kittens until they are old enough to find a new home. Need a kitten anyone? Send me a message if you do or know someone who'd like a kitty to love.

Since the kittens were only approximately three and a half weeks and only nursing from their mommy when we brought them home, we've had to feed them kitten milk replacer. The gray one, Fuzzy, eats his milk fine from a dish. The little black kitten, Luke Skywalker (Can you guess who named these kittens?), nurses from a bottle and isn't that interested in a dish yet. The kids have been having fun feeding them. And, since they need to eat every few hours, I have been feeding them several times a day when the big kids are at school. We are starting to introduce them to solid food. We have all enjoyed having the kittens to play with and to love, except for our big cats, Thorn and Violet. They aren't too fond of them and still keep their distance.

California

2011-10-05T21:27:00.003-05:00

I've finally completed a photo book for our trip to California. Enjoy!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly allows you to customize your photo book just the way you want.

Apples

2011-10-02T06:00:00.003-05:00

We have had some yummy apples from our apple tree this year. 2011 marks our first big apple harvest from our little Sweet Sixteen tree that we planted when Ella was a toddler. We've had apples other years, but nothing compared to this. The poor tree was so loaded that it looked like it was going to tip right over this summer. I hope we'll see the same number of apples next year. We've had to wait patiently to pick our apples as Sweet Sixteen are a later variety, but the wait was worth it. Now the apples are nice and sweet. Those who sampled them too early discovered them to be quite sour...except for Claranna. She seems fond of any type of apple.

So far we've had apple crisp, apple sauce and lots of apple snacking. I hope to bake a pie tomorrow!

Golf!

2011-10-01T19:56:00.003-05:00

James went golfing on a big course for the first time with Daddy today. They golfed nine holes and James had a blast! I think Daddy did too...
Mark took several little movies of James on the course. Here's one of them:

Little Dancer

2011-09-27T20:32:00.002-05:00

Claranna loves to dance. Here is a video I shot of her at the MN State Fair as she was grooving to a live band.

Full Moon

2011-09-12T22:26:00.003-05:00

For our anniversary last year, I gave Mark a telescope. The kids love looking at the moon and the planets with Daddy. James is especially interested in astronomy. He often looks to see if the sky is clear and if it is, he asks if it can be a telescope night. Tonight we tried something I had previously read about--taking pictures through the telescope using our digital camera. Below are the pictures we took tonight of the full moon. Fun stuff!

First Days of School

2011-09-12T21:54:00.004-05:00

I can't believe that we are already on to the second week of school! So far things have being going just fine for the kids and by the end of the week we should have our new routine down. Ella had a pretty good case of the first day jitters, but she came home from school on Tuesday afternoon with a smile. James met his teacher on Tuesday and had his first official day of kindergarten on Thursday. James commented that he wished he could stay at school all day like Ella, so I guess he had good first day. Claranna cried when Ella got on the bus on Tuesday and wasn't any happier when both kids left on Thursday. She is adjusting to spending mornings with just Mommy and is very excited to meet James and Ella at the bus stop when they come home. It is awfully quiet around here with Ella and James away. I'm glad that James is only going half days. Here are a few pics from Tuesday and Thursday morning...This is Ella's first day. After Ella got on the bus, James and I went to school to meet his kindergarten teacher.

Here's a group shot on Thursday morning for James' big day. The kids are ready to walk to the bus stop.

Little sister gives a big hug!

They're ready for the bus to come.

Ella walked her little brother from the bus to the kindergarten line.
James was very proud in the kindergarten line at school.
In fact, he told Mark and me that we could go home.

James and his teacher, Ms. M.

Our kindergartener getting off the school bus and giving Claranna a big hug and a kiss on the top of her head. So sweet!

Denial

2011-09-05T20:33:00.005-05:00

The kids are tucked into bed: a cautious third grader, an excited kindergartner and an energetic two year old. How can school be starting again already tomorrow?

This blog has not seen much time for me as we've been busy with: planting the garden at the farm, the removal of Ella's cast, a week of swim lessons, making a garden and planting it in our yard, a long weekend on Long Lake, a week of Vacation Bible School, Thursdays on First, visiting with a friend form Michigan, the removal of Ella's splint and a week of soccer camp for James. That was just June.

July found us enjoying a long weekend at Lake Kabetogama, having a fun day of rides at the Winona County Fair, at a water park with some cousins, more Thursday's on First, a day at the Dodge County Fair, a week long trip to Sacramento, park time with the Mom and Kids group, the opening of the Miracle of Birth Center, a demo derby, many days at the Olmsted County Fair and a newly stained deck.

August was supposed to be our calm month. In August Ella and James had another week of swimming lessons, Mark and I celebrated our 12th anniversary with a trip to a B&B in Red Wing, I had a birthday, Ella had a fever for five days and a trip to the ER, we spent a weekend at Good Earth Village for family camp with 25 other church families, went to Niagara Cave, spent the day at Valley Fair, Claranna had a fever for six days, Mark had a birthday, we enjoyed a sponsored week at the local athletic club with our friends, James learned to ride a two wheel bike, Mark and I saw Hairball (a 80's cover band) with friends, had family pictures taken, spent the day at the State Fair, made salsa and tomato sauce from the garden produce, and had some great evenings with friends. Whew!

And now, it is September. Summer is over. I don't have to wonder where our summer went since it is written above. It was a great summer full of wonderful memories and moments, but it really did whirl by and I can't believe it is over!My three beautiful babies at the top of the Space Needle at the Great Minnesota Get Together.

September 2, 2011

Ella's Movies

2011-08-11T08:41:00.003-05:00

Ella has not been feeling well at all this week. She even spent seven hours at the ED on Tuesday night where they ruled out any acute issues and pumped her full of IV fluids and pain meds. She was sent home with the suggestion that she might just have a nasty virus. Since she is still not better and her temp climbed way back up to 104.6 at four this morning when all her meds wore off, I've already scheduled her a visit with our pediatrician for later this morning. Hopefully we'll get more direction and our happy Ella back! Since she is quietly resting this morning, I found a moment to finally download pics from the camera that she used on our trip to California. She loves to secretly take little videos and they are usually fun surprises. These cute little movies were taken on our first morning in California when she was riding in the car with Hal and Sharleen. I am sure they'll enjoy seeing them and I bet they didn't know Ella was making movies that morning!

It's Fair Week and Love is in the Air!

2011-07-25T22:13:00.002-05:00

There is a certain someone who James is quite fond of. She happens to have an older sister who is old enough to be in 4-H and that means that a special little someone will be at the fair a lot this week too! James saw her tonight TWICE. He sat with her, walked with her, talked with her and he is already looking forward to tomorrow. At bedtime, this was our conversation:

James: "Can you tell Daddy to wake me up right away in the morning when he leaves for work? I want to get up and be ready to go to the fair."
Mommy: "So you can see someone?"
James: (With a BIG grin and puppy dog eyes) Yeah, who I love!

Columbia, CA

2011-07-19T15:00:00.004-05:00

1860's Style!

More Lake Kabetogama

2011-07-13T07:36:00.009-05:00

James driving with Grandpa

Ella enjoyed tubing by herself. She continues to a be our daredevil!

James caught this 22 inch Walleye on his Cars fishing pole! He was the first and only kid to catch a fish on our trip.

Ella was the photographer for this picture!

Hi minnows!

Claranna spent the majority of the time with the minnows on the boat. She scooped them up, petted them, got them out for us, and even rescued some by throwing them into the lake when we weren't looking.

Beautiful!

Still playing with the minnows.

Claranna enjoyed fishing for a little bit!

S'more time!

The 22 inch Northern that I caught. I let Mark hold it for me!

The kids in their red, white and blue.

Picture Time!

We saw this deer right before it stormed July 4th. The storm meant no fireworks.

The kids and Grandma & Grandpa O

Claranna thought this lake was pretty funny!

Way Up North!

2011-07-12T23:26:00.004-05:00

We traveled way up to Northern Minnesota over the 4th of July. We stayed in a camper in the woods behind Mark's parents' cabin. We enjoyed Lake Kabetogama by tubing, pontooning, fishing, and swimming. We had beautiful weather (except when we were supposed to be watching fireworks!) and the kids really enjoyed making special memories with Grandma and Grandpa O.

Family Fishing Fun!

2011-06-27T14:16:00.006-05:00

We had a great time up on Long Lake with my family fishing last weekend. The kids all caught lots and lots of fish and really enjoyed playing with their cousins. Grandpa Jim and Grandma Judy kept pretty busy trying to keep up with their grandkids! Eight little cousins on one pontoon, each armed with fishing pole with a sharp hook, makes for some pretty interesting and high energy fishing. Everyone had a great time and caught lots of fish, even Claranna. We had a pretty tasty fish fry, too! Enjoy all the pictures...

Bunny Love

2011-06-16T15:00:00.001-05:00

We Have a New Baby...Bunny!!!

2011-06-11T14:43:00.004-05:00

Cocoa joined our family today! She is a cute little Holland Lop and everyone was very excited to pick her out and bring her home this morning. We also enjoyed holding some baby kittens, but we managed not to bring any of those home with us today.

These Are the Days We'll Remember

2011-05-30T17:13:00.002-05:00

These little cousins spent a lot of time celebrating together this weekend!

Claranna Cuteness

2011-05-18T21:27:00.004-05:00

Despite being the bone breaker in our house, Claranna continues to charm us with her cuteness.

She talks and talks and talks all day long. She speaks in long phrases that are quite grown up for her age. Although, she is not always easy to understand she can carry on simple conversations and talks on the phone quite well. She especially likes to do video calls with Hal in California and tends to dominate the conversations.

I just returned from my 59th trip (I might be exaggerating, but only a little) up to the girls' room to quiet down Claranna's endless chatter at bed time. Her little nose as has been running all day and it looks like we might have one last round of sickness in our house before spring will take all of the germs away. I asked her if she was getting a cold. She promptly responded, "No, I warm!" Such a smarty!

2011-05-16T22:27:00.003-05:00

After two additional rounds of x-rays this morning, Ella ended up with a bright pink cast with sparkles of glitter. The surgeon said that the growth plate in her knuckle was still aligned properly and we could do a "watch and see" and hope that her finger will continue to grow correctly. If not, there will be surgical options to correct the issues. Even if it all heals nicely on its own, Ella may always have a bump by her knuckle and a slightly crooked finger. The bone chip that is floating in her finger is from an area of the joint that a small tendon is attached to. The surgeon felt that some of the tendon was still attached otherwise she wouldn't be able to bend the joint. He felt it was critical that she be put in a cast so that the bones and tendon can heal properly. So even though it is just the end of her finger that is broken, she is now in a lovely cast from fingertip to elbow. The cast is on her right hand and of course she is right-handed. She can kind of hold a pencil, but it already frustrated that she can't write neatly, draw as well, or eat easily.

She was pretty excited about the cast at noon today when she had it put on. However the excitement is already wearing off. The surgeon is planning on her wearing a cast for 4-6 weeks. She'll wear this cast for three weeks and then we are to go in for a new one. Pray that she heals fast!! She is going to be so bummed to be sitting on the side of the pool during the month of June...

Dancing Day!

2011-05-15T23:52:00.002-05:00

Today was dance recital day at our house. Claranna and Mommy danced together in the "Mommy and Me" group. Ella did a "Hip Hop" dance and Mark was a "Dancing Dad". James happily watched all of us while sitting with some very special people in the audience. Ella performed wonderfully, as always. Claranna did all her cute little moves and proudly waved as we left stage. Being on stage didn't phase her at all. Here's the little sweetie backstage with Mommy before the recital.

I wish I had a picture of Mark doing his routine, but I am sure he is glad that I don't. If you look closely at the picture that our budding photographer, James, took of our when we got home, you will see that Mark proudly wore a tutu in front of a full auditorium today! I might have some video to upload later...

It's finally happened!

2011-05-14T21:59:00.002-05:00

We have our first broken bone at our house. You might not be surprised to learn that it's Ella with the broken bone, but you might be shocked to learn that it was sweet little Claranna who was the cause of the break. It seems that when Claranna jumped on Ella while they were snuggling on the floor, she landed on Ella's finger just the wrong way. This happened several days ago (when Daddy was in charge and Mommy was at a meeting). Mark iced her finger and that seemed to be enough to relieve the immediate pain. While there was a bump on one side of her finger, it didn't swell up to an enormous size and she could still bend it. We thought it would get better in a few days. It didn't bother her too much or slow her down, but she still complained about it a bit.

Ella did the monkey bars at school during recess on Friday and then was promptly in the nurse's office complaining of pain in her finger. After I found a babysitter (Thanks, Ardith!) for the three kids at my house (cousin Brennen was here, too), I picked her up at school and brought her in for an x-ray and exam. It turns out her finger is fractured and there is a small bone chip floating near her first knuckle on her right ring finger. The fracture is on a growth plate which may complicate healing. We left the doctor's office with an appointment in orthopedic surgery for Monday, a finger splint and a prescription for antibiotics because it is considered an "open fracture" due to it being so close to her fingernail bed. We're curious about what we will hear on Monday. In the meantime, Ella has been having fun saying that her little sister broke her finger.

A Butterfly and James

2011-05-14T10:06:00.002-05:00

God Made a Farmer

2011-05-07T21:20:00.003-05:00

I come from a family of farmers and I'm proud of it. With the sun finally shining, all the farmers I know were hard at work in the fields today and so I think it is quite appropriate to share this video today:

2011-05-07T09:51:00.001-05:00

Robins - 4 Eggs, 4 Weeks from Fred Margulies on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

2011-04-26T18:06:00.005-05:00

How can it be that two years have gone by so quickly?

Happy 2nd Birthday, Claranna Rose!!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T20:32:00.005-05:00

Here are few glimpses from our day...

Claranna was pretty happy the Easter Bunny brought her jelly beans!

A family picture before the egg hunt at the farm

Yes, the kids really did an egg hunt in mud boots!

It doesn't take these kids long to find some fun at the farm. The boys said it was just too hot for them in the haymow so that is why they have their shirts off. James smart enough to keep his shirt on to avoid getting itchy!

An Easter celebration wouldn't be complete without splitting wood, or would it??

Hope your day was sunny and joyful, just like ours!

Easter Wishes

2011-04-23T20:38:00.004-05:00

Our Easter weekend began with Good Friday services at our church. My choir sang two pieces during the service, one of them being "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" which is a Good Friday tradition at our church and a favorite song of mine to sing with the choir. The lyrics are so powerful.

1. When I survey the wondrous cross
 on which the Prince of Glory died;
 my richest gain I count but loss,
 and pour contempt on all my pride.

2. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
 save in the death of Christ, my God;
 all the vain things that charm me most,
 I sacrifice them to his blood.

3. See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
 sorrow and love flow mingled down.
 Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
 or thorns compose so rich a crown.

4. Were the whole realm of nature mine,
 that were an offering far too small;
 love so amazing, so divine,
 demands my soul, my life, my all.

Claranna had a difficult time reflecting in silence during the service. Quiet isn't one of her strengths at the moment. Mark kept the girls with him during the service and James sat quietly with me and the choir.

Today we had a busy day of Easter Egg hunting, bunny visiting, a little shopping and some family egg coloring time. Our church hosts a wonderful egg hunt every year that focuses on the "empty tomb" and shares the Easter story with the kids as they look for eggs that are empty like the tomb. It's the empty eggs that can be redeemed for special prizes. There were over 3,000 eggs at the egg hunt, so all the kids had a great time gathering their share. All three kids were able to spend a little time with friends during the egg hunt, so it was a fun time for all of us!

Following the egg hunt, we stopped by to visit the Easter Bunny at the mall. We've never done this before, but Claranna has been thrilled to hug any character lately, so we thought we'd give it a try. Claranna gave the Easter Bunny hugs, blew kisses and gave more hugs. She and Ella had their picture taken. James wasn't too interested in visiting the bunny, so he's not in the picture.

Now treats for tomorrow have been made, including a "from scratch" chocolate layer cake with homemade chocolate butter cream icing. It's a new recipe and I can't wait to try it!!! Our eggs (and Claranna) have been decorated with bright colors. Claranna is singing herself to sleep and the big kids are watching The Ten Commandments with Mommy and Daddy. We are all excited for tomorrow morning. The kids are hopeful that by morning the Easter Bunny will have made a stop at our house. Tomorrow the trumpets will play at church, the kids will sing in their choir, I'll sing with my choir at three services and then we'll head to the farm for an Easter celebration. A celebration which is sure to include another egg hunt with the little cousins! We all have anticipation for the joy of Easter Morning. May your Easter be joyful too!

Wizard of Oz

2011-04-16T16:26:00.002-05:00

Here's our Bubble Munchkin from the Wizard of Oz with Dorothy and the Glinda. She is the the center little dancer on the top picture and is kneeling on the right in the bottom picture. She did an awesome job and the entire show was wonderful. She has really enjoyed spending time with her friends and getting to know the older girls.

Happy Birthday

2011-04-16T08:14:00.004-05:00

Ella's 1st Easter at four days old.

Eight years ago today we were given a very special gift. I remember these baby days so clearly and I can't believe they were already so many years ago!

We'll be celebrating with a very busy day today. Ella is dancing in a local dance production of the Wizard of Oz this weekend. She has two shows today and we are excited to see her dance.
Mother nature is even in a festive mood and sprinkled out some white confetti to help us celebrate today! We are looking forward to a great day with our eight year old.
Happy Birthday, Isabella Mae!

Our Little Helpers

2011-04-07T22:08:00.005-05:00

We really have great kids and they each like to do things around the house to help out. During our last snow storm (hopefully the last of the season!), James shoveled our entire driveway by himself. We were so proud of him and he was very proud of himself, too! He was even more thrilled when we gave him a whole dollar for his efforts! That's pretty cheap labor!

Not to be out done, Claranna also wants to be a big helper around our house! Here's her handy work from tonight:While I was away at yoga tonight, Mark discovered that Claranna had "helped" by feeding the cats. When asked, the little one said she didn't eat any cat food, but it does make me wonder...
It is never dull at our house, but we wouldn't have it any other way!

Wacky Hair

2011-03-20T22:50:00.000-05:00

Ella had "Wacky Hair Day" a few weeks back at school and I can't believe it has taken me this long to post a picture of our creation. She was pretty proud of her wacky hair do and had a great day at school showing it off.

It's Easy Being Green

2011-03-20T10:41:00.000-05:00

We made cookies on St. Patrick's Day when our friends Jenny, Kate and Devin visited.
We also had lots of green food! Who doesn't love green macaroni and cheese, green jello, broccoli, green grapes and green kool-aid? James was quite excited to tell Ella that a leprechaun sneaked into our house and left silver coin candies and caused other mischief while we weren't looking. What a fun day!

Joy!

2011-03-19T22:22:00.002-05:00

Claranna's sweet laughter brightens any day!
Enjoy the video clip:

An End to an Era

2011-03-04T15:11:00.004-06:00

The day has been a little rough around here. Mark had an early morning phone call from his dad letting him know that Mark's grandpa passed away very early this morning. Even when death is expected, it is never easy to say goodbye and Great Grandpa O will be very missed. He was the last living grandparent for Mark and me and so begins a new era where our parents represent the oldest generation in our family.

As if our sad news this morning was not enough to dampen the day, Claranna awoke not feeling well again this morning. I was hoping that March was going to be the beginning of a healthy month for our family. We have earned it. Between strep, a stomach bug and colds, there were about three days in month of February where everyone in our house was feeling great at the same time. Claranna's illness today helped me to experience a new first. While I was carrying my sweet baby down the stairs this morning, she threw up all over the both of us. Just like that. She was all snuggley and cuddley one second and in the next second, we were both covered in goo. I guess she wanted to overshadow my "lego retrieval" experience from earlier this week when I had to carefully extract a tiny lego from her tinier nostril with a tweezers. Fun stuff!

Right now, Claranna's napping and James and I just put a batch of brownies in the oven to bake. While we were mixing up the brownies my budding scientist, James, told me, "I love you all the way to Jupiter... and that's a lot farther than the moon!" It's those little moments that brighten even the gloomiest day.

Snow Day!

2011-02-20T14:17:00.005-06:00

There's not much to do today, except to watch it snow. We did make it to church this morning so that I could sing with the choir, but the roads were terrible. I'm glad to be stuck inside today with my wonderful and beautiful family. I'm sure we'll be making it outside later to do lots of shoveling. James thinks shoveling is so much fun, so he probably has the best attitude about this fresh snowfall.

Sledding with Cousins

2011-02-19T21:24:00.004-06:00

A couple of weekends ago we met up with cousins Bryce and Brennen and Auntie Karla to do a little sledding. Grandma Judy was kind enough to watch Claranna so we could just focus on some fun with the big kids. We met the cousins half way between our homes at a school yard and we really enjoyed our time together. It was great to be laughing and playing outside and we were able to stay quite awhile since we didn't have the little one.

A lot of our snow melted this past week when the temperatures climbed into the 40's for the first time in a very long time. The grass in our yard is actually visible in a few spots! I didn't get to enjoy the beautiful weather because I was quite sick on a couple of the nicest days and then James caught my nasty stomach bug and kept us inside on more lovely days. James and I are recovered, but Claranna is really struggling with tummy issues that are either an extension of the stomach bug going around or are somehow related to her food allergies. We have been having a hard time getting her to eat much of anything the past couple of days. Hopefully she'll be much better tomorrow... I don't think that we've had more than a two day stretch of all three kids healthy at once in the past month. I'm ready for spring, but it is more snow that is on the way! We will probably have a day at home tomorrow as the forecast of excessive snow and ice suggests that hanging out at home might be the best way to spend our day. Enjoy the sledding pics!

Social ICE

2011-02-17T15:30:00.003-06:00

Social ICE was part of Winter Fest again this year. We managed to make it downtown to enjoy the ice sculptures and the ice bar for a bit on Saturday in the early evening. Our friend Jenny was able to join us. It really was fun to take in all the art, people, and music on a beautiful winter day.
Claranna looks a little guilty in this picture next to the broken sculpture, but she really didn't do anything...

Celebrating the Day

2011-02-14T22:29:00.007-06:00

In many ways, our day today was quite normal. The big kids went to school (and had Valentine parties, of course!) and Mark had a good night bowling in his Monday night league. We did manage to squeeze in some special fun with cards, gifts, a nice late dinner (Valentine Jello makes any meal special), treats and a little time together.

Ella is very crafty when it comes to cards and making gifts. Our day began with a nice Valentine's gift display that Ella so sweetly arranged.

Claranna happily read a card this morning. Thank you to all for the lovely Valentines!

I mistakenly thought this gift might be from Mark to me. It was the bag that confused me. Evidently, Ella thought the bag was just the perfect size for a nice gift she had made for James.

All the big people in the house enjoyed the special cookies that Grandma made and delivered with Grandpa this afternoon.

A sweet baby girl loved getting a new puppy to cuddle.

We had a great Valentine's Day that ended with our Valentine's Day tradition that the kids have grown quite fond of -- giant lollipops!

This is the gift of LOVE!

A Valentine's Greeting!

2011-02-14T17:57:00.002-06:00

Our Little Sweethearts!

2011-01-30T21:44:00.000-06:00

Candy Hearts Valentine's Day 5x7 folded card

Unique party invitations and announcements by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Our Little Artist

2011-01-24T15:04:00.000-06:00

James has a new passion, but it still mainly involves cars, trucks and tractors. He's been very busy this winter filling our wall with art. He loves to draw firetrucks, tractors, rainbows, trees, houses, snowmen and even Mickey Mouse's house. He'll proudly tape his art up on the wall as soon as a completes a new masterpiece. He's got quite the little gallery started in our kitchen and we love that he's so proud of his work.

James has sent grandpa home with some special tractor pictures and I'm pretty sure Grandpa was thrilled to see that James only draws blue tractors.

Hide and Seek

2011-01-24T14:52:00.003-06:00

I do realize that some of you might be going through withdrawal after not seeing our cute kids over the past month. Yes, it has really been a month since I have posted anything. The start of a new year always seems to keep us extra busy just when we thought our lives would calm down after the holidays...

Here's a little Claranna cuteness to start this week off on a happy note (and to remind you what it might be like to have a VERY BUSY little one in the house)! The pics are pretty self-explanatory. Claranna loves to color with markers. You can see her beautiful self-expression in the first picture.

She also loves, loves, loves to hide and is getting pretty creative with her hiding spots. One morning she was right next to me as I bent down to put on my shoes in the laundry room. When I stood up two seconds later, the room was strangely quiet and still except for the swinging dryer door. Claranna was pretty proud of herself and thought she found a soft and warm place to hide and relax. We're a bit concerned by this new skill of hers and you can bet we'll now always check the washer and dryer before we turn it on!

Here They Come a Caroling!

2010-12-24T13:17:00.003-06:00

Now you can pretend the kids are Christmas Caroling at your house!!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T12:41:00.003-06:00

We had some extra time to play in the snow today since our plans changed a bit. The kids were pretty bummed that Grandpa and Grandma O. did not come down today because of the snow, but playing in the snowfort always cheers them up.

We'll be headed to church late in the afternoon and we're excited that Ella and James are singing a special song tonight with their choir. Merry Christmas to family and friends near and far!

A Santa Stop!

2010-12-23T21:58:00.004-06:00

Santa stopped by our house tonight to check in on the kids. They were, of course, being extra good! Claranna was a little shy at first, having recently awoken from her nap. She warmed up to Santa once he opened up his sack and handed her a little present. James was quiet certain that a red light we saw up the street after Santa left must have been Rudolph's nose glowing. Ella informed us that it wasn't the real Santa, but quickly added in a matter-of-fact voice that it was one of his helper Santa's. Thanks for the visit and gifts, Santa! We are now even more excited for Christmas Eve to arrive. It will be fun to celebrate with family over the next few days. Happy Birthday, Jesus and Merry Christmas to All!

Visiting Santa

2010-12-18T14:36:00.002-06:00

We were fortunate to get in a visit with Santa before the big blizzard. It's so fun to watch the kids prep for the big visit and listen to their chatter on the way to the mall. James was very serious in his conversation with Santa, but he remembered and thoughtfully listed three things he is hoping to get and Santa listened very carefully. Santa told Ella that he knows she's been pretty good this year, so now she's quite hopeful about what she might receive on Christmas morning. Claranna didn't cry, but she didn't smile either. She sat on Santa's lap and James and Ella told Santa what they think their little sister would like to see under the tree. Only one more week!! The kids are counting down for us!

Just sharing a little holiday cheer! Enjoy!!

2010-12-17T16:18:00.002-06:00

The Big Blizzard of 2010

2010-12-13T16:15:00.003-06:00

We had a real Minnesota blizzard this weekend. The grand, “official” total for the storm in our town was 16.0″. This weekend’s storm was the 2nd biggest snow storm in our city's recorded weather history. Our monthly snow total for December is already at 25.5″. I am quite certain that we'll have a white Christmas.

The storm canceled many of our plans and made getting Ella home from the Nutcracker performances she as part of on Saturday really quite scary. We intended to watch Saturday's final ballet performance, but decided to just bring Ella home after her part was finished and attempt not to be one of the many people stuck in the middle of the road.

We made a big pot of soup on Saturday night and listened to the snow blow. In the morning, we were literally snowed in. Our deck patio door was covered with a big drift all the way to the top.

To compare, this is what our house looked like after the nine inches of snow we received the previous Saturday.

Poor James

2010-12-08T16:15:00.002-06:00

James had his five year old shots today. He got two sticks in each leg and was not very happy at all. He has spent the rest of the afternoon lounging on the couch trying to recuperate. I think he might take a little after his daddy when it comes to shots...

Ella came home from school and was excited to continue working on the snow fort that she and James have been building. She asked James if he wanted to come outside to play with her in the snow. His response, "You know, I got shot today and I can't walk." Hopefully he'll feel better soon!

Laughter

2010-12-04T15:08:00.002-06:00

Claranna and Daddy can be pretty silly sometimes!

To Honor a Great Grandma

2010-12-03T23:07:00.005-06:00

This past Sunday, much of my family gathered at the tiny little church where my Grandma was a life long member. Grandma Ruth passed away nearly eleven months ago and we gathered on the first Sunday of Advent at her former church to celebrate her life by dedicating to the church a banner holder purchased as a memorial for my Grandma.

Grandma's little church has a small congregation and doesn't have its own choir, so my aunt thought it would be nice to provide a little special music at the service. It was pretty easy to convince the little cousins that they could form a small choir and sing for Grandma Ruth at her church. I served as the director to Trenton (age 7), Bryce (age 7), Ella (age 7), Brennen (age 5), James (age 5), Trista (almost age 4), and Claranna (age 1.5) who made a most lovely children's choir. The kids were great! Claranna was all business during our practices at home, but was a bit more social at the church. She went out to mingle and giggle with the congregation a bit. We were so proud of all of the kids and we received many compliments on our little choir after the service. It was a wonderful way to honor Grandma Ruth as she loved music and she and my grandpa loved their church.

It's hard to believe it's been almost a year without Grandma. She is still close in our thoughts and in our hearts. Tonight as we hung "handmade by Grandma Ruth" ornaments on our tree Ella said it for me, "I still really miss Grandma Ruth." I miss her too and I suspect I always will. I was so fortunate to have loving relationships with all four of my grandparents. Each one had a special role in my life and a very special place remains for each of them in my heart. I'll openly admit when I think of them a smile comes to my face, but a few tears often moisten my eyes.

Ella and James still talk about Grandma Ruth a lot. They remember her when we walk or drive by her house at the farm. They will look up at the stars at night to find the brightest one and declare it to be Grandma Ruth's star. Ella misses her hugs and treats and James occasionally worries about the toys that he misses that are still in Grandma's toy closet. Claranna always smiles when she sees a picture of Grandma Ruth, so I think she remembers getting Great Grandma's hugs, too.

I know that Grandma Ruth was listening to this little choir from above:

Tis the Season....

2010-11-29T21:24:00.005-06:00

for Christmas Cards!!!

Christmas is just around the corner. Thanksgiving was wonderfully busy at our house and now it seems that the days will fly by until Christmas Eve has arrived. My kids are really anxious to get out the annual countdown calendars. Once those calendars are out, the excitement just builds each day. The kids have their calendars, but one of the things that I look forward to is the arrival of the first Christmas card. We haven't received any yet, but I am certain we'll start opening them any day now.

I aspire to be one of those people that gets their cards sent out at the very beginning of December, but as a mom of three kids, that just may be an unattainable aspiration. My cards aren't made yet, but I have already started searching for the perfect photo card. I couldn't help but get really excited about the great Christmas cards at Shutterfly. Many of the cards are printed on beautiful stationary and some of the folded card designs even have space for a little note inside. This would mean I wouldn't have to tuck an extra Christmas letter in some of the cards--what a huge time saver! I haven't picked a card design yet, but I've narrowed down my choices to several of the cards that allow me to use multiple pictures. You all know that I love to share many pictures of my sweet kids and there are several holiday cards on this page that I could happily use with some of the family pictures that we had taken this fall.

Here's another fun little thing I discovered while browsing on Shutterfly: Desk Calendars. If you are in need of a cute Christmas gift idea, check out these adorable self-standing calendars that would be perfect placed near any workspace. Like many of the cards, you can showcase multiple pictures on each calendar page. My head is just spinning with ideas!

Shutterfly's site is so easy to use... Maybe I'll leave the link open on my computer and see if Mark will create a little surprise for me--hint, hint! Happy Christmas card creating and sending everyone!!

Cutest Little Lamp

2010-11-24T14:36:00.000-06:00

Take 2

2010-11-04T18:47:00.002-05:00

Here's another version of the same song...

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Let Us Entertain You!

2010-11-04T18:33:00.003-05:00

James learned a very cute song in preschool this year. My intent was to record him singing it by himself, but little sister had other ideas and every time I turned on the camera, she was was there to sing and dance along.

The words to the song are something like this:
I'm an acorn small and round,
Lying on the cold cold ground.
People come and step on me,
That is why I'm cracked you see.
I'm a nut!
I'm a nut!
I'm a nut!

Gopher's Football

2010-11-01T10:03:00.000-05:00

Our friends, Mike and Erin, kindly invited us to join them at a U of M football game this past weekend. We always have a great time when we get a chance to get together with those two and this time was no different. We met up for a very late lunch at Granite City Brewery so that we could hangout and chat where it was warm. Then we did some tailgating with some of their friends. It was chilly, but we had some good drinks to warm us up. I really like the festive atmosphere at college football games...so fun! There was maroon and gold everywhere along with a fair amount of red and white, too. In fact, there were some very dedicated Ohio fans sitting right behind us. At the end of the night, the Gopher's didn't get to celebrate a win, but we were able to celebrate a great day with great friends and that's what matters most!

There was some added entertainment at the game since it was Halloween weekend.

Halloween Fun!

2010-10-31T21:08:00.004-05:00

We had busy weekend and we were glad to have lots of time for Halloween fun today! We were able to visit some special family members in the late afternoon and join some great friends for a festive Halloween dinner and trick-or-treating in a large group tonight. Ella chose to be a dairy princess, so she was a perfect escort for our cute little cow, Claranna. James was a very handsome race car driver. Mark and I wore our best farm hats and clothes to complete our mainly farm theme. It was a fun time!

The kids collected lots of treats and Mark and I can't wait to eat them up for them. Shh....don't tell the kids! It was really fun for all of us to get to hang out with our friends. By the end of the evening, Claranna figured out that people were giving her candy and she was not so happy that we were taking it away from her. We walked a total of eight blocks, which was plenty since the temperature dropped pretty quickly and someone had to carry Claranna nearly the entire way. Thanks to our early start, the kids were wore out and settled in for bed by 8 p.m.. It was a perfect ending to a great day!

I'm also going to share a couple of pumpkin pictures. This year, Ella carved her pumpkin by herself. She really impressed us! James and Mark created a fancy skull pattern while Claranna and I made a more traditional "kitty" pumpkin. The pictures are a little out of order tonight, but I'm too tired to fix them!

Poor Claranna

2010-10-21T21:23:00.004-05:00

Claranna has had a rough week. She came down with a fever on Sunday afternoon and a terrible cough quickly developed. She's spent the entire week trying to recover. When you find your normally hyper-busy baby crashed like this on the floor in the middle of the day, then you know something's up.

Farm Friends

2010-10-21T21:05:00.006-05:00

It's a long weekend for Ella, so she's having a friend sleep over tonight. Her friend has to leave pretty early in the morning, so she came today in the middle of the afternoon. We took her over to the farm for some fun. Ella had a lot of fun showing her around the farm. They played with the calves, picked corn, rode a tractor with Grandpa and hunted for a pumpkins in the garden. Ella's friend said the farm was, "Soooo Awesome!"

Fall Fun

2010-10-17T21:17:00.004-05:00

We just had to go find a big pile of leaves to play in. Since we really don't have any big trees in our yard, we took a trip to a local park. It has become an annual tradition and I am sure we will go there again next year.

Swinging at a Park

2010-10-15T23:00:00.004-05:00

For those far away family and friends who wish they could join us at a park...

A Girl and her Tractor

2010-10-13T21:28:00.003-05:00

The Great Minnesota Get Together

2010-10-11T09:25:00.006-05:00

Before school started, we took our annual trip to the Minnesota State Fair. We all had a fabulous time, despite a few rain clouds. We saw the big pig, ate a giant pickle, meet Miss Minnesota, had our pronto pups and fried cheese on a stick, listened to music, ate cotton candy, saw some family and friends, and got rained on a bit. The big kids rode the Old Mill ride with Mommy and the Space Needle with Daddy. Ella enjoyed getting her hair done up in a "fair do" and eating deep fried bacon. James went on the Sky Ride with daddy. A delighted Claranna rode the carousal and ate a bunch of french fries. All of my kids went down the giant slide. Mark got to ride extra times because of little Claranna. It was a great day for everyone!

2010-10-11T09:23:00.003-05:00

My boys are ready for the game tonight!

Little Dancer

2010-10-01T14:44:00.004-05:00

A New Niece & Valley Fair

2010-10-01T13:16:00.007-05:00

In the middle of August we took a day trip to go see our new baby niece, Lucy, and take the kids for the their very first visit to Valley Fair. Both stops were a bit hit with the kids. Ella and James were very happy to see their Aunt Jenny and the sweet new baby. Claranna thought Lucy was pretty cute and even called her, "baby". Ella was pretty good at holding little Lucy, who was just a day and half old in this picture.

After out stop at the hospital we jumped back in the car and headed south to Vally Fair. The weather was perfect, not too hot, but warm enough to still enjoy the water park. We knew Ella would like all the roller coasters. I think she went on all the big coasters more than once. Mark and I took turns riding the big rides with her and taking James and Claranna on the smaller rides. All the kids had a huge amount of fun. We were surprised at how many little rides that Claranna was allowed to go on. She is going to be a daredevil like her sister as she showed no fear. James was very excited when we caught up with cousins Trenton, Trista and Mikayla and Greg & Amy. He really wanted to go on lots of rides with Trista...and he did!

Claranna took a little snooze on the way to Valley Fair and another nap in her stroller. Because she slept so good, we were able to stay at the park into evening hours.

Ella and Mark are somewhere on the ship upside down.

Claranna loved the music shows that we stopped to see. She was even invited up to dance on stage.

Fun with cousins!

Our family on the Valley Fair train.
Click on the movie to watch Ella and me on the Corkscrew!

Sesame Street Live

2010-09-12T19:06:00.002-05:00

Sesame Street Live returned to town and we thought it was only fitting that Claranna share in all the fun that her big sister and brother have been able experience. All the kids had a great time at the show. With all the lights, music, singing, dancing and the bright-eyed smiles on the little kids' faces, it's hard not to get caught up in the magic of the moments. We really enjoyed our afternoon with the Sesame Street gang!

A Swing Set, a Lawnmower and the ER

2010-09-06T20:05:00.004-05:00

Friday evening was a bit eventful around here. Mark was gearing up for a barbecue with friends by mowing the lawn. As he was mowing under the swing set, the middle swing became hooked on the lever that engages the mowing blades on the lawnmower. In hindsight, Mark will tell you that he should have stopped right away instead of quickly trying to free the swing. Suddenly the swing set flipped over on Mark, striking him right on the back of the head. He began bleeding right away and ran up the deck stairs and into the house as fast as he could. I didn't see the accident happen, but fortunately, I was right there to help him when he came into the house. Those of you who know Mark well should remember that he can't handle the sight of blood and becomes faint very easily. Mark was really lucky that he didn't get knocked out or pass out while on the lawnmower.

When Mark came rushing into the house with a handful of blood and more blood running down his neck, I didn't know what happened right away and Mark was freaking out a bit. He said the swing hit him. I thought maybe he was injured by a swing chain while he was driving underneath the swing set. I know that head wounds can bleed a lot, so I wasn't too worried about the amount of blood and was more concerned with trying to figure out if the cut was deep enough for stitches once we got the bleeding stopped. I called my RN neighbor to come over and take a look. While we were waiting for her to come down, I looked out the window and saw this:
A swing had not hit Mark, the entire swing set had!! Seeing the swing set on top of Mark's lawnmower changed the game a little bit and I knew we were headed for the ER. By the time my RN neighbor was here, I already had another neighbor on the way to watch James and Claranna. Ella was at the farm "helping" Grandma Judy, who had her knee replaced the week before. Mark and I set off for the ER. He made it into the car okay, but the ride to the hospital was pretty exciting.

Mark started acting goofy, breathing funny and getting sleepy-- all of which are signs of head trauma. I really wasn't sure if he was goofy because he was about to pass out or if his behavior was a result of his injury. I had to make him keep talking to me by asking him questions for our entire trip. After rolling down the windows and getting a lot of air, he seemed to be a little better. Still, I knew that he wouldn't be walking into the ER. I drove up and helped him into a wheelchair. Inside the ER he was okay until after they took his BP and put him in a collar. Then his fingers started tingling and he got very faint again. This little near fainting episode earned him an opportunity to upgrade from a wheelchair to a stretcher. He took a ride down the hall on the cart and was roomed quickly. Fortunately, by the time we were settled into the ER most of the bleeding on Mark's head had subsided. He was a given a neurological and physical exam and after a little bit of time, the neck brace was removed. The doctor offered to staple Mark's head closed, but I think that nearly caused another fainting episode! So, Mark opted to have a bigger scar and not get the wound closed. Instead, we instructed to wrap it so it wouldn't open up again while he was sleeping.

Here's a pic of Mark when he was feeling better in the ER. I conveniently had my camera in my purse. : ) Mark was told he would have a big headache and a lot of soreness in his neck and shoulders. Luckily, he hasn't felt too bad considering what landed on him.

On Saturday, Mark was able to finish mowing the lawn with our slightly damaged lawn tractor. Our funny and caring neighbor brought Mark a little head gear to make the job safer! We are so thankful that Mark will be okay. Luckily he was wearing his trusty Twins cap when the swing set hit him. He clearly would have had a larger blow and a bigger gash if not for the protection of that cap. Now that our big worries of the accident are behind us, we have found a little humor in the event. Though, thinking of the "what if's" is pretty humbling and we are counting our blessings that we have a funny story to tell.

James

2010-09-06T20:04:00.001-05:00

Mommy: "James, how come you're sleeping on the floor tonight?"

James: "Because Daddy let me!"

Watermelon!

2010-08-27T17:04:00.005-05:00

June Fishing Fun

2010-08-12T15:13:00.010-05:00

As usual, I am very behind on posting about all our activities. Near the end of June we took our second annual trip to Long Lake for a little fishing fun with my family. Our kids and their cousins had a ton of fun making memories with Grandma and Grandpa. All the kids, minus Claranna, went out for a great night of fishing. The kids dropped their lines in the water and the fish seemed to hop right on. It's the kind of fishing that is really exciting for the kids and keeps all the grown-ups too busy. There was also time for swimming, tubing, campfires, making s'mores, doing sparklers, playing tag, swinging, taking walks, hiking, fish cleaning, fish frying, fresh corn and a grilled steak dinner and storm watching. We also ventured into the nearby towns for some mini golf, lunch on the lake, go-carting, and bumper boating. Everyone, big and little, had a great time!

The big boys (Mark, Chuck & Greg) had a awesome time driving go-carts, bumper boats, and tubing. Sometimes I wondered who that trip to the fun park was really for... I'm pretty certain it was more for the big boys.

We took some time to do a little sightseeing on the way there and home. Everyone has to stop and see the "Worlds Largest Ball of Twine Made by One Man" at least once in their lifetime. The real merry-go-round and teeter-totters might have been more of a highlight for the kids than the ball of twine during that little stop. We also went to the Walker Art Center Sculpture Garden and met our friends at Minnehaha Falls Park on our way home. It was a great and jam-packed little getaway. The kids are already excited to go back again next year! Here's our trip in pictures...

Milk Wagon

2010-08-10T15:50:00.003-05:00

Who wouldn't want to buy milk from this crew?

We survived another year in the "Milk Wagon". I had split days this year as our family went out of town this past weekend for a retreat. The kids and I worked on beautiful Friday morning with the help of Grandma and Grandpa. Both James and Ella are now expert milk servers. Mark helped me finish out my day of service on Sunday and we nearly melted in there because of the heat, humidity and the sun reflecting off the stainless steal counter. Yikes! We wisely asked Grandma to keep the kiddos at home where it was cool and it wasn't my most favorite birthday activity.

Craft Time

2010-08-10T15:43:00.004-05:00

Ella wanted to create some crafts the other morning and she thought it would be fun to use things from our recycling bin like newspaper and a cool whip container, among other things. She is so creative that she came up with several little functional projects. While I was upstairs folding laundry, this is what appeared on my kitchen counter:

She peeled off the label and the evidence that she took the time to clean it out nicely was shown with a few remaining soap suds inside. Now this lovely vase will grace my windowsill for awhile. It was thoughtful of Ella and it really made me smile that she would think of this very "green" idea. Her daddy's proud too!

It's Fair Week!

2010-08-04T14:21:00.004-05:00

It's fair week at our house and the kids were very excited to take their art to show at the fair. Claranna had fun painting a rather abstract design and was proud to stand next to her art and ribbon at the fair like a big girl. James was thrilled that he received a ribbon with three colors and Ella was in awe to see that her drawing won "Best of Show" in her age group. Tonight we are going back to the fair so Mark can check on all his vegetable ribbons. Hopefully it will be a little cooler tonight at the fair! It has been very hot and muggy so far this week.

Ella and James are both practicing to compete in the Pedal Tractor Pull on Thursday. Ella really wants to win a trophy again so she has been trying to make her legs really strong by doing a lot of biking and pedaling our little tractor up and down the street. We're happy that James wants to compete this year, too.

James keeps asking if it's Friday yet as he can't wait to work in the Milk Booth. Hopefully Claranna won't get into too much trouble while she is "helping" us to sell the milk!

Grandma Ruth is still fresh in all of our thoughts and the kids remember so much and share their thoughts with ease. While in the art building, Ella reminded me of what door we had to bring Grandma Ruth through last year so she could come see the kids' art at the fair. Some of the entry doors to the buildings have too many steps. I told Ella that it would be different to not have Grandma at the fair this year. To that, Ella simply replied, "But, she IS here with us. She's right in our hearts."

Enjoy the fair pics!

Track Meet

2010-07-19T09:11:00.004-05:00

So far we've attended one track meet this summer! Ella was thrilled because she won 3rd place in both the 100 meter and 200 meter races. She's pretty fast!

To say James didn't enjoy the races is kind of an understatment. He took a huge wipe out (just as I was snapping a pic of him) during his first race and it took several days to get all the black gravel out of his knees. He did recover enough to do the long jump later in the evening and he ended the night with a smile on his sweet little face.

Claranna raced in the "2 and under" group. She wasn't very fast and she seemed to think all the people lined along the edge of the track were there just to admire her and send some smiles her way. All in all, it was a great summer evening of family fun!

Fair Fun

2010-07-19T08:11:00.006-05:00

Mark's work picnic was held at a nearby county fair last weekend. We all had a super time eating yummy fair food, seeing the exhibits and going on rides on a warm and sunny afternoon. Claranna was a huge fan of the merry-go-round, baby chicks and cotton candy. When we were looking at the baby chicks, she just plopped herself right on the ground so she could be nice and close to them. James enjoyed the dragon mini coaster, the big slide and especially the mini donuts. Ella loved going on the more grown-up rides. She is definitely a thrill seeker and made the most of the fair even though she wasn't feeling the best. Enjoy the pics!

Friends!

2010-07-18T16:27:00.003-05:00

Jen, Jenny & Me

Last Monday evening we took a quick trip to the Twin Cities to hang out with a few great friends from college days. Jen was in town from Colorado, so we met her and Jenny, Shane, Kate & Devin for dinner and some time outside on a beautiful Minnesota evening.

Here's some little kid cuteness:

Jen & Me

Claranna giving Devin some love!

Jen & Claranna

The whole bunch of us!

As our evening was ending, we found a spot near the Minneapolis airport where we could watch the plans land. They flew right over us and the kids, big & little, thought it was pretty neat!

Growing Boy

2010-07-16T10:16:00.002-05:00

As we're getting ready to go outside to play with the neighbors, James says, "But, Mom, I still need to have my third breakfast!" I guess our little guy is going through a growth spurt!

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T20:39:00.002-05:00