Martin Luther King Jr.

One of Mikayla's homework assignments is to tell her about Martin Luther King and then ask her what her dream would be if she could change something in this world. Big question for a little kid...Her response? "My dream would be that if someone wanted to stay at their friends house longer, they should be able to." Nice. Oh yeah, another thing she asked me yesterday when we were doing our Denise Austin Boot Camp DVD together was, "I think God is more powerful than her. She's tough though!" Denise Austin can kick my butt, however, God knows when my butt could use a little kicking also to get me back on the right track. My nasty sinus infection was a good reminder that I need to slow down a bit and take better care of myself. I bet Denise Austin never thought she had something in common with God!

I took Ellie to the doctor today since she's had a fever and cough all weekend. Thankfully they ruled out pneumonia, but she does have bronchitis. Poor thing. I'm taking my last dose of antibiotics today. Nice start to the new year. Blah!

Minnesota

I'm sure you fellow northerners would agree with me, I'm sick of this cold. Wind chill is reading -48 below today. We still haven't shoveled from the last snowfall due to this cold. What's the point of snow if you can't even take the kids out to play in it. The deck groans and creeks and I sympathize with it. I wouldn't want to be out there either.

School was cancelled today. I haven't checked the weather today, just assumed it was as stinking cold as it has been the rest of this week. So, I bundled up Kayla, Ellie, and I'm watching Hannah today and drove her to school. The principal came out before I got her out of the van to tell me about the cancellation. Funny thing is, he was only wearing a sweater. No coat, no gloves. True Minnesotan. I didn't think it felt any colder than any other day this week. Oh well. I get home, call Nate to tell him I feel like a bad mom for not knowing about the cancellation. His reply, "I'm sorry, I thought you knew. I could have told you." Thanks my dear husband for being so informative!

So, for my friends who are lucky to live in places right now who don't even have the snow OR the cold, here are some interesting pictures.

Here is what happens to our front door jam in winter. You can even feel the cold draft when you walk in our entryway.


We have brand new windows this year, but check out the ice that forms on the inside of each of them.

Gingerbread House

Last Friday I went to Mikayla's school to help with Gingerbread day. Each child had one parent come in and help them build a gingerbread house. It was tough since I was still feeling miserable then, but we created a cute little house together. It was on the kitchen counter while I was cooking. We couldn't wait for Nate to come home and see it. I turned around and found Ellie on the counter with her mouth over the roof about to devour it! I was more shocked to see the gingerbread house in the form of frosting on her face than I was curious as to how she got onto the counter. I have since discovered her secret. She carries a stool with her around the house at all times now. If something is as high as the counter, she uses the stool to then get up on a chair. Lovely! Anyhow, here is the gingerbread house.

Blog to a Book?

By the way, my goal with starting this blog was I heard about a great website where you can print your blog into a book. I was tired of scrap booking and keeping up with photo albums and couldn't wait till 2009 arrived so I could print out 2008. 2009 arrived and the website I was going to use had some glitch. I've searched for others and keep coming up with ones that have gone out of business or when I try it, says I've encountered some error. So, if anyone out there knows of any software I can purchase somewhere or a free website download that will work with blogger. I'm so bummed about this!

Reality-I'm not as young as I used to be!

I had been staying up too late (midnight or later!) for too long. It started in December trying to get everything done from Christmas cards to shopping, to the wrapping, in addition to normal life activities. Then I was staying up late after Christmas partially in habit by then, and partially I wanted to get some projects done before 2009. I recall at some point thinking, "This is great! I can really get stuff done and it doesn't seem to be catching up with me." Well, it seems to have caught up with me. I have the worst sinus infection I've ever had EVER! I can't even bend over slightly without horrible pain and pressure. I've been on antibiotics since Monday and I don't feel any better. Blah! I'm thankful Nate could take off today, but am a bit nervous about tomorrow if I still feel the same.

We ended up rearranging Mikayla's room. It started because we had a humidifier malfunction. I set up her humidifier the other night and did not notice that it was missing a plug on the bottom. After awhile, I heard Nate shouting for me. Yikes! There was water everywhere! We had to shove furniture out of the way to soak up some of it. Then, I got inspired after it all dried to rearrange. It's something I love doing. Also, since I made more space in her room, I splurged and bought a cool bean bag for the girls. I've always wanted one myself growing up. I've already found myself lounging on it watching television or just to rest while I'm feeling bad lately. So, here are some pictures we took of the new shuffled around room.

Pacifier Trouble!

New Years Day Ellie bit through her last pacifier. We knew the day was coming to wean her and we've been dreading it. It seems harder with her than with Mikayla mostly because Ellie even has a nickname for it--Happy. She is always looking for her "happy" and when it is found, there is instant gratification. We tried last night for a long time putting her to bed without it and I finally caved and found the broken one. Today I bought the kind similar to the green Soothie brand pacifier that we've had since she was born at Mayo that the hospital gave us. I bought the blue Soothie that is intended for older kids. I knew from the past that she hates this kind and it is more sturdy. I'm trying that now for naptime today. I'm just at a loss though and wish this was easier. Any ideas out there? We have limited the pacifier to naptime and bedtime with ease, but taking the thing away completely is so hard! We also were making strides on potty training, but I've put that on hold while we try to deal with this transition. I don't want to make all of us too crazy! Here is one of my favorite pictures of Ellie with her beloved "Happy." This New Year will be rocking with changes Elyana will make as we wean the pacifier, potty train her, and get her ready for preschool next Fall. Wow!

New Year!

I know it's been awhile since my last post. First we were traveling to Nate's parents in WI for the holidays. The next day after we got back, my dad came to visit. Then we had Christmas by ourselves and my mom came on the 26th. The holidays seem to be a blur this year and suddenly, it's a new year!

New Year's Eve was spent way differently than in the past. The girls and I did a few exercise videos together (I'm still striving to loose weight and the holidays have not been diet friendly!) After we got the kids in bed Nate and I watched different shows we've been recording while working on our own projects. Nate worked on a new board game prototype and I sorted through a lifetime of pictures my mom wanted to scrapbook for me. We totally missed the ball drop and then even missed the clock strike midnight! After one of us uttered "oops" there was a quick kiss and we returned to our projects. You totally can tell we've been married awhile!

New Year's Day we decided to have a special family day and we took the kids bowling for the first time. Even though we had the bumpers up, Nate and I didn't do any better than we normally would (although we haven't really bowled since high school!) They quickly got the hang of it and we all had a good time. The morning ended with a nice lunch at McDonald's. Here are some pictures that we took of bowling:

Notice the cute little Velcro bowling shoes they had for Ellie! The were of course too big, but so were all of ours.








Check out those scores!