The Other Child

In case you forgot, we do have another child...she hasn't gotten much press lately. So here's a picture of her in her cute new winter wear (clearance of course!)

On Being Sick

Since I had the pleasure of being visited by the same barf fairy that struck Kennedy this week, here are a few observations I thought I'd share.
Only a mother, the minute she knows the puking is done, would drag herself out of bed in search of the toilet bowl cleaner and clorox scrubber and in a cold sweat with her head pounding scrub every inch of that toilet until it was sparkling. Only a mother would fight the dizziness and blacking out to strip the sheets off her bed and throw them in the washer with hot water and bleach so that she could have fresh germ free sheets that night.
Also...I knew I had reached a new blogging realm when, hunched over the toilet and heaving the contents of my stomach into it (sorry for the mental image that you may now have), I was seriously brainstorming possible blog titles for the next day's post. "This Sucks" seemed to come to mind quite often..."Who needs a colonic?" was also in the running.
No one else in the house has gotten it...yet. My fingers are crossed...and the toilets and sheets are clean!

New Coats

The coats we ordered back in November that were suppose to be here in time for Christmas gifts for the boys finally came in. All I can say is they better fit into them next winter!

Happy Valentine's Day

We had a busy night for Valentine's Day this year and Tim and I weren't going to get to see each other until about 9pm. So after all the kids were picked up from their various activities, he was going to pick up dinner for him and I. I had the table set and the candles lit and Cooper came down from his shower and said, "Oh yeah, a romantic dinner with candles for me and Carter!" He was a little disappointed when I told him it was for daddy and mommy, but said he would like to have a candle at his dinner too, so he went to get one off the dining room table, to which Carter screamed...."No Cooper, that is so gay!" Poor Cooper, he can't help it if he is a romantic at heart....or gay.

We Love Sean

The Spuds have their last regular season home game tonight at the Sports Center. Before the game the boys' buddy and favorite Spuds player Sean Ambrosie stopped over with sweatshirts he had made for them. They even have his name and number on the back. So cool. We think he is a great hockey player and an even greater guy.

The Weekend

Dad went ice fishing with the guys for the weekend so the kids and I headed down to the cities did fun stuff with grandma at the MOA. All is fun and games until someone starts puking in the middle of the night. It was a long ride home with that bucket in Kennedy's lap.

Notice the boys' short hair? When we got home on Sunday afternoon dad said "What happened to your hair?" Carter replied..."don't worry dad, I don't like it." When dad told him he thought it looked pretty nice Carter said "I was just kidding dad, feel the back, isn't it cool?"

Princess K

Kennedy got a tiara last night and thought she better wear it to kindergarten today! Matthew left her a crystal in her cubby this week....ahhh true love!

Perfection

Something I have come to realize over the past few years is that we, as women, are way too hard on ourselves. We have this unrealistic expectation of who we should be, or who we want others to see us as. Isn't it all really just about perception... How we view ourselves, how others view us, and then how we THINK others view us? I have a feeling that these three distinct perceptions never match. There is so much hype about living an authentic life, and I guess maybe the answer to being authentic (if there is one) is striving to weave all of these together so that they are one. People say they don't care about what others think of them, but I think those people are liars.
There is so much pressure in today's society to be perfect, the perfect wife, mom, employee, friend etc. Just the other day I received a trial offer in the mail from Martha Stewart's New Magazine "Blueprint". It boasted that it would teach me how to buy better groceries, host a perfect dinner party, find the best dress, and get the prettiest face. Those words: perfect, best, prettiest; society would have us believe that is what we are suppose to acheive.
I'm not even sure what my point with this rambling post is, but Bonnie's post from today "Not Enough Time" got me thinking about all these expectations we have of ourselves, or think others have of us and how unfortunate it is that we can never seem to be satisfied with good enough.

Long or Short?

It is getting to that time where I just can't stand the "hockey hair" any longer and need to take them in for a buzz. Daddy says "no way"...along with all the hockey buds. What do you think?

Typical

Carter and Cooper have a birthday party to go to on Friday, so I went to Target this weekend and got a gift and was feeling all "on the ball" and everything having the gift bought a whole week ahead of time. Last night I unpacked the bags and left the gift on the desk. So I got home from the gym this morning and Carter has already cut open both packages of hockey cards and is busy tearing into the Dart Tag box with a scissors. "I thought they were for us!" AAGGHH!

-17

It's just a little bit cold outside today...so maybe the new colors will warm you up and get you in the romantic Valentine's spirit!

An article in the Forum had me crying on my muffin this morning...it was about a mother of three who is dying of ALS and handling the tough questions from her kids. You can learn more about her by clicking here. And while your at it, be thankful for your health and all those things that we so often take for granted!

One more thing...My sister-in-law Ann (mother of Delaney, Jillian, and Elliott) started a blog... Yeah! Click on her name to the right to check it out!

January's Over...Hooray!

This is my least favorite time of year...January through March seem to drag on forever. I am going to blame my crabiness on the weather; it can't be my fault right? For those of us who don't have spring break trips to somewhere tropical to look forward to, we will just have to delight in the smaller pleasures of life. Here are three things I couldn't get through these dreary winter months without.

Diet Coke...gets me through the day. I am scolded and lectured quite often on the amount I drink, but somehow I think this vice is here to stay.

Smith's Rosebud Salve...needed daily! My friend Melissa told me about this miracle cream and it works wonders on the kids chapped lips, cheeks and chins.


TIVO...oh my beloved Tivo. We have become so close. Tim's not so happy about that. Tivo and I might have to slow things down a bit and spend some time apart.

Busy Lady

I started a new little guy this week so now I have a two-month-old, a six-month-old, a one-year old, three 2-year olds, and a 3-year old. These are some photos I took of the new baby with his big sister today. I love taking pictures of my daycare kids for their parents.... it's good practice if I ever decide to take everybody's advice and start a photography business!

Ryan Jr.

Here is a new photo of our nephew Elliott. He is growing so fast....I can't wait to see him again!

My Cute Boys

Kennedy has a boyfriend!

It's hard to resist Little Miss K! Her friend Matthew is on her hockey team and has fallen hard for our girl. I think he has been benched since he told the coach, "Tim, I'm in love with your daughter!" Yesterday he left a bracelet he made for her in her cubby at school. Yikes!

Go Spuds

The Spuds won a Big One last night against Roseau. We already have our hotel reservations for the State Hockey tournament in March so we are hoping they make it...and win it this year.

On Saturday the boys got to go in the locker room after the game and came out with huge smiles and hockey sticks from their favorite player, Sean Ambrosie!

Watching Game Tapes

The boys had so much fun watching the video of their hockey game from this weekend. Of course daddy had to throw in a few pointers about how to improve their game!

Kids by the Dozen

Tim and I watched Kids by the Dozen last night on TLC. It featured a family from Warroad MN with 16 kids...we decided it looked like so much fun that we are going to have 12 more kids. Honey, I will make that appointment to have your vasectomy reversed today!

Coop a Loop

Cooper was goalie this weekend and had an awesome game! They won 7 to 3.

Life Lessons

Cooper was preparing for his big debut as goalie this weekend while Carter was studying for his math "time" test. Cooper passed his test right away, so he got to play. Carter's didn't go so smoothly and after he screamed, cried and told us how dumb he thought math was, mom and dad had to have the "No Pass...No Play" chat with him. He wasn't easily convinced that if you don't get good grades in your classes you don't get to play on the team!

January Fun

We had a busy weekend of hockey with the mid-season jamboree for all three kids. I just threw all the hockey equipment in the washing machine this morning...it was getting pretty stinky after half a season of play. There is no school today and I took the day off, so the kids all got to have sleepovers last night. Our good friends have kids that are the same ages as ours, so we love getting together with them because then everybody has somebody to play with! Last night the girls all stayed at our house and the boys went over to their house.

My Little Helper

Kennedy braved the frigid temperatures in her jammies this morning to get her mama the paper!

Cooper the diehard

Cooper's favorite thing to do is play outside. He has really enjoyed our warm winter so far (even though we could use a little more snow.) Today it finally got cold...but not too cold for Cooper. He was outside all by himself this afternoon driving the trike around the cul-de-sac. So funny!

She tied you to your chair?

Last night I overheard a conversation between Carter and Cooper that started like this:
Cooper: Carter, you got in trouble today because you had to be strapped to your seat.
Carter: No, I wasn't in trouble; that was just my weight I wear to remind me to stay in my seat.
Mom: What are you talking about?
Carter: I have to wear a weight so I don't get out of my seat...it's a seven pounder!

Imagine my visual here.... apparently his teacher has come up with an apparatus that has a weight you put on your lap and a strap that goes underneath your chair and velcros to the other side of the weight. Carter said he needed it because at work time he always stood up with one knee on his chair. "This just reminds me to sit the right way!"

Introducing...

Elliott Christian
December 23, 2006
9 lbs 21 inches

Our New Cousin

Fun at the Waterpark

We had fun with our cousins at Arrowwood and watched Cousin Doug's Red Wing basketball team beat Alexandria!

Dear Tim,

Thanks for riding this rollercoaster called life with me...Happy Anniversary!

Merry Christmas

It was an absolute gorgeous day at the lake today...even if it was a little brown. We had a friendly little hockey game on the lake, lots of food, and lots of fun (thanks Uncle Mike and Auntie Sheri!) and finished off the day with some "Catch Phrase" where Katelyn had to give clues to explain the place VIRGIN ISLANDS!

It's Finally Here!

It's Christmas Eve and here are a few photos of the fun we've already had...stay tuned for more!


My sweet daycare kiddos at our Christmas party.



We did Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's yesterday and the best gift of the day was the Deal or No Deal game that we played all afternoon! It got pretty intense...there were even a few tears when the $1,000,000 case was opened!



Tim went out to do his Christmas shopping today. Then he came home to do his wrapping. Here is a cute photo of my gift next to his gift! :) Click to enlarge to get the full effect.

Bring on Christmas

The house is decorated, all the shopping is completed, the gifts are all equal in number and wrapped beneath the tree, the Christmas cards are out, daycare is done for the year and the big family Christmas party was a success, the baking is done (yah right, like I bake), the kids are staying overnight and Grandma and Grandpa's and Tim and I are going out for dinner! Life is good.