A Three Year Old!!!

My sweet Sadie is three today. This is a little bit of the sweetness that I get to experience everyday! (She's making macaroni necklaces for her friends that are coming to her party today. Her idea. So sweet.) Happy Birthday, Sadie-girl!!

When in Bemidji, Do as the Bemidjians

This past weekend Eli and Sadie got new ice skates. You can't live in Northern Minnesota without owning a pair and Eli has been excited about playing hockey all summer. You might remember last year, when Eli wouldn't get on the ice. Well, this year was a little more successful. With the help of the EZ-Skater, Eli made it around the rink several times and was even brave enough to try it without any help. He fell a few times, but when we left he asked when we were going to go again!! I'm hoping that by the end of the winter he can skate with a hockey stick instead of the EZ-Skater. Sadie loved her skates but was very nervous about the "slippery ice". However, she did very well considering this was her first time. She stayed on her skates most of the time and shuffled along.

Fun at the Science Center

Bemidji has a very small but very fun science center. From first glance, you'd think that the kids would get bored there; there's no flashy lights, no monstrous exhibits, nothing to play on. It looks like it is from the '70's and it's filled with a bunch of odds and ends science exhibits. But, the kids have such a blast there and it is one of the funnest science centers that I've been in. First off, it's always quiet, the staff is always willing and ready to let animals out of their cages and are good at helping the kids understand concepts, every exhibit is hands-on, and they have awesome toddler classes every Wednesday. I'll need to remember to take more pictures next time. But, here are kids holding one of the many snakes that they have on exhibit:

First Snow

We woke up Saturday morning, October 10, to snow. Sadie was beside herself with excitement. She kept going on and on about all of the things that she was going to do in the snow. She even woke me up and invited me to go outside and play in the snow with her at 6:00 in the morning!! Needless to say she had to wait a little bit before she could have her snow play, but she got it. First thing we did was go shopping for a winter coat for Sadie. As you can tell by these pictures, she still doesn't have one and was forced to wear her spring rain coat with lots of layers underneath. It turns out that 2T is a very popular size...

The kids had to go sledding. I think the people in Bemidji were thinking that the people with the Ohio license plate were crazy for sledding when there was barely any snow on the ground. Not to mention that the wind was blowing a gazillion miles an hour and it was cold especially when you don't have a winter coat! But, we did it anyways.

Sadie and dad built this lovely snowman family. I'm the one with the crazy hair!

The snow has since melted and it's supposed to be in the fifties this weekend with the sun shining. WooHoo!! The snow can wait awhile before it sticks around for good.

Minnesota Canoe Trip

We borrowed our friends canoe one beautiful fall morning in September. You can't tell by looking at us in our sweatshirts (and my hat!) but it actually warmed up to about 80 that day!The canoe ride was so pleasant. The water was calm, the loons were out, and we had the whole lake to ourselves. It was rather peaceful until we ran out of snacks and the kids were tired of paddling us in circles, but we all enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

Eli's Preschool

Eli started attending a new pre-school called Enchanted Garden. It is a Waldorf inspired pre-school so it has lots of music, lots of natural toys and focuses on imaginary play and creativity. The class is held in his teacher Frances' house here in Bemidji. There are only 6 kids in his class and he is the only boy. Frances sent me these pictures. It is interesting to see how Eli's participation changed from the beginning of the month to the end. Usually, he is so shy but you can slowly see him starting to emerge from his shell in the pictures. It was cool to see.
Frances tries to take the kids outside everyday come rain or shine or 20 below days. They go on hikes and do lots of exploring.Tuesdays are soup days. Each child brings a vegetable to school. They cut the vegetables and make a soup, then eat it for snack that day. Frances says he "tries the vegetables" but Eli says he likes the "butterflies" (pasta) the best.

Eli has done a few art projects at school which is surprising because he didn't do any last year!

Having a tea party with Leanna and Scout (blonde hair). Leanna's mom is a Dr. out at Cass Lake, she works with Dennis. Eli loves Leanna.

They do lots of music activities. I guess this is how Eli dances with a scarf, which is an improvement from the pictures earlier in the month when he is just sitting and watching the girls dance.

A little violin time. (Frances teaches Suzuki method in piano, violin, cello and harp. She also teaches orchestra at one of the charter schools in town.)

House Tour Part 1

Per request, I'm going to post a few pictures of the house. We bought a house that for being 25 years old is in excellent shape and has never had little kids living in it. The home has been maintained in a way that Dennis and I can only dream of maintaining a home. It only needed a few cosmetic changes which we are slowly getting done. Here is the kids' bedroom. It was mauve, now it's a (little too) bright green. Our house has lots of angles and nooks, which is why I love the house. This little nook, which is part of the dining room has become the kids' art corner. It was one of the first areas of the house that was completed as I always wanted the kids to have a little art space but our old apartment just didn't have enough room. Now they can color, draw, stamp, stencil, sticker, cut and paste and create to their little hearts content. They do spend a lot of time in this corner.I'll post more pictures as time goes on. We're in the process of finishing up a few more rooms but they still need stuff on the walls or they're lacking little details that makes it our space. I'll keep you posted!
I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but please come see us. Bemidji is a lovely place to visit. You can see more of this great Northern Minnesota travel destination here.