Ski School 2012

Bemidji is a great place to live if you love playing in the outdoors. Winter activities are just as plentiful as summer activities as long as you dress for it. There is a saying, "there's no such thing as cold weather only poor clothing choices" and I have to agree (well, kind of, 50 below is cold no matter what you wear!). Luckily, the area has tons of things to do at a reasonable price or for free.
The Bemidji Cross-Country Ski Club hosts a ski school every winter. The kids attended last year and were excited to join again this year. For the low low price of $65 we all signed up for ski school. They provide the skis for kids. Dennis wanted to try skate ski lessons, so he rented his skis (he has classical skis) for $5 from the college. I signed up for classical nordic skiing just to get some pointers like how to turn at the bottom of a steep hill so I don't hit a tree which is my biggest issue! Not that I've ever hit a tree, but I've been very close, I just wipe out first!

The kids learn the basics: how to fall, how to get up after you fall, how to go downhill, how to get back up the hill, how to push and glide, how to pass, etc.

They love ski school but really I think they just go outside so they can have hot chocolate when they come in!

Only 2 more weeks of ski school then the following week is the Barnelopet which is a children's x-country ski race that's just for fun! I can't wait to see them in their racing bibs!

Gymnastics Fun Meet!

This was the second year that Sadie participated in the Gym Bin's Fun Meet which is for all class levels that are "non-competitive". It gives the girls an opportunity to show off their skills, practice in front of a crowd and have fun. And truly, from the smile on Sadie's face during the whole meet she was obviously having a blast.

Sadie was in all of the events: floor, beam, vault and bars. I put 2 videos on, one with her best score and one with her worst. Really I have no idea how they score, but they do and the girls get a different colored ribbon based on their score.
The floor routine is what she did the worst in, but I think the blue ribbon that she had around her neck was distracting her! Plus, I love hearing Eli and Sadie's classmate Jack in the background giving commentary.



The beam is the event she scored the highest in and I have to agree that it was her best event. Though, as I've mentioned I can't really tell you why.


The other big gymnastics news is that starting tomorrow Sadie will be moving up to a new level. She'll be a "Rising Star" which means that she will be a part of the "gymnastics club" and will be in the ASAG pre-competitive Level 2. Really, it's a really big way of saying that she'll be practicing 2 times a week for 2 hours each time and that I will have more work to do as a gymnastics mom. It's a big step but she's super-excited about her move. Let's hope she still enjoys it after tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Paul Bunyan!

Bemidji's very own Paul Bunyan turned 75 this week. To celebrate, the students at Paul Bunyan Kindergarten celebrated him and Minnesota in lots of ways. But, the highlight was a visit from Paul Bunyan himself who came to the school for an assembly. But, before I get to those pictures, let's take a walk down memory lane.

This is the Zeman family who rendezvoused in Bemidiji back in 1981 (?). My mom is holding Paul's hand, I'm holding my cousin Kelly so you can hardly see me, my dad is looking a little like Tom Selleck in Magnum PI and my brother is behind the stroller.

Here is another photo of our family with Paul. This was taken in 2007 before we moved here. We were passing through from International Falls to Fargo after my brother's wedding.

The kids were supposed to dress up like Paul Bunyan by wearing red, plaid, or flannel and a black hat.

Look at Paul!! He really is a giant. The kids wrote tall tales and read them to Paul and they gave him a present!

Here are some students fitting inside Paul's Belt. I think 21 kids fit inside!!

Big Dreams

Eli had his pal Ryan over for a sleepover. The boys were talking in their sleeping bags on the livingroom floor while I laid on the couch and enjoyed their 6 year old conversation which went something like this.

Eli: My dad said that when I get good at shooting my bow and arrow, I can shoot rabbits with it. (sidenote: I'm pretty sure Dennis never said this.)

Ryan: Yeah. My dad said that when I get good at shooting my BB gun I can hunt rabbits too. Then I can shoot deer, buck, elk, antelope, black bear, grizzly bear, gophers, owls, eagles...

Eli: You can't shoot eagles.

Ryan: Why not?

Eli: I don't know you just can't.

Ryan: And I can shoot foxes, coyotes, wolves...

Eli: You can't shoot wolves there's only 7 of those left.

Ryan: Ok, I won't shoot wolves. But, I can go out west when I get bigger and shoot rattlesnakes.

Well, I don't know about rabbits, but haybales are a great place to start.

After hitting the haybale Eli said, "Am I ready to hunt rabbits yet?"

I think he needs to work on being able to pull the bow back himself before he can move on to hunting rabbits... Where do these kids come up with these things?

I Need To Write This Down

Lately, my kids have really been making me laugh and every time I think, "I need to write this down." So tonight I'm going to do just that. Eli just got a new student teacher. Here was our conversation about him.

Me: Eli, how do you like your new teacher?
Eli: I don't know. He's weird.
Me: What do you mean by weird?
Eli: He has floppy hair.
Me: You shouldn't decide if you like someone by their hair. You should judge them by...
Sadie (interrupting): Their body!

After laughing so hard we cried...

Dennis: I think what Mom wanted to say is that we should judge them by how well they treat you.

New Years 2012!

It's become a tradition for us to head to Napoleon, ND to visit Dennis' family over New Years. It has also been tradition for us to get snowed in, but not this year. This year there was no snow and mild 40 degree weather. It was odd seeing ND so brown this time of year. We all had a blast playing lots and lots of games (Qwirkle, Dicecapades, Pinochle, Blokus, Rummikub, not to mention 3 ipads, a kindle, a laptop and a PC--grandma and great-(great) aunt Carolyn even learned how to play Angry Birds!) with all of our favorite Sperles (Terri, Paula, Pat, Grams and Gramps, Greg, Michele and Jack, Megan and Andrew, The Meyers minus Emily and Carl, the Gees minus Adam and Kyle, Carolyn, and Christine and Tony). We even managed to go iceskating and we visited our favorite store, Nita's. We ate about 3000 cookies and somehow still managed to eat our meals with icecream for dessert.
We did not make it until midnight to bring in the New Year. Instead we said happy new year and good night at about 10:00. Can you believe that I didn't take any pictures? Argh. I need to get better at this. Anyways, Jack is 18 months and looks so much like Eli did at that age which means he is deadly cute!! Take a look back at Eli at that age and you'll see what I mean!

Too Many Presents!

I forgot to post the kids' ornaments from us this year. They're chicken ornaments that I made to represent their favorite chickens, Annie and Brownie. I made them from recycled sweaters. They turned out pretty cute, if I do say so.

Eli has been begging for a wii and Santa pulled through. The kids were pretty excited. Eli also got tons of legos, a mini pool table, a bow and arrow and hockey skates.

Sadie got squinkies, new earrings, a Barbie, some craft things, and this outfit from her Uncle Greg. She rocks it!

She also got these cute calico critters that I think are so cute. I found 50 pictures like this on the camera when I was putting them onto the computer!

Sadie and Eli gave each other homemade gifts this year. Sadie made Eli a tooth pouch that he can put his tooth in when he loses his tooth so the tooth fairy can find it. Eli made Sadie this pink flower barrett.

We went skating after Christmas to try out Eli's and Dennis' new iceskates. It was a perfectly wonderful time.

Some other present highlights:

:: Dennis got a Kindle Fire
:: Sadie picked out Grandma and Grandpa ornaments and paid for them with her own money!
:: I got 3 different levels of wool socks from Dennis. He must be tired of hearing "My feet are cold!"
:: Eli got me an alligator looking oven mit and garlic crusher. Sadie got me a jewelry box.
:: Dennis and I celebrated our 9th anniversary on Dec. 28. I bought him a cheap picture from Etsy. He bought me a painting from a local artist. I'm spoiled!