What I Must Do All Day

I was uploading pictures today. As I was scanning through the zillion pictures that the kids took, I noticed one common theme when I was in the picture: I am in the kitchen for every single one of them. And it's not like they were taken on the same day, I'm wearing something different in each one and they're all taken at different times of day. This could mean one of two things. 1) I'm always in the kitchen or 2) I give my children the camera to keep them occupied while I'm in the kitchen. You be the judge.
I'm not even sure what I'm cooking in this picture, but the kitchen looks half-way cleaned up...In my jammies, making hummus for dinner guests that night. Very messy kitchen.Making something for supper

Playing with Fire

We did a "dangerous" art project; I let the kids decorate a heart using dripping candle wax. Part of the allure of this project is that they got to hold a lit candle. We had a safety talk about fires and matches, let one child go at a time, and had a bowl of water near by-just in case.

The kids took not burning themselves very seriously. Not a smile on either of them...
When the hearts have cooled you hang them on the window. When the sun is shining, the light comes through the wax drops and has a stained glass effect.

Family Photos

Sadie drew this picture of our family for me when I went for my Lasik surgery. I had to take it to the Drs. office and I could only look at it if I was being brave. I think we look like a Mr. Potato Head family, but this is great work for a three year old.

Eli just drew this picture today when I was scanning in the previous picture. He wanted to have one scanned too! Usually in the pictures he draws we have little mounds of spiky hair on the top of our heads.

Eli at School

Once a month, Eli's teacher sends out pictures of what they've been busy doing at school. So, I can't take credit for any of these pictures. I love receiving them as it gives me a little glimpse of Eli at school. A little background: Eli goes to a Waldorf preschool, so there aren't any academics taught. It's mostly creative play with natural materials with the main idea being that they expand their imagination. You would think those things would come natural to a kid, however, in today's society there is so much focus on academics that sometimes kids don't ever learn how to be kids. Plus, there's tv, computer, and too many toys to deal with not to mention that neighborhoods are changing and that kids aren't allowed to just run around outside all day with other neighbor kids that kids never learn to be creative or imaginative because they just don't have to be. There has been a dramatic difference in the way that Eli plays since he's been at Frances', it's such a joy to watch. There is a quote from Albert Einstein that I love that helped me realize why playing, creativity and imagination are so important not just for children but for everyone: "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand."

The great thing about Frances is that she takes the kids outside everyday no matter how cold it is. Which is awesome in my book, because Lord knows I don't want to take the kids outside when it's 5 below zero! This little patch of ice is on Lake Bemidji just down the hill from where Frances lives.
These steps were built by the CCC in the '30s and lead from Frances road down to the lake. It's crazy when you leave the road and go down the steps, it's like a little secret magical kingdom. It's pretty cool.Once a week, the kids make soup. Each child brings an organic vegetable and they all chop the vegetables and add them to the soup. Sometimes there are some pretty crazy soup combinations. Eli still doesn't eat his vegetables but I do notice that he says, "I'll try it because maybe I'll like it this time."When I showed Eli this picture he said, "I was playing a really beautiful song and all the kids were dancing with the scarves to my music."A little ball playing:Eli and his favorite friend, Leanna, who he claims is going to be "his Valentine."
The gathering drum:Outside candlemaking:

Staying Indoors on Winter Days

There has been way too much indoor playing around here. I wish they wanted to go outside more but I do have to say that they are very good at keeping themselved occupied inside. I made Sadie this puppet theater for Christmas, though here it is being used as a drive-thru window! A budding Picasso:

Lakeside Sledding

The weather has been beautiful by Minnesota standards so we braved the sledding hill. My commentary isn't the best, but I wanted to show a little bit of Northern Minnesota Life. I show a bit of the lake which is covered with ice houses and looks like Bemidji's little shanty town. I just love it. Minnesota is starting to feel like home. I love how active everyone is even when it's 30 below. People here just enjoy being outside doing whatever it is that they do.

We had four family's over to our house last night for potluck and I was thinking how blessed we are to have met some really awesome friends already. Friends for us and friends for our kids. We couldn't ask for anything more!!

Tongues

I haven't been taking many photos lately so these are from the archives.

All Geared Up

Eli asked Santa for a hockey stick and puck for Christmas. Mom and dad got him the helmet so he wouldn't have to wear his bike helmet on the ice anymore. He's a pretty proud skater now and getting more and more confident each week. Sadie, on the other hand, would prefer to sit in the warming house!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

"It's cold in Minnesota" has been our mantra since we moved to Bemidji in July. Well, it's actually quite true. We've been hunkering down, wearing lots of layers, and staying inside the last few days to stay warm. I forgot how cold it can get in the north country. The good thing is that I don't have to fight with the kids to wear their hats, mittens and boots; when it's minus 31 the kids want to wear their hats and boots and long johns and sweaters...
If you need us, we'll be hiding under the blankets with a cup of hot chocolate watching movies and hibernating!!

#7

On December 28, Dennis and I celebrated anniversary number 7. I must say it's been a good 7 years. Here's to the next 43!

Winter Wonderland

We arrived home from our Christmas trip to a house covered in snow. Thank goodness we have an awesome neighbor who blew all of the snow out of our driveway and blazed a trail up to our front door. Doesn't our house look so pretty?Santa Claus brought the kids snowshoes and cross country skis. The snow conditions weren't quite right for either as they both promptly sunk knee-deep in snow. They didn't really care though.

It turns out that eating snow and licking icicles is much more fun:

Christmas In a Nutshell

A family art project-- Eli did the reindeer, sled, santa and some stars, Sadie did the snowmen, moon, and ornamentsWe opened presents early this year so we could spend the holiday in Napoleon with Dennis' family.

We had to leave earlier than we anticpated because of all the winter storm warnings and blizzard warnings. We made it just in time as mother nature decided it was time to snow and blow. Luckily, Dennis' parents made the big move into the "city" so we weren't stuck out on the farm. (Which was good, because Sperles like to shovel. I think they shoveled out every single driveway in Napoleon 3 times!) They moved in right across from the church (which was good otherwise we would have missed midnight mass--ok we missed that anyways). The snowdrifts got kind of big as can be viewed here: Sadie and her cousin, Cole, were the only ones who braved the wind to go outside and play. They could have made it onto the church roof, but the parents were kind of against it. We ended up being snowed in for an extra day. But, we got in a lot of game playing. I am now a wake boarding expert (but only on the wii, not actually in the water), still can't beat Betty or Caroline in May I, and an Old Maid champ!

Cookies

The Christmas holiday wouldn't be complete without the making and decorating of cookies. We invited Eli's best friend from school and her family over for a little cookie decorating and merry making. As usual, the kids had a blast, decorated only a handful of cookies with way too much frosting, and didn't eat a bite of their dinner.
Dusting off a little flour:Oh the anticipation:Only in Minnesota do you have a Christmas moose:

Leanna using just a little bit of pink:There is no such thing as too many sprinkles:

Swimming

There is a resort just down the road about a mile that offers locals memberships to use their facilities. In the summer, they have a private beach, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, paddle boats, kayaks, etc. In the winter, they have an indoor pool, hot tub, sauna, excercise room, and outdoor skating. We thought about signing the kids up for swimming lessons this winter but for the price of lessons we could get a membership at Ruttger's and take the kids swimming as often as they wanted to go. Well, we don't go as often as they would like to go because I would be swimming every day in the morning, afternoon and evening, but we do manage to go about every-other day. The pool is pretty warm and there is rarely anyone else in the pool with us. The kids have just recently starting wearing their life jackets in the water and it's awesome. They're "swimming" and I don't have to carry them around in the pool. We do have "practice swim" time where they try to swim without their life jackets, but the rest of the time is spent doing stuff like this:

Now that we have a new computer and it's a thousand times faster than our old one, I might be putting on a lot more videos!!

A Wrestling Match

A Weekend with Grandma and Grandpa

For the first time in 10 years, I had Thanksgiving with my mom and dad and brother. Dennis had to work the Friday after Thanksgiving so we had everyone over here for dinner. It was the first time I ever made Thanksgiving dinner and I have to say it turned out pretty good. The turkey was a bit dry, but the chipotle sweet potatoes rocked!
My parents took the kids home with them for the weekend so I could paint the guest room and repaint the awful color I painted the kids' room. I am still amazed at how much I was able to accomplish in just a few days. Apparently the kids spent the weekend being spoiled. I don't ask too many questions. What happens at Grandma's, stays at grandmas. On one of their expeditions they went to a local park for "sleigh" rides (I'm guessing a wagon ride might be more accurate as there wasn't any snow) and to visit Santa.Eli and Sadie told me that Santa was working out on the farm that day so he had to wear his work clothes. Much to my amazement, both kids sat on Santa's lap and told him what they wanted for Christmas. Eli wants a hockey stick and a puck. Sadie wants a princess, a Tinkerbell princess.
The good thing is that they behaved themselves enough so they get to go back to grandmas. I think she might even take them for a weekend again sometime. Although I'm not sure who has more fun...

A Trip to Minneapolis

I'm behind again at posting pictures with no excuse except for being lazy. So, here I am playing a little catch-up. Also, I feel I must add that I've been really horrible taking pictures, even on this trip I only took about 10. I'm so bad, I need to work on this.
Several weeks ago Dennis had a four day weekend. He didn't take any days off, it just happened because he was on call one weekend and ended up working Veterans Day, so we decided to take advantage of his schedule and the beautiful weather and head down to Minneapolis/St. Paul for an Ikea run, a little Christmas shopping and some extra-curricular activities on the side. We stayed with Auntie Mick and Uncle Mel, which is really enough fun, but we also went to The Minnesota Children's Museum.
It may seem like I only have a daughter, but that is because I was in charge of Sadie and Dennis was in charge of Eli. He was there.The weather was so beautiful (notice Sadie is just wearing a sweatshirt. In late November. In Minnesota.), we had to spend a little time outside. We went to the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory because it was close to the children's museum and because it's free.

I didn't take any pictures of real animals, but Sadie had to pose by every statue and hug and kiss every statue... You can never get that girl out of a gift shop...

Side note: I hate that every stinkin' museum feeds you into the gift shop at the end of the tour.The kids thought it would be funny to pose by the nude statue: I can't believe I'm going to admit the next place we took the kids. Actually, I can admit it, it's probably Dennis who would have a harder time admiting that he took the kids to The Mall of America. I mean, what's next, Disney World?? Dennis' values have gone slightly downhill since we've had kids.
Besides shopping, they do have lots of other ways to blow hundreds of dollars in a few hours. Take LegoLand for instance. The line was insane. Too bad I wasn't patient enough to wait in line to buy anything though I did find some things I wanted to buy. The kids got to play for free though.

Then we went to Nickelodeon Universe so the kids could ride the rides of their favorite Nickelodon shows. Dora and Diego were both in attendance, as well as Blue:Eli's first bumper cars. He looked petrified before he started but had fun once the cars started moving:
We also ate at the Rainforest Cafe and went to Underwater Adventures, an aquarium. Really, it was much too much for all of us. Can you imagine doing all of that AND going shopping too. Ai yai yai!!!
We did make it to Ikea and the Albertville Outlet Mall too which really weren't worthy of taking pictures at. It was a fun weekend!! Hopefully Dennis will get another one of those four day weekends again soon!