Sunday, December 28, 2008

Chicago!

What a fun time we all had. And Jack was having as much fun as we were! At Navy Pier in the Winter Wonderfest, he was sliding down a slide. He said his first full sentence: "This is so fun!" And that made my day! I will try to get some pictures up. But I was happy to see what a good traveler he was.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas!!!

Hope everyone has a merry Christmas!!!! We've had a great one so far and are looking forward to the rest of it!!!

How Embarrassing!

I didn't know almost-2 year olds got embarrassed, but while at the mall and giving Jack way to much to drink which caused him to wet through his pants, I changed him and allowed him to play in the play area in his dry diaper and shirt. He looked at me uncertainly and said, "Mommy, I 'ant pants." So funny!
And how can these kids endure so much trauma to the head and be okay! He fell backwards off a play area thing which was not ground level and hit his head, got up, and said "Kaboom!" which is a line from one of his books that he liked. Then he ran into the pillar at church- smack dab, head on. Don't they know moms can't handle too much of that?

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

"I anna pay."

It blessed my heart yesterday when we were eating that Jack said, "I anna pay." I thought he was saying he wanted to play since he does say that a lot. So I said, "Do you want to get down and play?" And he said, "No, I anna pay." And he folded his hands to show me. So we prayed again even though we already had. Even though he's not even 2, and even though he doesn't really understand, it made me excited. It is such a huge responsibility God has given us; and when you realize they have their own will and that all you can really do is pray and guide them, it is a blessing to see even this small progress at this age. So I will just continue to pray that his desire matures with him.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

SNOW!




Jack didn't quite know what to do with it and the snow is too powdery, so no snowman quite yet. But we walked around and had a good time.

This is what happens when daddies are "babysitting" (aka watching the game), and the mommies are shopping. HA Go Vikings! These two are ready to set up house!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

We had a great Thanksgiving spending time with both families! Ate too much food as always, but that's probably the best day to overeat if you're going to! Jack and I were a teency bit sick Monday and now are pretty much back to normal. Just about 3 weeks left to do shopping, so we're on the job!

The best kept secret of where to go on Black Friday - the Mall of America - who knew? We got there around 7 with a good place to park and everyone just sort of ambling around. We got everything we were looking for and much much more! Keep me away from Janie and Jack - that store is too cute!! If you haven't been there, it's the cutest store for baby clothes I've ever seen. Mostly, I just look; but every now and then, I splurge and get something on sale-ha! So then by the time everyone else is starting to get there, we're done and can hit the other stores that aren't at the mall.

Jack is saying so many things including unexpected things like Sunday when we were out to eat with the Pastor. He says, "Hey, Pator! It dow!" That means sit down. I told him that "Please join us" sounds much better. So now we have to learn what to say and when.

And my dad teaching him how to pray: "Say Jesus...Jesus. Say thank you...thank you. Say for....five...." He's learning to count and didn't know the difference between the "fors".

Anyway, lots of fun! Looking so forward to this season with Jack. We're having a great time! Hope you are, too!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Odds and Ends...

The 8th Floor - Elves at Macy's getting ready for Christmas



Loves hats - even Daddy's


Finally learned to say "CHEESE" for the camera!
Matt took me to see Wicked - so FUN! Probably one of the best plays we've seen! And then we went to an Italian restaurant recently featured on Diners Drive-Ins and Dives - Donatelli's - YUM!
Still can't get enough of this costume!
Falling asleep at 7 pm watching Elmo. It's kind of funny that he crawled up there and under the covers.
Yesterday - Harvest Home Sunday at church

Thursday, November 13, 2008

...to winter!!! Just like that!


Jack's first understanding of snow. I stood out there for a little while showing him what you can do with snow, I took a video, then I went inside and took my coat off to watch from the door. Immediately, here he comes, "MAMA! Coat! Pitures!" He doesn't say a lot that's understandable, but I can usually understand him. So I took this picture. What a fun time to share these things with him!

From fall...



Monday, November 3, 2008

Fall Festivities

So much fun! Our Little Bear...

Us with Uncle Brent as a whoopie cushion - how fitting!

with Uncle Brent and Aunt Nanny

Hayride at church


Jack's church grandparents

Monday, October 27, 2008

Apple Orchard Fun

We had a great time with the family at the apple orchard in Stillwater! Nice day, yummy apples, and lots for Jack to do there!


Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Two Peas in a Pod....

Well, not exactly, but they still have fun together! You can see they are both holding potential weapons for if and when necessary!

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Different Happenings

We had a good weekend at church. On Saturday we had a youth activity where we made our own pizzas (YUM!) and played some Family Feud. Then, on Sunday, we had a surprise for our pastor. We had taken an offering to honor his 11 years at the church and to celebrate he and his wife's 35th wedding anniversary. It was a lot of fun and a big surprise for them. We also had a cake reception for them after the evening service. Here is a picture of Pastor Cary Flinck and his wife Nancy.



We are also busy with AWANA at our church this year. Matt is the commander this year and we had a great opening night this last Wednesday. We had a lot of kids, some of them first-timers, show up for the ice cream party. We are praying that they will continue to come throughout the year and bring a lot of their friends.

Jack has been getting bigger every day. He loves to learn new words and make us laugh. Here is a video of Jack being a bad Baptist by dancing with Elmo.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books



I thought I would also share a funny story of Jack eating a snack the other day. He was eating his peaches and loving them. He started to get a little hyper and thought he would be funny by slapping his hand to his face. He forgot that he still had a peach in his hand and the following photos show the result.




Of course, I could have cleaned him up right away, but I knew my first priority was to run and grab the camera!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Happy First Day of October!!!


Sadly, the Twins didn't make it to the playoffs; but there we were cheering them on! Oh well. Still had some good snacks!
So we're keeping pretty busy with church - Awana starts tonight! And we have a special Sunday planned for this coming week, so we are busy getting that all together. And it's been nice to spend time with family lately. Otherwise, I'm babysitting and keeping busy with other projects. It's nice to have a day like today where I had not one thing planned...on purpose! The rest of the week will be busy, so I'm just enjoying today!
Jack is making us laugh more and more saying all kinds of things. He stands on top of his little potty while I'm getting ready in the bathroom and sings out of one of his books. I can make out the word "Jesus" every now and then, so it's good to know it's a Christian song - HA. Well, have a good week, and hope everyone is doing well. As my family always races to say first, "Happy First Day of October!" I know. I don't really have an explanation. It's just a weird family thing that I just let you all in on. But we hope you have a happy day anyway.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Happy Fall!

What nice weather and a relaxing couple of weeks just babysitting, shopping, and being outside. I have decided to get organized and do some more reading every day. This summer I just read for fun, but I will be doing a couple of Bible studies beginning this fall and trying to get through the many books that I own before buying more. It's fun, and I enjoy it a lot; but it's definitely work, too!

I also want to start exercising more - wow, what a bad feeling as I jumped rope a little yesterday! Even though the fair is gone, it is still ever-present with me! HA! Probably last year's fair, too! So I need to get with it. Jack thinks I'm pretty funny-looking jumping rope.

Of course, Jack is the best and most important part of my "day job". I am reminded constantly of what an opportunity and a precious life God has given us to try to influence for Him. And thanks to my husband for being so supportive of this most important time in Jack's life for me to be home with him. I wouldn't trade it (or them) for anything.

So last night, we roasted marshmallows in our fire pit outside. It's a fire code that you have to have food when you build a fire. I just thought that was normal procedure, so it worked out! But it was a nice, relaxing thing to do just to sit and talk to Matt while Jack ran around. I am usually a busy person who doesn't know how to sit for very long, but I'm learning to appreciate the simple life!

Saturday - apple orchard time. This one is a special day for a friend's work, so I'm sure we will hit some more as the leaves change! I don't mind. I love fall and the things that go along with it. I just wish it would last 6 months instead of winter!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Elmo!


We got to see Elmo at a new Herberger's opening! He's probably the only little character Jack knows, but he still wasn't too sure about hugging him!

Grandparents Day

Happy Grandparents Day to the best Grandparents ever! Thank you for being so wonderful and for just being you!
Great Grandma's walker is a fun ride!

Twins game





Our church had an activity going to the Twins game. How fun! We like peanuts, Cracker Jacks, Dome dogs...oh, and Twins baseball! We won, and we got to see a grand slam!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

The fair is over - SIGH - and so now the diet starts! WOW - I have been so bad! We were able to go again over the weekend and saw our favorite a capella group Tonic Sol-Fa, and I finally got to go with my dad! I had the best time. And I got to hear him gush about the cows. I loved them, too! He even bought me a t-shirt since I was joking that I needed one that said I'd rather be at the state fair. They didn't have one that said that, but I got a cute one anyway. It was just a great time with my dad.

We had heard we were going to receive an offer on our house this past week, but we haven't heard anything else about it. So hopefully this week.

So now fall and football season! Matt is excited, so that makes it fun. We are going to have a youth activity watching Monday Night Football! That's what happens when two avid Vikings fans are planning the activities! His work had an employee appreciation day the other day and he brought home 3 gallons of leftover Breyers chocolate ice cream! Not fair, but we will use it for the Vikings game and make those kids with fast metabolism eat it!

Jack started singing. He rocks his head back and forth and jabbers in a sort of rhythm. I don't know what he's singing, but it's fun to hear!

So that's about it. I'm going to start walking twice a week, I think, again. So that will make me feel better. So life is back to normal after all of the excitement, and it's actually kind of nice! Have a great day, everyone!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Fair continued....

These are a couple of pictures I took with my phone and forgot about them. This is of Jack at the Little Farm Hands exhibit. He could care less about the farm stuff. He just wanted to ride the tractor.
Learning the joy of a pronto pup....