The beginning of the end!

Which end (the rear in most of our cases!)
Halloween isn't my favorite holiday for many reasons I won't go into right now, but one happens to be the amount of sugar/fat calories that enter the house and have to be monitored! I wish someone would monitor mine! They will all go to my rear end as I try to help reduce the amount of junk the kids and Jay intake-and its only the beginning....a few weeks till the overeat day of the year (thanksgiving) and then we go on holiday eating vacation throughout December and try to resolve to stop it January 1!!!!
UUUUGGGHHH Its madness!
Is there anyway we could make oatmeal, cottage cheese, fresh veggies and lean meat more appealing right now?

All settled in!

Well-the boxes are gone, the furniture is set, and we're into a routine.

The many projects that await us will be spread out over budget and time.

We really like our new house and appreciate the mature trees and neighborhood.

The kids ride the bus to school and that's a real treat for mom!

We truly miss our family and friends in Omaha, but the twin cities are a fun place to be-

Please be in touch and come visit!

Happy 9th birthday!

It doesn't take much to excite a 9 year old for their birthday!

Opening gifts, out to dinner, and of course waking up to breakfast in bed!

How much better can it get! Even big sis put up a big birthday sign in the bathroom-

unfortunately seen the night before due to inability to fall asleep and numerous trips to the bathroom.

Any votes on Grant's favorite gift? Watch...psp baseball game.....gum.....Ovechkin figure....hockey gloves.........This is where we're at. Isn't it great! If only us adults were so easily pleased!

Go Huskers!

Okay we are totally jazzed!

The local restaurant/bar in the area called Joe Sensors does Husker parties for every Husker game!!!!!

There is one 6 blocks from our house and they always have the game on with tons of "transplants" there. They warned us to come early!!!! Sounds like just the spot to catch the game.

Now lets just hope that Bo Pelini and all the coaches that are back don't disappoint...........

Go Skers!!!!

Time for school to start!

During our very recent move to Plymouth MN the kids got real tired of being told to "do this...do that...bring me this...take this to....."
Now if I had a dollar for every time I've heard "I'm hungry", "what are we going to do today?", or the ever painful "I'm bored" I'd be a millionaire!
School starts after Labor day in MN-yes that means Sept 2!!! Now these two have been out since May 22 with many weeks spent on house selling and hunting and the big vacation of hockey in Duluth.
It's official: it is sooooooooooo time for school to start!
I guess its one way of getting your kids excited to start school in a new place! Bore them to death!

Happy fall moms!

Sibling Love

Mom: Goodnight, I love you.....
Grant: I love you too. Tell Dad I love him. And Ellie..........
Mom: Okay
Grant: Even though she won't say anything.
Mom: That's okay, you know she really likes it deep down.
Grant: Way deep down!

Summer Baseball always good!

No matter how hot, sweaty, buggy, or young/old, the good ole summer baseball game is always good! Even watching 8 year olds......especially when they hit a home run.....especially when its your kid!!

After smacking the ball over the outfield bleachers and 2 runs in (his and another kid on first), Grant's comment was "when I was jogging to first I thought-oh yeah-that's outta here!" He commented later that he hadn't hit a homerun in a game all year and he would keep this ball forever.........ahhh the golden years :)

When calling his dad to tell him his "good news" he said " I had so much fun!"

Now that's what its all about-what a game!

Old Friends-good friends!

We had a blast today reconnecting with old friends from Lincoln (old as in had them for a very long time, not old as in age!) Actually Laura and Kathy (Kath, Katherine) have been friends since we met at Culler Junior High in seventh grade (SEVERAL years ago). What a shame that we wait until our pending move to make time to get together. That is always a regret I hear from people who have to move their family. You have to live it to learn it I guess.........
Our bravery to tolerate the clouds, cool breeze, and threat of weather at the Mahoney water park paid off with clear skies and beautiful weather by 2pm!!! YA
What a beautiful day and beautiful friends-oldies and goodies! (but not old!)
I pray that we don't let proximity and convenience take over.

Raising daddies

On the way home from another easy and enjoyable trip to the grocery with Grant, I casually stated "you'll be a great dad some day buddy."
Grant eventually replies, "I can't wait to get kids."
I very curiously ask, "why?" (thinking where is he going to "get" them)
He replies, "because I haven't ever had any"
I quickly mentioned that I hoped not!

Wells Fargo

This weekend we'll be attending another hockey tournament for the Mite AAA team Grant plays for in Duluth. The tournament is held in Fargo ND. All spring Grant has been asking "when are we going to Wells Fargo?"
The time is here!
The good news-only 6 hours (and probably $200 in gas/stops!)

What we do for our kids..........stay tuned

School is almost out!

Mom, there's only 8 days of school left.......... Mom there's only 6 days of school left..well actually 5 1/2 since we get out at 11:30 on the last day (crud I better reschedule that lunch).......Mom there's only 2 1/2 days of school left (oh my gosh I'm running out of time!!!!)
The excitement of school being out is moderately shared by mom, who will begin the commander, learning enricher, cab driver, social planner, life of summer!

Added to all that excitement is our pending move sometime this summer. We are banking on things working out the way they are pointing which is by August, to Minneapolis. We've been waiting, cleaning, putting clutter away and house surfing for months! By now we are all ready, even the middle schooler. It will be great to reconnect with friends and get to spend more time with them instead of whirlwind visits over our holiday drives up north. Hockey will be plentiful and much closer..........not to mention the 1000's of dance studios available. One of which we happen to know and love the tap teacher.

Summer will be different this year, however, change is good-and maybe we won't even hear the ever present "I'm bored....what are we gonna do today?"

Easter Bunny

What a rip off! Our Easter bunny is a lazy bum. The growing excitement over getting up and finding all the candy filled eggs ended today with the baskets overflowing and sitting on the table. No hunting necessary.........while the younger of the two found it logical that "maybe he didn't want to lose any" the older found it a rip off and dramatically rolled her eyes at us.
I think that may be why she wanted to "help" last night. HA

Spring Break

When I scheduled today's client appointment I wasn't thinking about the homecoming I would receive after being gone for over 4 hours. Today was the first day of spring break for Ellie and Grant. No school for Elkhorn Public. Evidently we are supposed to "do something"! How about a nap......... Its a cloudy 50 degrees and although some of you this may sound pleasant, it isn't the kind of weather I associate with spring break. The list of jobs I gave such as laundry, sweeping, vacuuming the stairs and windexing the doors wasn't such a big hit.
What will you all be doing? Maybe your school is smart and schedules this break later when it really is warm enough. How about your best spring break story? (kid friendly of course!)