Blog Post Coming SOON

I know I've been really awful, and it's not because we haven't had lots of stuff to tell you about. I don't know why I've been so bad actually. A post is coming, probably tonight? Hang in there.

Spring Break 2008!

Our family has been BUSY!!! Let's see if I can remember everything...Friday night-kicking off our week of family fun, Mike and I, his sister Darci, and cousin Zac went to the Wild game, while Sharon babysat the kids. We sat in Mike's company's club seats which were very nice, and got to watch a good game, which was Darci's first hockey game ever. Saturday morning I got a haircut and in the afternoon, Annalise and I went to her friend Orrin's birthday party at Edinborough Park. Saturday night, Mike went to his friend Blake's birthday party (not spiderman-themed, and not at Edinborough Park), but rather a boys out on the town type of event, where sleeping over on Blake's floor was required. Sunday must have been low-key, because I can't remember anything from it, and Monday was a fun family day at the zoo. Monday night, A's teacher from Little Flowers babysat, and Mike and I went to a movie (Atonement) at the cheap theatre, because we are behind on current releases. Annalise and Bennett had such a good time with Summer! Tuesday started out with a successful trip to the children's dentist for Annalise, followed by a visit to Nickolodeon Universe and the Teddy Bear Band on Toddler Tuesday at the Mall of America. The kids really liked the TBB, and then we hit the park. Right off the bat, B freaked out on the carousel, and that caused us to drastically truncate our amusement park experience. A went on Blue's Skidoo with Mike, and then we headed to lunch. We'll have to take A back sometime by herself, as we have plenty of points left to use. Tuesday night, Summer's assistant at Little Flowers, Megan, babysat for the kids, and Mike and I went to Fujiya with Eric and Katie. A good time was had by all.

Wednesday kept us at home (oh, Mike worked from home this whole week, I guess that wasn't clear) because our countertop guys and our plumber returned, and finally got the garbage disposal installed (the soapstone was too thick for the drain ring thingy). The radiator is going to need some adjusting because it's tied to the kitchen heat, and once it was hooked up, the kitchen got HOT. Oh, I just remembered, not all of us had to stay home on Wednesday. Thanks to Mike hanging out with the kids at home, I got to go out to lunch at Salut with my friend Becky, who was also on spring break. We then did some fun shopping for ourselves at 50th and France, and the Galleria in Edina.

Thursday, we hit the road for Madison, and stayed at a hotel for some pool fun. Friday, I went to my sister's Neuroscience PhD thesis defense, while Mike hung out with the kids again. Bridget did such a great job explaining her research- I actually understood most of what she said. Afterwards, Steve and I picked up Mike, A, and B, and their cousin Maren, and brought them back to campus for cake and champagne, to celebrate my sister now being a DOCTOR! Congrats, again, Beeper (oh, Dr. Beeper). Annalise and Bennett got to meet their fourth babysitter since last Friday, and stayed at Bridget and Steve's while Mom and Dad, Bridget and Steve, Steve's parents, Mike and I went to Eno Vino for tapas! It was a really nice evening, and I do love tapas! We picked up the kids and left Madison at 9:45 to head home for at least a little sleep in our own beds, before heading to Brainerd, to conclude Spring Break 2008.

Mike's cousin Rachel got married in Brainerd on Saturday. The wedding was great overall, and the reception was so kid-friendly- snacks, a kid corner with stuffed animals, coloring books, and little prizes, glow sticks, etc. The kids had a wonderful time, and Annalise commented the next day at the hotel, "that wedding was such a good wedding for kids!" On Sunday morning before everyone headed back to their respective homes, we had a family birthday celebration for Annalise's 4th birthday. We had a donut cake, yogurt, Craisins, fruit, yogurt granola bars, juice- pretty much all of her favorite things. The kids went swimming for a bit, and then we had a smooth drive home.

All in all, a really wonderful family week, and date week for Mike and me too! Thanks so much to Eric and Katie, Mark, Danielle, and the three kings for doggy duty over the weekend!

Annalise: "Come on Bennett, let's go upstairs and play Knuckleheads."
Bennett: (trudging up the stairs behind his sister) muttering, "knucklehead, knucklehead."

I'm glad he knows what she's talking about! Do I want to know how to play? No, I don't.

Have a great weekend!

Hockey!!!

We had a hockey mania weekend! Thanks to both sets of grandparents for watching the kids while we played Thursday night, all day Friday and all day Saturday. We always have such a fun time, and it's fun to see how the group and the size of our families changes year to year. Bennett and Annalise had a great time playing with G and G, made a great snowman in the back yard,, made pancakes, and got along fairly well with the great Easter Basket negotiation 2008. (Annalise conning Bennett out of all his good stuff.)

Bennett has turned two with a vengeance! He decided to dive right in, wholeheartedly, and we are hearing plenty of "no, don't like that!" and experiencing his stubborn streak and his set ideas of how things should be done (doesn't sound like anyone we know, does it?)

After taking a week off from activities due to goopy eyes, chunky cough, faucet-nose, and crankiness, Bennett is ready to return to music and ECFE this week- oh, and the antibiotic prescribed for the ear infection diagnosed on Monday helps too!

Have a great week all!

Thursday

Either this job is getting easier, or I am getting better!! Things are going pretty well, and we're in the home stretch. We went to Southdale in the afternoon hours yesterday, and found an Easter dress for Annalise, and then got Wendy's drive through on the way home. Today, I brought Bennett over to D's and watched the three kings for a couple of hours. After picking up A, we went home for an express lunch, and headed to gymnastics. Annalise is having a lot of fun, and I'm glad that we signed her up again. Bennett keeps saying how he wants to go in too- I'll have to figure out what we're going to do with him! Annalise's class is a mixed ages class, but it doesn't go down to two years old unfortunately. Tomorrow Bennett has ECFE while A is in school, and then after lunch I'm thinking of taking the kids to the Target Center- Mike's sister Sarah is playing in the MN state girls' basketball tournament (class 1A). I'm hoping that Mike takes a stand-by flight home- otherwise, his flight is scheduled to arrive at 8:15 pm. Arhrghgghh!

Tuesday

Day one of single parenting went very well. After dropping off my very first sale on ebay at UPS (yay!), and picking up Sopranos, season 2 at Blockbuster for Mike's flight, we took Mike to the airport. He will be in Fort Myers, FL for a work meeting through Friday evening. I picked A up from school, and we headed straight to the zoo. We had lunch, went through all the trails, and after I couldn't figure out how to get to the outside trail we took the monorail ride. It was fun, and we haven't done that in a very long time. We closed the zoo down, and both kids fell asleep on the ride home. We were done with supper by 5:30, and the kids were both tucked in bed at 7.

Birthday Party Aftermath

I was called out once again on not having timely blog posts, so here goes: Bennett had a great birthday party. The cousins had a lot of fun playing, the pickup truck cake was a hit, and Bennett enjoyed opening his presents. The rest of the week consisted of a dentist visit for the three older family members, a resulting referral to Dentistry for Children and Adolescents following said attempt at dental visit, B's music class, a return to Little Gym for A on Thursday, accompanying my mom to her first pedicure ever, prior to their cruise on Saturday, and a parent/teacher conference at Little Flowers on Friday. The family met E,K, and C at Chevy's for a Happy Hour on Friday evening. Annalise and I returned to The Little Gym on Saturday for a trial of adventure summer camp, and today A and I went to her friend Alma's 4th birthday party.

The rest of the weekend consisted of getting the juice running in the basement- we are now LIT UP! I think we chose our lighting wisely- it's just the right amount. The undercabinet lights look really nice against the tin ceiling panel backsplash. Even bigger news- the TV works! We got it plugged in downstairs and hooked up the Wii.

The birthday crew consisted of Bennett, Annalise, Maren, Christine, Cody, and Adryen.

Coming Soon to a Finished Basement Near You...

alcoholic beverages! Here's a pic with the undercabinet lights on, but just like my carpet video, it doesn't do the basement justice. We're planning on having a get together in the finished space soon. I don't know if it will be before or after the couch's scheduled arrival of April 21. Maybe before would be easier to mingle...