September 2015

Yes, yes, I know. But life just gets crazy sometimes! But here is a recap of this past September for us.

This fall the kids and I joined a local MOPS group. I saw about this particular group on FaceBook and how it caters to homeschool kids too (typically once your kid hits school-age, there isn't a class for them anyway). Odin was NOT a fan of me leaving him in his class. But he was brave and kept his tears to himself. But, that made me not want to deal with leaving Genevieve too, so I kept her with me. Adelyn loved her class. Odin... didn't speak a word and was glued to one of the teacher's sides. The second meeting was easier. And in the second meeting I got my assigned table - Table 6! I am very blessed with awesome ladies at my table. Seriously. There are 8 of us and only 1 of the moms I don't think I would want to spend time with outside of MOPS. MOPS has been a nice escape for me and the kids have enjoyed it too.

We also found out about a weekly art class for homeschoolers. The lady (Mrs. Wolfe) is very nice and patient. She starts each class with talking about the artist and what is unique about him/her or the style of art. Then the kids get a blank canvas and they work to recreate the weekly featured art piece. Adelyn has been having so much fun with it. And... I have to say, I feel like the classes have improved her art.

Our Anniversary was also this month. That gets its own post.

The kids and Grandma Obert and I went on a field trip to the local dairy. We got to learn how they made ice cream! Best part was that after the tour, we got to eat some. So yummy! It was cool to be able to walk through and see the different steps in bottling the milk too. So thankful that there are moms out there that take the time to set up field trips for the homeschool kids!

We also celebrated Speak Like a Pirate Day. We had a treasure hunt. One of the prizes was a pirate game. We had fun playing that and earning our own gold doubloons. 

Cinco de Mayo 2015

A few weeks ago, we celebrated Cinco de Mayo. It was a fun day.

In the morning we made paper mache pinatas. I was a little worried about the mess that this would make. Turns out, it wasn't messy at all, on account of neither kid wanting to use the paste (1 part flour, 5 parts water, boiled). So I ended up making the pinatas. Side note: in the future make these at least one day ahead of time. I only did only layer of newspaper and it was still damp in some areas. Adelyn filled hers with toys. Little did she know that we had candy to put in. So when hers broke open, she was so surprised to find candy inside.

For dinner we had my parents over. I made stuff for make your own chipotle knock-off bowls. So yummy. Genevieve really liked her black beans.

Pi Day 2015

This past Saturday it was Pi Day. Not just any Pi Day... the date was 3/14/15... the first 5 digits of Pi. That is cause for a celebration. So that's what we did!

We started our day with a quiche. For lunch we had chicken empanadas. That evening, we had a party. I made a seven layer dip "pie", pizza, blueberry pie (with Pi cutout) and an ice cream pie. Our friends rounded out the menu with a shepherd's pie, chicken pot pie, French silk pie, cheesecake, banana cream pie... I think that was it.

We ended up with 13 people at our place. Ben's friend Noah came with his two kids (ages 6 and 3). Adelyn and Odin had a great time with them. It was nice that I could be an adult and hostess. Joe and Gloria came and brought bubbles for the kids. They are so sweet. They also read my kids a goodnight story (Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi). It was a very fun evening. 

October Fun

Yikes! I am way behind on this. I thought about skipping October and going straight to November, but there are some things I wanted to document, so here I am. In no particular order...

Oktoberfest - One thing I like about other countries is their culture. Being in America, I feel like we have a lack of culture. A while back I decided that perhaps we can do things as a family that is a reflection of our heritage. If nothing else, it's a fun family thing to look forward to. For our Oktoberfest I wanted to have a German breakfast. For us, that means brotchen. I looked up a few recipes and was all set to make it when I thought about the logistics. Quickly I decided that I didn't want to wake up in the middle of the night to make it. Fortunately, I found a German bakery. The kids and I headed over there in the morning. We picked up the brotchen along with kinder chocolate and real German gummies. We had a yummy breakfast with brotchen, salami, and cheese. For lunch we had Nuremberg brats from Trader Joe's. They are Ben's favorite from his time in Germany. After lunch I taught the kids how to polka. We finished our fest with the Chicken Dance. We were going to make pretzels, but ran out of time. Next year!

Halloween - This year we once again headed over to the Lantz's for Halloween. We headed over there in the afternoon for some play time. Then we went to their club house for an early dinner. Dinner was good, but service was slow! After that it was time to change. Adelyn was Rapunzel again (she liked the pink and purple costume the best), Odin was Thomas the Train and Genevieve was Cinderella. We had a lot of fun. The kids got a lot of candy. We actually still have most of it left! The kids were more interested in playing with it than eating it.

Genevieve - Genevieve had her 2 month well check. She did great during the ridiculously long appointment. The appointment was at 11:30 and we got out of there after 1. We are switching doctors for sure! She weighed in at 11 pounds 4 oz and was 22 inches long.

Vegetables - The kids and I headed over to Gilcrease Orchards to pick some veggies. We ended up there the week before Halloween. It was packed! Everyone was busy getting their pumpkins. We picked beets, zucchini, sweet potatoes and a pumpkin. With two little helpers, it was a kind of pathetic haul, but it was fun. For a treat we had some of their apple donuts. Those were pretty amazing. I will definitely go back,but next time I will bring Ben and the baby carrier for G.

Mother's Day 2014

Last week was Mother's Day. It was a terrific day! It actually started on Saturday when Ben gave me these:

On Sunday morning, we started off the day with breakfast at the Peppermill. Ben and I have been there before, so we knew to expect huge portions (rumor is an omelet is made from about 10 eggs). We ordered an omelet and a waffle with fruit and whipped cream. That amount of food was just about perfect for the 4 of us. 

Quick Adelyn story: on Saturday we had gone to the library for story time. They made some crafts for Mother's Day. One was a paper frame that Adelyn colored. Adelyn wanted to bring it with us to give to another mom for Mother's Day. When we got to the Peppermill, she gave it to the hostess that seated us. The hostess was touched. I thought it was super sweet too.

The weather had been super windy the past few days. Sunday was no exception. I felt like a bit of a walk, so we headed over to the Venetian to walk around the canal. We ended up taking a gondola ride. The kids liked it a lot. Our guy was actually from Italy. And had a great voice. He sang two songs to us as we rode along. 

After that, we were pretty much ready to leave. As we were leaving, Ben asked if it were too early for lunch. We were walking by Haagan Dazs. I said that it was never too early for ice cream lunch! So we had some ice cream then headed home. 

We ended up having a family nap (aahhhhh!!!!). After that we packed up some stuff and headed outside to grill up some steaks. It was a perfect family day. I'm so thankful for my honey bunny and kiddos.

Cinco and MOPS

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo. We sort of celebrated.

In the morning Ben wanted to go rock climbing (indoor. He joined a local place). We decided to take the kids along so they would know what we were talking about. We got there about 10:30 to discover that it didn't open until 11. So... we found a park a few blocks away. Turned out to be a pretty awesome park. Very creative equipment in a woods theme. And there was a splash pad too. We will definitely be back there! Once it was 11 we headed back.

We watched Ben climb a few runs. Then the kids said they wanted to try. So, we got them geared up. Adelyn did great. Until she decided that she was scared of how high she was (maybe 3 feet off the ground). We tried to show her how the belay system worked. That backfired. She was caught off guard and ended up hitting her leg against the wall. Oops. Odin did great too! Until he was too short to reach the next hand grip. But we were proud of the kiddos for trying. We will try again when they are a little older.

After climbing we went to Chipotle. Yum. That was part of our Cinco celebration. When we got home we had a pinata for the kids. Note to self: an almost 4 year old and a 2 year old can't really break open a pinata on their own. They thought it was fun hitting it.  Daddy had to give it a few good whacks to get it open. The kids were excited to find bouncy balls, watercolors, place mats, bath stuff and some Oreo cookies.

Today the kids and I attended our first MOPS meeting. I have thought about it for some time. And now that we're here for a month, I figured we could check it out. The one we attended meets twice a month during the school year. So, this week and in two weeks we can attend. Then not again until the fall.

I wasn't sure what to expect. Turns out it's a pretty large group. I think there were about 35 of us. When I went to drop off the kids I found out that Adelyn and Odin would be in separate classes. Hmmm... He's really not used to being without mommy AND big sister. I let the lady in that room know that he might not be thrilled with the arrangement and that she could get me. He made it about 40 minutes before they said he was crying. So he got to join mommy and the other moms. I am very thankful that he is a pretty chill guy. He had some fruit with me and then was happy to take notes on the guest speaker and finally put some puzzles together on my phone.

Adelyn had a good time, but she did say it was a long time (it was 2 hours). I had fun. The ladies at my table were very nice. And we all come from very different backgrounds. We had some nice discussions and laughs. Now to get Odin on board with going back...

The Twelve Days of Christmas

We had a very long Christmas season this year. My sister and her family came to town (by town I do mean Minnesota) the 13-15. We had family Christmas and celebrated my brother's birthday. Then on the 19, we headed up to the lake to celebrate with Ben's parents. While there, Ben decided he wanted to drive his convertible to Vegas. We're going to try and sell it and figured we could do that sooner there than in MN. The weather looked clear, so we scrambled to get our affairs in order.

Ben left Sunday evening and headed to Des Moines and stayed with our friends, Chuck and Michelle. Monday was his long day. He drove about 15 hours. Tuesday was the rest of the way to Vegas. He got there mid-afternoon.

Meanwhile, I was packing the kids and myself into one suitcase. I needed to fit stuff for Vegas (50-60 degrees), Utah (10-30 degrees) and Florida and a cruise (70+ degrees, plus a dress for every night).  For the three of us. Did I mention one suitcase? Yeah... one because that's all the room we have in the car. Especially since we were adding ski gear too. I made it.

The kids and I had an easy flight to Vegas. Before takeoff the kids were singing and laughing. They were being a little loud, so I shushed them. The flight attendant looked up and said, "Don't shush them! It's Christmas Eve and that's the most beautiful sound in the world!" Let's hope the rest of the passengers agreed. :)

Ben picked us up from the airport and brought us back to the Platinum. After getting us in the room and putting the kids to work decorating a foam tree, Ben went to pick up Chinese take-out. It was pretty good, but it wasn't China Star.

After the kids went to bed, Ben brought out some presents for them that he not only bought, but also wrapped all by himself. I had no idea he was going to do that. It was so sweet! We set the presents out and I put the stockings out (yes, I sacrificed clothes for stockings). We went to sleep.

The next morning Adelyn was so excited that Santa came. We opened presents, had orange rolls and just relaxed. It was the perfect Christmas.

Done? Done?

Last Sunday the kids and I went to church with Grandma and Grandpa Obert (Ben had a work emergency). Grandma and Grandpa read the scriptures for the Advent wreath. Because of that we were sitting near the front. The kids were doing great with the singing and everything. Then came the sermon. I ended up taking Odin out and Adelyn wanted to come with. So the three of us went to check out the Sunday School Class.

After the service was over, the Pastor chatted with us. He said that my kids had been so well behaved and there wasn't a reason for me to rush them out. It's then that I told him that Odin kept pointing to him and saying (loudly), "Done? Done?" That is when I thought we should leave. We all had a great laugh. 

Happy 2013!

I realized the other day that I really should blog more. Not for the handful of people that might still be checking in on me, but for myself. I have journals for both kids, but I haven't been recording anywhere what I'm up to. So here I am.

New Year's Eve found us without any plans, as usual. We are so bad at NYE plans. Every year we wait until the last minute to start thinking about what we're doing. This year was no exception. So, I got things for lil smokies in BBQ sauce and chili cheese dip. Figured I'd call that good enough. Well, Ben didn't think that was good enough. So, he went to the store. He came home with shrimp and cocktail sauce, gourmet carrots, French bread, lobster tails, chocolate dipped strawberries and champagne. Not just any champagne, but the good stuff. I am so spoiled by him.

We ended up making the chili cheese dip as an appetizer. As I was getting the kids to bed (after watching Toy Story 2), Ben went to work in the kitchen. He even set the table with candles. When I came downstairs, everything was ready (again, I'm spoiled). After a delicious meal, we headed down for a movie (Coming to America). I lasted about 1/2 hour. I woke up when Odin started to cry. Poor guy has a cold so he's on a bit of a weird schedule. Anyway, he ended up being up with us for a while. Once he was down again, we only had 15 minutes to go before the new year. We turned on the TV and watched the ball drop. Then we went to bed.

It was a very nice evening. Sure, it would have been fun to go out or something, but with all of our travels, it was nice to just enjoy our family together.

My First Mother's Day

I know I have a lot of other topics that I need to catch up on, but I thought I would first write about my first Mother's Day.

My "day" started with dinner Saturday night with my parents, Grandma and aunt and uncle and cousin. It was nice to see everyone and we had a lot of fun at dinner. Adelyn did great during the 2+ hour event.

Sunday Adelyn slept in until 8! It was so nice that all of us could sleep in. Then she and daddy ran to the store to buy orange rolls (the store was out when Ben tried to buy them the day before). After our delicious breakfast, we went for a walk before it decided to rain. Then we had family nap time. After that we ran over to say hi to my parents again. Then after Adelyn went to bed, Ben made a divine meal of grilled steak, baked potatoes with broccoli and cheese and rolls and a bottle of Merlot. So tasty. Then Ben and I watched a movie (Tangled) and ate ice cream. To finish off my day, I had a very nice and hot bubble bath. I went to bed a very happy mommy!

I also got some very thoughtful presents. Adelyn gave me a butterfly toe-ring. Ben gave me a gift card for a mani-pedi. And they both gave me some red roses. My aunt gave me a garden light. My parents gave me some new gardening gloves, some chocolate milk. I am a very blessed mommy.

Adelyn's First Valentine's Day

Last Friday Adelyn and I started preparing for Valentine's Day by making cards for the grandparents. I thought they were pretty cute, course it helps that Adelyn was the main attraction. :) I took a picture of her and had those printed out. Then I traced her feet onto pink paper. I cut those out and taped them together to make a heart. Then I wrote, "Be my Valentine" and had her sign her name. Cute, right?

I had talked to Ben about a possible new tradition - I thought it would be fun to make Valentine's Day a family event, not just for us. I figured we already had our anniversary to celebrate our love, so why not have a celebration of family love on Valentine's Day. He wasn't entirely convinced that was a good idea. But turns out it didn't really matter, because poor Adelyn was sick! She has a cough and runny nose and a fever. Poor girl. She woke up around 6 but then basically slept until 11 or so. So, Ben and I took advantage of Grandma's offer to hold and snuggle our little sick girl so we could do lunch.

We decided to go to Crave. But when we got there, their ventilation system was broken, so their menu was very limited. So, we ended up at Redstone instead. We had the cornbread (can you go there and not get that?), Jerk fondue, chopped salad, fries and key lime pie for dessert. Everything was very good. After Adelyn went to bed, we watched a movie and had popcorn and ice cream (we were still full from our late and big lunch).

Aside from Adelyn being sick, it was a great day.

Adelyn's First Christmas

I loved celebrating Christmas with Adelyn this year. And from what I could tell, she loved it too!

On the 23rd, my mother-in-law came into town. She came in early so I could get any loose ends tied up without my little helper. But, I was already done with almost everything. But she still got to babysit so that Ben and I could go to the movies.

Christmas Eve day we celebrated with Ben's parents. Breakfast was coffee cake brought by Mickey. Lunch was "Those Sandwiches", veggies and dip and Jell-O Ribbon Salad. All was made ready the day before, we I just had to bake the sandwiches and set the table. Dinner was our traditional Chinese take-out.

Before dinner, we opened presents since Adelyn goes to bed usually before 7. She was much more involved in this process than I was expecting! She loved to tear the paper off the presents. It was so cute! Ben got a bit of video that I will put up on YouTube.

Christmas Day we went to my parents for brunch then to my Grandma's for dinner. It was a long day (we left home around 10:30 AM and got back around 7:30 PM). Adelyn was so excited to see Auntie Krys and Uncle Pranob (haven't seen them since August) and with everything else, that she didn't want to nap. I was sure that she was going to have a major melt-down at some point, but she didn't! As we were getting ready to leave my Grandma's she got super tired and whiny, but my cousin Leah kept her occupied until we were ready to leave. I thought she did great with all the commotion and new people.

This year, the Christmas story had a whole new meaning to me. I'm sure that Mary didn't know everything that her son would do for us, but if she had even an inkling of his sacrifice, I really don't know how she managed to hold it together. I would do anything to protect my Adelyn. I want to protect her from the evil and hurts in this world. I know that I can't and shouldn't protect her from everything and that breaks my heart. So instead, I pray that she will be strong enough to handle it and to mend quickly.

Merry Christmas!

Easter 2010

Apparently, last Sunday was when daylight savings time was supposed to happen. My clock changed the time on me so I was up an hour earlier than planned. But I used that time to clean the kitchen so I didn't have to do it later on.

After church, Ben and I beat my parents home. We let ourselves in with our key (yes, still have a key to the parent's house). Ben decided he wanted to play with his new camera outside, so we went out in the backyard. Didn't realize that by closing the door behind us, we were locking ourselves out. So we got to be outside longer than intended waiting for my parents to come home.

Mom was getting something out of the fridge and noticed that the light didn't go on. They have been having issues, so my mom figured it had died again. Good news - it wasn't dead. Bad news - the power was out. Good news - everything had finished cooking.

Other than that, we had a great Easter. It was nice to be with the family again. Those times will be treasured more since my sister and her hubby are moving to Chicago.

It's [was] the Holiday Season!

I love Christmas! Ben is such a dear and willingly turns the radio on during Christmas (something that he usually does not do) just so I can have Christmas tunes following me everywhere.

It started off that we weren't hosting anything this season. But then, Christmas magic happened and we were hosting three events. One was cancelled due to weather. So we were down to two - Christmas morning and a family gathering that took place last weekend. We love to host and it is nice not have to go anywhere. And now the house is clean. :)

Aside from enjoying time off, family time and Christmas, I also completed my 2009 Resolutions. I have made two new recipes every month. I have run 100 miles. It felt great to have goals that stretched the whole year to keep me motivated and going. Now I'm trying to determine some for this year. I had thought about keeping these ones, but does it really count as a resolution if you have already done it? Still pondering that one.

V Day

I had a very sweet Valentine's day... It started off with some yummy dessert that Krista brought in to work. She said she would give me the recipe. :) My mom came into work to drop off some cookies and Ramona (front desk) gave me a kiss (Hershey's toffee). Then after lunch someone from my group brought in a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.

Ben and I were about to start making dinner when we decided to go look at a few Parade of Homes. We were able to make it to three before they closed for the night. Two of the builders we liked a lot. One we got some information on, but the other one there wasn't anyone at the house, so we'll have to contact them for more information.

When we got home we made chicken tacos and margaritas. Very Tasty. Zoey got canned dog food. It smelled kind of like bacon. She gobbled it down very quickly. By the time we finished with dinner it was too late (for me at least) to start a movie. So we decided to skip that part.