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just practicing

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Arizona-Twins game

Just returned from Arizona where my son Alex threw out the first pitch. He was so nervous and scared, but he did just fine! It was an awesome weekend even if it was 105 degrees and I was melting.

Summer vacation in Mackinac Island

We had a great end of the summer vacation with our dear friends the Sonju's from Red Wing. Six kids and four adults....lots of fun. The road trip was not as bad as Willie thought. It was a beautiful island and the weather was right up my alley....60 degrees and slightly rainy. Not a humid hot temp in sight. We also bought a dog this fall. Was not thrilled, but I was out voted.
She's a labradoodle and cuter than a button. Pictures will be posted soon!

Countertops and basketball

So I finally got my granite countertops. I have waited 12 years, and worth the wait. It's a chocolate color and it looks so clean. Now I have to take off the old backsplash tile. I am going with a glass subway tile, but the color remains a puzzle. I even got a new sink. Very happy! Oh, and Emma received her first two trophies from basketball camp. She didn't even want to go, but couldn't wait to go back next week for another camp. I am very proud of her!

April Happenings!

April came and went....and felt like summer. The weather was perfect. So was Easter in New Ulm and Alex's First Communion. It was so nice to see everyone, especially my kids' great grandmother Lois from South Dakota. I hope they remember these special times.

Turks and Caicos

Willie and I are back from Turks and Caicos. We had a blast! The hotel, beach, food, and weather were perfect. It went fast, but a much needed vacation was what we needed.

Holiday cheers!

Had the neighbors over for a holiday party. We have such great friends....lucky to live in a great neighborhood! Cheers to a great 2009, and an even better 2010!

Alex's Birthday

It was my son's birthday today....a whopping 8 years old!  We finally used our Flip Video, so enjoy 

the birthday celebration!   

Bahama mama and her family

Well, I took a little break summer blogging....actually my main computer stopped working and I have  yet to get  it fixed.  So I am counting on my macbook to get me through the next couple weeks.  We had a great summer.  Went to Duluth for a long weekend with the kids and enjoyed all the North Shore has to offer.  The kids started school and love it.  We took a little vacation over MEA to the Bahamas and the kids could not get enough of the ocean.  It was great.  It was during the off-season so the Atlantis was not very busy.  However, the weather was perfect!  I have to say my little ones are pretty good travelers....not too much fighting occurred.  

Birthdays and Baseball games

Today we celebrated Maggie's 5th birthday.  We had grandpa and Sharon over and we grilled out.  For dessert, we brought out Maggie's birthday cake.  As you can see, it's quite the cake.  A Fairy Barbie cake.  This cake is really all Maggie wanted for her birthday.  As soon as she saw it at the grocery store last week.....she was hooked.    After birthday dinner, Alex had his baseball game in Avon.  We played the Avon team that looks and plays like they are in 4th or 5th grade.  They had on real uniforms and actually have practice once or twice a week.  We're lucky if the boys on our team can chew gum and run.   However.....Alex has fun and that's what its all about!   

Sunsets with the roomies

Last Friday I met with my college roommates.  From the left, Terry, me, Bridget, and Colleen.  We were missing Julie, whose husband came down with the H1N1 virus that night.  Yikes!  However we met at Sunsets on Lake Minnetonka and ate a good meal and then ventured off to another bar down the road.   It is always so fulfilling to see my roomies who are my dear friends.  They've known me for twenty years and we've shared a lot of memories.  I always come away from these visits with a smile and a peace in my heart.  I am grateful that we still try to hook up three or more times a year.   Today, my kids are going fishing AGAIN with grandpa.  They can not seem to get enough fishing in.   Hopefully no one will get a hook in the ear!

Where's my driveway?

So today, the road crew demolished my driveway.   At first I was horrified at all the dust and continual noise, but the silver lining has been the entertainment factor.  All three kids sat in the shade with their lawnchairs and water bottles and watched for two hours.  That was priceless.  They had front row seats to a wreaking scrapper, backhoe, digger, and a dumptrack.  Alex was speechless.  A dream come true for the little guy.  

Thank god for the neighbor's pool!!

Our former neighbors, the Brethertons, came back from Montana on Monday to visit the old neighborhood.   We had a great picnic at our neighbors, the Odenthals, and then proceeded to go swimming next door at the Christiansons.   It was perfect swimming weather, 92 degrees at 7 pm.  The kids had a blast, and the parents got to visit and down a few cold drinks.  Today is worst... the weather is too hot to go outside but thank god for swimming lessons and movies, otherwise I am not sure what we would have done today.   In fact the construction workers working on our road even quit today....after they struck a gas line.  Hmmm......not too smart.  I will have to take some pictures of our front road.  It is a pain in the butt.   The kids love to watch the trucks and scrappers, but I have already killed one scrub rose bush transplanting it.  Oh well.   It will be done in three more months.....yikes.  

Summer camps,camps,camps.......

                                           Alex shooting a freethrow at Avon's bball camp.
                                         Darby Noreen, Alex, Emma and Jennie Noreen 

Darby and Jennie are the camp counselors.

                                               Emma and Kaia.  Kaia is our neighbor.

So here it is, summer.  And this means that all my children are in camps all summer long.  I did this on purpose so that A) they were not bored, B) I wouldn't have to entertain them all day long C) I could get some cleaning done....some.    However I didn't realize how much running around I have done the past two weeks.  It has been fun, to see Emma and Alex  get so much better at their athletic skills. Not that we are requiring them to be superstars, but to see so much improvement has been amazing.  Alex went to football camp at SJU last week and while the rules said third grade or higher, Jimmy Gaglairdi let him in.  Alex lives, breathes, eats, football so he was in heaven.   Watching Alex compete with such older kids made me really nervous, but he proved to be a quick little dude that few if any kids could tackle him.   Emma is in basketball camp at St. Ben's this week and was a little nervous to go without knowing a soul.  But Emma is such a sweetheart that when I pick her up, she is surrounded by cute little girls all trying to talk to her.    So I am off to golf lessons for the kids.  Maggie informed me that we are going to bake some cookies. Yum.

The cousins

Grandma Micky came up last weekend with Katie and Addie Lex, our nieces from Iowa.  It's rare that all the cousins are together, so I snapped this picture.  Addie was such a great baby, never cried!  It was nice holding a three month old baby and Emma especially loved it!  

All the Kids..

This weekend was full of fun.  The Sonju's came up for the weekend.  The adults actually got to golf Friday night in the Albany Couple's League...and we came in third place.  We got a babysitter to look after all six kids and they were great!!  Willie and Jeff left Sunday morning for a golf getaway in Brainard with their college buddies.   Too bad the weather isn't a bit warmer....it's freezing.  So I told my children we'll spend the afternoon at Bounce Depot.   The picture is my kids with Maddie, Kate and Lillie Sonju.  

trying something new here.......

I am not sure if this is going to work....but I had to show my class how to make an imovie today and I showed them mine from England, so I thought I would post it here as well.   Hopefully this works....after all I am a tech teacher.....hmmmmmm.....If this works, kudos to me!!!  Just to preface, it is really a slide show of my favorite pictures from England and I had to incorporate my favorite English writer into my slideshow.....kinda dorky, but I did like the end results.  Ciao