Stillwater is VERY FAR AWAY.

...at least it seems far when we're riding bikes there.

On Monday night we packed the kiddoes and a snack in the Burley and took off for a long-distance bike trek to Stillwater's Teddy Bear Park. Most of the journey was on the Gateway Trail, which is lovely. Some of it was on a bike path along a county road, which was Super Steep Hills. Ugh. CJ towed the burley most of the way...70 pounds of cuteness gets mighty heavy after a while.
The Teddy Bear Park is a darling place to bring kids, and it was the perfect night for it. The weather was mild and the park wasn't too crowded.

OOPS Bee uploaded pictures to CJ's profile

Listening to the kids converse in the Burley was educational and entertaining. I'm glad I got to tow them for half the homeward bound trip. Just the right amount, and CJ tackled most of the hills!

When we got home I mapped it on Mapmyrun.com and found that we had biked 27.8 miles. wowzers. That counts as a workout.

We're going BUGGY around here!

Our Super Cool School Theme this month is BUGS.
Since we had a rainy day, we dug up some worms and watched them wriggle.

We colored and used lots of bug stamps to make Big Bug Pictures. We also did lacing cards with pictures of bugs, which Nana had found at a garage sale and are absolutely GORGEOUS.

Our work time activities were matching patterns on a butterfly, sequencing shapes to make a long long worm, and matching the name with a picture of different kinds of bugs.

For lunch we ate "caterpillars" (macaroni noodles) and "ladybugs" (carrot bodies and pepperoni wings).

We sang some buggy songs (beehive song, itsy bitsy spider) and made bug houses. As much fun as the bug activities were, I'm Very Ready for Summer Weather to Stay. We want to play outside!!!

Minnesota May Be Beautiful

We had a lovely time in the yard at Bridle Ridge today...Eric, Annika, and Irene played in the beautiful spring breeze.










Baby Ice Cream loved laughing at Nana.
















Annika loved playing outside with her cousin.
















Irene teasing Annika
















Eric The Camel (watch out, he spits.)

May has been a busy busy month. With the warm weather we've been able to play outside and even tried planting some seeds. We got to see a few of our favorite cousins and are looking forward to a Very Memorable Memorial Weekend.

Here's some more pictures of our fun.

May 2009

Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself.

CJ's Grandma Irene passed away on Wednesday Morning. She enjoyed a long and meaningful life and had recently told us that she was "ready to go home to see Jesus and Chet" (her husband). We will miss her and mourn with her kids, but are so glad to have known her and love the idea of her being in HEAVEN!! It has already been a blessing to gather with extended family and share stories about the wise and feisty matriarch of this clan. We anticipate a poignant celebration full of laughter, tears, hugs, and frozen Snickers bars.

We had just been to visit her on Monday evening. She was clearly uncomfortable and confused, but rallied her spirits and was absolutely charming for her great-grandchildren. They hugged her and sang songs and told her stories, and she was able to impart some wisdom in her own way. It was a perfect chance to tell her we love her. And Annika also told her, "Grandma, you're old." Only a tiny girl with a mullet could get away with reporting such blunt news. Grandma replied, "Yes. I'm old. And someday you will...vote."

CJ told the kids about her passing away on Wednesday. As they pondered his news thoughtfully, he asserted, "...we can be sad because we will miss her, but we can be happy because we know she is in heaven!"

Annika excitedly replied, "And she is ALL NEW! And she will never die again."

Amen.

Stand Still or I'll squeeze your arm.

I heard some rude words (see title) from my son's mouth this morning...
and tuned in to learn what the kids were up to in Annika's room.
I had to wonder whether Eric has heard me talk like this. Of course I wouldn't threaten to squeeze arms, but I probably use that ugly tone. I cringed at the thought. What do they learn from me when I'm being crabby??! oh.
All was quiet, until I heard a sweet singsong voice cajole, "This would be so much easier if you would stand still..."
I had to figure out what they were doing.

this is what I found:

Eric informed me that he was doing Annika's hair and would leave them in while her hair got longer.
Since he appeared to have things well in hand, I returned to the kitchen with a smile in my heart.

Sit down and read your book until I call your name.

Picasa Web Albums - Bee - portraits stowe sorensen

Today we played Photo Studio...
The kids each filled out their "form" (various versions of their name) and stood in line to come into the "studio" where I had the camera on a tripod and some lamps with the shades off. Then later they got to come back one at a time for the "consultation" and see their pictures on the laptop. I was amazed that they all sat in the "waiting room" calmly reading books until I called their name.

Oh what we must do to get through a rainy day...

Today at Super Cool School...

We talked about SPRING! We played a guessing game with barnyard animals, played with lemon-scented playdough and spring cookie cutters, practiced moving like different spring creatures (flutter like a butterfly...creep like a turtle...hop like a bunny...etc), used tweezers to find bugs in birdseed, counted bugs to match the number, and sorted barnyard animals into family groups (put all the mamas and daddies and babies together). For craft we glued a big humongous flower and poured birdseed onto the middle. It's amazing that I don't have birdseed throughout my entire house...I swept four times during the course of the morning. :)

Finding bugs in birdseed...

counting bugs...

sorting barnyard animals...

Annika's humongous flower...


...and Eli. Just happy to eat jelly on bread.