gotta do more than walk-n-wave.

We watched part of the Opening Ceremonies last night. As per usual, I got a bit choked up watching the Olympic Athletes march into the arena. I explained, "They have worked so hard to get there! They have trained and practiced a lot, and NOW HERE THEY ARE!!" Eric frowned as he carefully watched them walk and wave, then decided, "I don't think they had to practice THAT much."

Eric is definitely my son.

Today for Mommy and Eric day we went hiking at the Maplewood Nature Center. It was a gorgeous day and the snow was powdery and sparkly. It was magical out there. We saw lots of great animal "evidence" (thank you Ms Jeske for that word!! We LOVE to find evidence!!) and even spotted some wonderful birds. A bald eagle soared above us for quite some time. We saw a pileated woodpecker and another fluffy woodpecker whose name I have since forgotten. We found a rabbit nest (the evidence was a hole in a tree stump surrounded by scat scat and more scat. We took a photo of that) and saw numerous types of tracks everywhere.
We got super cold and our toes were frozen (shocking!! My 15-year old Sorel boots don't keep my feet warm anymore!!) but we tramped on and on. We had a ball.

It's so important to have a nature buddy. I'm glad mine is my son.

Beauty is Everywhere.

Each Monday is Annika and Mama day. Today for Annika and Mama day, we played "salon". We had a nice fanfare about making an appointment and getting seated and having tea and being very fancy and formal. I began by setting her hair in rollers. As I set her hair in rollers, she proceeded to tell me a story about how she is an orphan and has no parents and she lives a thousand miles away and doesn't have a car and it took her three hours to walk to the salon. She was hoping that maybe I would be her mommy.
Let me get this straight: Today, for Annika and MAMA day, you want to play salon and tell me to be the SALON LADY so that you can pretend you HAVE NO MOMMY and ask THE SALON LADY to be your new MOMMY.
alrighty then.

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but we had a great time doing fingernails, hair, makeup, and applying random liquids with bits of cotton. She did my makeup and hair afterward. I smell like a watermelon, after having been the recipient of half a bottle of tangle-free spray. :) she likes to spray stuff.
She's the best girl ever.

Merry Christmas, One Week Late!!

I tell ya' what. I have to choose to either enjoy Christmas or be completely prepared and have everyone looking great for each event. This year I chose to enjoy, so a few things slipped through the cracks. But for the most part we arrived places at approximately the appropriate time, and most of us were wearing clothing (or a tutu...). And it was great.

Here's our Christmas Letter in website form. CJ is our techie genius.

whoa! what happened there??!

Happy Birthday Annika, and now it's almost time for Christmas. yikes!

The kids are giggling in the tub. Nothing spells F-U-N like bubbles, a snorkel and mask, and a bucket. They are really getting along nicely these days...they're best buds and I just love it.

We had a terrific Halloween as a family, and didn't even let illness get us down. Poor Eric missed TWO harvest parties: the one at his Nana's school and the one at his own school. But he was well in time to go to church and we all went as a family unit: Mary Poppins and friends. Annika LOVED her long blonde wig (as a matter of fact she was wearing it just today!) and Eric just loved collecting candy and wearing something that didn't require constant re-shifting.

Today our favorite thing in the world is this video:
we've watched it several times, and I believe you will, too.

Well I promised myself that I would just do an "easy post" to break the spell. I've been feeling too busy to post because I have it built up to be this big requirement and if I have that much time then I should tackle the laundry or the dishes or...bum BUM BUMMMM! my DESK!

So I'll go put a load in the washer and clear off the table now. the desk is gonna have to wait a little longer. I told the kids we'd watch the video again after they get out of the tub.

Happy Birthday Annika!