Living Life With The LaFleurs

Living Life Gluten Free

2012-01-30T17:55:00.000-08:00

So after working through many years of horrible stomach problems, I had two friends and my trainer suggest that maybe I should get rid of the gluten in my diet. Low and behold......
IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been gluten free for a little over two weeks. The change in my body is an amazing one. I am actually stomach problem free. It has taken a bit of getting used to. We have worked together as a family to do quite a bit of research regarding brands I can have and can't. We have modified and adapted some recipes, but so far so good. It is quite amazing at the amount of food out there. I have gotten on a celiac support discussion board to keep updated. I have also found some new blogs to follow as well as connected with several friends through facebook. The support has been incredible.

We made our first gluten free pizza last night and it was really good. I also made my first batch of gluten free brownies this weekend. Later this week or this weekend, I am hoping to get to Burnsville and Eagan to hit up two highly recommended gluten free shopping places for groceries.

So even a little wheat can't stop me....next up gluten free cake pops. Yep my baking will never end.

Sophia's First Manicure

2012-01-16T12:35:00.000-08:00

On New Years Eve we decided it was time for the girls to get pretty. This involved Sophia and I get manicures together. She had such a wonderful time at the nail salon and all of the people thought she was just about as cute as ever. Ryan's girlfriend Carly even came with us. After we got done, Sophia was left with bubble gum pink nails with silver sparkles on top. She was a pro! When we were leaving she asked me if we could come back again. I told her maybe for her birthday. She said that next time she wanted to get a pedicure and manicure. What a girly girl.

Merry Christmas From Our Family To Yours!

2011-12-28T17:48:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas! What a wonderful week it has been filled with family, fun, presents, and food galore!! We had such a whirlwind of a holiday. It all started on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve-
We went to Lino Lakes to spend time with my dad's side of the family. Sophia had a wonderful time playing with the kids and we all enjoyed several rounds of bingo. I actually won one game. It was so fun to have the family all together. I really enjoy this tradition and can't remember the last time we didn't spend Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family.

Christmas Day-
We got up early and opened presents. Then we had my grandma, aunt, uncle, cousin, and parents over for a wonderful time of appetizers, presents, and ended with a fantastic dinner. I made chicken lasagna, homemade crescents, and veggies. They stayed for most of the day and then we played games and watched a movie just the three of us.

Day After Christmas-
Yet another celebration with the Wickmans. We had them over for appetizers and then made homemade pizzas. It was delicious! They stayed to open presents and then headed home.

That brings us to yesterday (Tuesday)-
My brother is finally home from Tucson. We celebrated with the Juhl family Christmas. We did our usual appetizer dinner and presents. It was an amazing evening.

With all of the celebrating you would think that we would be tired, but we aren't! Tomorrow evening we are having yet another small Christmas with my brother's girlfriend. Then I think I can officially say we are done celebrating.

Cookies Galore

2011-12-22T05:57:00.000-08:00

Two weekends ago my mom, Sophia, and I had a cookie baking day. It was so much fun and the work completely paid off. By the time we were done, our entire kitchen table and most of the counters were covered with cookies.

Sophia was a great helper, although her interest didn't last long. When she went for a nap, we got quite a bit more done.

The results....tons of cookies. I have been giving them as presents and put them out at one of our parties. I just adore the holidays.

Oh Santa how I love you!

2011-12-02T16:11:00.001-08:00

Last weekend we made a trip to see Santa. I'm sure this will be the first of many. Sophia just adored him! She worked quite hard on her list and was thrilled when she heard that she could put it in his mailbox. He gave her a candy cane too, which she recently discovered she liked.

Last month completely flew by. With being in school, Sophia at gymnastics, and many events going on including a couple of weddings....we have been busy!

Here are a couple of pictures from Santa:

Halloween Recap

2011-11-08T17:41:00.001-08:00

Halloween flew by quicker than I imagined. It started off with our annual trip out to the pumpkin patch to get our pumpkins. It was still warm enough to be in shorts and t-shirts at this point.

After it cooled down, we carved our pumpkins and got ready for the big day. Sophia really enjoyed carving the pumpkins this year. She really wanted to hold the knife. We quickly diverted her attention to coming up with a design instead.

We did a couple of different things this year we don't normally do. We went to a pumpkin carving event at our community center (that was our third carved pumpkin), attended a Halloween celebration at Lifetime Fitness, and Sophia had her first ever party!

The girls came over for snacks, games, and crafts in their costumes. It was pretty cute!

On the actual day, we quickly trick-or-treated over by my parents house. We went to a couple of the neighbors that we know and Sophia also went to her papa and nanas.

Then we went over and had our annual pizza dinner before trick-or-treating with our neighbors the Matzas.

Then we were off! This year I stayed in and passed out candy and Hal went with Sophia. They had a fantastic time and she came back with tons of candy!!

Another wonderful Halloween! Good thing that it wasn't snowing.....
I know that November is already off to a quick start. I can hardly believe that it less than two weeks we will be celebrating Thanksgiving. Time flies!

It's Pumpkin Time!

2011-10-15T23:15:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took advantage of the crisp fall air and went to pick out our pumpkins. We were going to head to the Stillwater Pumpkin Festival, but upon our arrival to downtown Stillwater the line was so long of cars we promptly turned around and made different plans.

Deciding that it was pretty late for us to go to the Pumpkinmania held in Mahtomedi, we opted to head to Axdahl's Farm off of Manning. This was a great choice for us. It had a little bit of everything we were looking for. We got to get out of the car and walk around a bit in both the pumpkin patch and the corn maze. The weather was so warm it was hard to believe that it was October.

After our brief walk, we headed back toward the barn to pick out pumpkins. Of course Sophia went right for the mini ones. She found one that was just her size, but after we saw the price we decided to head elsewhere to actually purchase our pumpkins.

So it was back in the car and we went to our good old pumpkin spot....this person's yard/driveway off of Jamaca in Mahtomedi. The pumpkins were perfect and we found two great ones for carving. We also saw some unusual ones too.

I am excited to get the rest of the fall things out like sweaters and comfy pajamas. Blogger isn't working right so I can't share my pictures with you right now. Hopefully soon. Until then, happy pumpkins!

It's Fall

2011-10-02T16:39:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to one of our traditional fall family places, Pine Tree Apple Orchard. The weather couldn't have been better. It was right around lunch time and the sun was shining brightly. It was cool enough to be wearing a sweatshirt, but not cold or windy at all.

We went all the way up to the pumpkin patch first. As we walked through the orchard, Sophia wanted to examine the trees and the apples. Once we got up to the patch, we walked through looking at all of the different pumpkins. We found greenie or the one green pumpkin we always seem to seek out.

Here's the greenie we found this year!

After walking through the pumpkin patch looking for the perfect one, Sophia got bored and we decided it was time to go back. Here she is with her perfect pumpkin.

Once we made our way back through the orchard, we went inside to check out all of the apples and find the treats. This year we got Apple Delight. It almost seems like a cross between a coffee cake and an apple muffin. We also got two bags of apples and then caramel apples for lunch. This was Sophia's first caramel apple. She really enjoyed it!

Tired and worn out, we headed home for a relaxing evening of pizza and a movie. The weather this week is supposed to be out of the ordinary for fall. 80s!! I think that fall can wait.

First Day of School

2011-09-06T16:01:00.000-07:00

Today was Sophia's first day of school. She is enrolled for the school year in a Kindergarten Readiness class. This class follows basically a kindergarten schedule in order to prepare the kids for next year. She has been very excited and couldn't wait for school.

We read books yesterday that talked about the first day of school in preparation for her big day, but today she proved to me that was not necessary at all. She got up at 6:30 and came running into our bathroom asking if it was time for her to get ready for school. I told her yes and she was so excited cheering and jumping up and down.

She brushed her teeth, got dressed, and put on her new shoes. Then we went outside and took a couple of pictures to commemorate the big day. She looked so grown up with her Barbie backpack and all.

When we got to school she jumped right in and sure enough just hugged us off to work. I thought that I would for sure cry, but with all of her excitement it didn't seem possible. I walked away and got in the car with the biggest smile on my face. To see my little girl that excited for school made me happy from the inside out.

Tonight when I picked her up she had nothing but good things to say about her day. She told me they did math, made a chart about breakfast, played outside for recess, used the scissors and markers to make pictures, and even played parachute in Phy Ed. She also informed me that she didn't have sauce on her spaghetti, that the noodles were just plain. Her favorite part of the day was when her teacher Ms. Sarah read a book about a bear on his first day of school.

I can hardly believe that my little girl is growing up so quick. Moms and dads hug your kids tonight as they will be grown before we know it!

MN Zoo

2011-08-17T06:19:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to the MN Zoo with our friends the Henriksens. I figured before all of the summer days drift away, we should get to the zoo while the weather is still nice.

We had a wonderful day of sun and fun! The kids just loved all of the animals, and the best part of it for Sophia and I was that it only cost $5. We fought off the crowd at the library and got the one and only museum pass for the day which allowed us to have free admission....a savings of about $30. What a deal!

I loved seeing the baby camel in the green goop and Sophia's favorite was the prairie dogs. She could sit and watch them forever. She loves when they get real close to her so she can examine them through the glass.

Another highlight of the day was to see the farm. Sophia and Logan loved the tractor ride to the farm. We all got to see the piglets too that were only three days old. This made Sophia quite excited for our annual trip to the State Fair. One of her favorite things to do at the fair is see the animals.

We saw the new penguin exhibit put on by 3M too. I was a little disappointed that it was smaller than what I expected, but it was still so much fun to see all of the penguins.

By the time we got home, everyone including the mommies were exhausted. What a fun trip!

To the dentist we go

2011-07-29T06:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Sophia visited the dentist for the first time ever. I had prepped her ahead of time on what they would do so that she wouldn't be nervous. I think she was more excited then nervous.

We walked into the office and the first thing she told me was, "It smells in here." It was pretty funny. I explained that the smell was because they had to keep everything very clean in the office and that they also used things that smelled that kept your teeth clean. That answer seemed to suffice her curiosity on the smell.

Once we began walking back I could see her tense just a bit as everyone was laying down with bright lights in their face and instruments around their head/body. Her hygienist Gina explained that the reason why they lay people back in the chair is so you can see the movie they show on the tv better. She also told Sophia the movie was on the ceiling! This got her very excited.

She did absolutely wonderful. She sat through the whole cleaning and didn't really pay much attention to Finding Nemo on the ceiling. She picked cotton candy toothpaste and blue raspberry fluoride. The dentist Dr. Browning came in and told Sophia she had beautiful teeth.

Before leaving Sophia got a new toothbrush which she loves, dental floss (which we know will get used as a toy like it always does), an eraser, and a bouncy ball.

Here are a couple of pictures from her adventure:

Sophia before her cleaning

Excited to show me her floss

The end of a great week

2011-07-22T05:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday celebrated the end of a great week for Sophia and her friend Caroline at Vacation Bible School. They both had such a wonderful time and can barely wait to go back next year.

This was the perfect combination of song and play for Sophia. Each day when I picked her up she talked about all of the activities on the way home in the car as well as, the ever popular SNACK. I'm pretty sure all kids love snack time, but Sophia loves it probably a bit more as we don't really have snacks during the day at home.

Last night the kids put on a program of a couple of their songs that they worked on with actions throughout the week. It was pretty cute. The program was followed by a video or picture slideshow. Both girls really enjoyed seeing themselves on the big screen.

After the program all of the kids got treats from Dairy Queen of their request. Sophia picked out as she called it, "a chocolate Dilly Dally bar" meaning a Dilly Bar.

What a wonderful week! I know she is looking forward to going back again next year.

Her first portrait

2011-07-16T08:21:00.000-07:00

The other evening Sophia was drawing on her Magna Doodle pad. I have only seen her draw a person one other time on regular paper, but this was something to document.

In her words, "I drew a portrait of you and daddy." This made my heart completely melt. It was so sweet.

Growing Up

2011-07-07T05:16:00.000-07:00

Sophia had her four year well-check the other day at the doctor. I can hardly believe that she is already four. Here are her stats:

Weight 32 pounds %20
Height 40 1/4 inches %50
BMI 14 %20

She is growing like a weed as far as height. Doc says not to worry about her eating or her weight considering she eats healthy and loves her milk :) She also got two more vaccinations. Now she just has two to go when she turns five before she enters Kindergarten and she will be done for a while.

I couldn't believe how brave she was either. Not a tear shed. A tiny whimper, but she was so proud of herself that she boasted to everyone as we left about how she was "a big girl and doesn't cry for silly shots". It was quite funny!

Happy Fourth Of July

2011-07-06T04:07:00.000-07:00

What an incredible holiday weekend we had. I was a bit sad yesterday when I knew that we were back to a normal routine. Hal had the last four days off and it was so nice to spend some much needed family time together.

Thursday was spent playing outside as a family and then in the sprinklers that night. It was SOOOO hot it actually set records here in MN for the high temps. On

Friday, we spent the day hanging outside and getting some of the grocery shopping for the weekend done. That night we attended the annual Stonemill Farms Bike Parade. There weren't very many people there because it was so hot, but we had a great time riding bikes and getting to meet/greet the firemen after the parade. On

On Saturday, Sophia attended a princess party for a little neighbor girl. She had a wonderful time getting her face painted by Snow White. Then it was off to my parents pool for the day. We came back over to our house for dinner and then it was off to another neighbor's house for fireworks.

Sunday started off with a 7 mile run for myself and my friend Molly. After getting back we spent the day walking and at the park. It was another hot one. We all took an afternoon rest and got geared up for the big party. The food, fireworks, and families were amazing. I just love the fact that we only have to travel across the street!

The actual holiday seemed much more laid back. The day started off by going to Afton to see the parade. It was hot and packed. After getting home we didn't do much except for enjoy the company of our neighbors, grill, and watch several fireworks from every angle of our porch.

I love holidays and this would rank right up there, as one of the best long weekend we have spent together in quite some time.

Summer is here.....or is it?

2011-06-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

So the summer weather hasn't really made an appearance around here at all since I have been done with school. It has been unseasonably cool and I can't even explain how much it has rained. This week is hoping to be the warmest it's been all summer. Please keep your fingers crossed as we need the sun!

Sophia and I have been keeping ourselves busy with indoor activities like: Barbies, Ponies, lots of art projects, and going to the library each week for books.

She had her first treat from the ice cream man this week which also makes it feel much more like summer then anything else. Of course she picked Scooby Doo. I was hoping it would be chocolate, but not my choice I guess.

This weekend we got the museum pass to go to the MN Zoo for a fraction of what it would normally cost. We saved about $40 by using the pass. Gotta love saving money! The day was cloudy and cool, but got sunny in the end. We had a wonderful time checking out all of the animals and having a picnic lunch. Next week, they will open a new penguin exhibit. We are planning to take a trip back to see it when it opens.

Sophia checking out the grizzly bear

Taking care of the baby goat

Say it isn't so

2011-06-20T04:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I was hoping that it was just rain that was glistening on the seat of my car because I forgot to close my car window during the rain last week on Wednesday, but I knew that was awfully weird.

After teaching my class at the Y, I approached my car in the parking lot only to find the driver's side rear window completely smashed out and my purse and all of the contents inside of it gone.

I went into super action stealth mode by bringing Sophia back in to Kidstuff and calling the police. I immediately began calling the one and only credit card company I knew the number for by heart. How could someone do this? What is wrong with people.

The police responded awfully slow considering they are a stones throw away from the front doors at the Y. I get it, I'm not a dire emergency, but come on.

The officer said the person was probably watching me in the parking lot and I next time should be "smarter" about hiding my purse under my seat in the back.

I finally got a hold of Hal and we slowly made our way home. Sophia sat in the back and I made her wear her sunglasses and turn her head away, just in case any glass shards came flying back at her.

Once home the chaos of remembering what was in my purse and calling began. It only took less than an hour for that person or people to ruin my first week of summer and spend WAY too much of our hard earned money.

Luckily, nobody was hurt. That is what I have to keep coming back to. For now, I am getting more exercise than my body has bargained for by pulling the wagon everywhere with Sophia. Things seem quite different. I kind of feel like I am 16 again. No car, no money, no access to several things. It is amazing that you take going to the grocery store for granted. Yep, can't do that either. I told Hal that they probably wouldn't let me write a check upon showing them I have no proof of id.

Now that things are starting to get back in order, I am really considering not carrying a purse at all. Too bad, that being a mom doesn't allow for this luxury. That purse was like a treasure chest of Goldfish, coloring stencils, and little trinkets for my tiny tot.

Well, if being a mom means that I am increasing my chances for someone to again snatch my purse......then so be it. I wouldn't change that for anything in the world.

The end of the year shows

2011-06-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

Sophia's dance and gymnastics both had their end of the year shows in the last two weeks. She did a fantastic job. We are so very proud at how hard she has worked over the course of the year in both of these classes.

She will continue taking gymnastics over the summer, but take a break from dance. Here are some photos from her programs.

Sophia with her dance teacher Miss Shelley

Post-recital photo with mommy and daddy

Sophia with her coach Miss Kristy

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-30T06:57:00.000-07:00

Despite the yucky weather this weekend, we have truly enjoyed this holiday. Friday night, we had family movie night due to the rain. We were supposed to be attending our neighborhood movie night, but it was cancelled.

Saturday, I got up and finished my last long run. Then we spent the rest of the day outside. Around 4 our friends the Barretts came over for a bbq. Sophia just adored playing with Bryce. Bryce loved all of the toys. It was so nice to spend time with my best friend and have our families together.

The kids had a great time playing in Sophia's new tunnel tent that she got from her birthday. Sophia would crawl through and then Bryce would follow.

After a ton of fun, it was time for the Barretts to head home. Sophia went up to bed and then we started playing Yahtzee. We knew Sophia wasn't very tired, so we decided to get her up and let her stay up late. She helped roll the dice for Yahtzee.

Then we went out to a bonfire with our neighbors. Hathaway and Delaney played so nicely with Sophia.

Yesterday we spent the day running errands. Then Sophia went to her Papa and Nanas. Hal mowed the lawn and I went on a run. I also got my flower planted. Then it was date night. We went out for Mexican and came home to watch the movie Country Strong. After that it was off to bed.

Today we are headed out to the MOA for some more adventures. After the mall we are going over to my parents for dinner.

Only a couple more days left of school. I can hardly wait!

Four Year Pictures

2011-05-25T17:54:00.000-07:00

So I took Sophia on a mini-photo session this week. I am not quite satisfied with the pictures, but wanted to share two of them that I like so far. Another session this weekend! Hopefully I will like these pictures much better.

Four already??!!

2011-05-22T06:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Sophia,
I can hardly believe that you are four years old today. You are growing and changing each and every day. I take my eyes off of you for just a second and you are already doing something new.

You have truly shown me that being a mother and a parent is the most amazing job anyone can have. I love the way you snuggle with me and hold your blankey close to my face. I love the way you giggle when we tickle you. Your smile and laughter can light up a room.

Some day I think you might be a doctor. You are incredibly caring and are so genuinely concerned when people or animals get hurt. I want you to reach for whatever dream you have and don't stop until you get there.

I love you very much and am looking forward to watching you grow into a beautiful young woman. Thank you for giving me the most special gift possible.

Love, Mommy

Sophia's Ariel Party

2011-05-17T18:53:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we celebrated Sophia's Fourth Birthday with an Ariel themed party. The weather was not so wonderful, so it was great that the party was inside. Perfect weather for a movie!!

The kids arrived and we did a small craft with pipe cleaners. Sophia is easily entertained with a pack of these for hours, so I knew that they would be a big hit.

Sophia showing her friend Ryan her pipecleaner spider

After the arts and crafts project, the kids headed down to the movie theater to watch "The Little Mermaid". The kids adored having the popcorn while watching the movie.

They finished up the movie and then went back upstairs to the party room for lunch. Lunch was a big hit too. Sophia's favorite: uncrustables, carrots with ranch dip, and juice boxes. Everyone ate a great lunch and then it was time for presents.

She got so many lovely things. What a lucky little girl. This picture I could not resist posting for the pure happiness that is showing on her face:

Her very own Ariel and Prince Eric dolls

I made at her request an Ariel cake and I am pretty excited at how it turned out. I just loved the whole cake table!

She had such a fun birthday party and it was over in a whirl wind of only a few hours. After the party we went home to relax and have family movie night with pizza. I can hardly believe that in a few short days we will have a four year old. Time flies by so quickly!

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

Today we spent Mother's Day at the Como Zoo. Hal is gone in Las Vegas so I thought it would be fun to do something special with Sophia. Luckily the weather held out for us. It wasn't too cold or too windy. I was kind of hoping for a repeat day of yesterday. The weather was gorgeous and we spent the whole day outside. Oh well, nothing can be as planned.

The zoo was packed! We were incredibly lucky to find a parking spot. We spent most of the time looking at the animals. Some of the animals weren't out yet due to the fact that the weather isn't exactly warm yet.

We only got the statues of the giraffes. The real ones weren't out yet.

After seeing all of the animals I let Sophia go on some rides. She just loves rides. She chose the magic carpet ride....similar to Aladdin.

Here she is on the ride.

When we finished the rides we went over to the conservatory part to check out the Sunken Gardens and the spring flower display. It was just beautiful. I got some wonderful photos.

Tonight we are going to head out for dinner. Then it's back to the regular week of busy. Next weekend we are having Sophia's fourth birthday party. I can hardly believe she is almost four.

Easter Sunday

2011-04-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday was nothing but wonderful! Sophia got up to find her easter basket and hunt for eggs. She had a great time searching all over the first floor for her tasty treats. The bunny brought her coloring books, pjs, a kite, and Despicable Me the movie.

After enjoying a little breakfast, we headed to church with my parents. The service was great and Sophia even saw a friend from VBS last year. When church got out, we headed back to our house to do some cooking.

At around 12 all of our guests arrived for a delicious brunch. It was so fun to host Easter for my family. I love being able to use my china and find no reason not to use it for occasions like these.

Sophia got a couple more Easter presents and then everyone went home. We spent the reaminder of the afternoon outside and hanging out as a family. The sunny day was much needed by all.

Here comes Easter

2011-04-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we took Sophia to a little mall by our house for their Easter festivities. It is a pretty fun morning for little kids. They can bring their Easter basket and go to all of the stores in the mall for treats and prizes. There are also kids crafts, treats, and of course .......the bunny!

Sophia loved seeing the bunny again this year. She was all smiles and eager to sit with the bunny for pictures. The line was long and I wish that we would've had more time to take photos. Last year, there were barely any people at all. This year I think everyone caught on to our little treasure.

Despite the line, I got some cute photos. Happy almost Easter.

Dance Pictures

2011-04-12T17:13:00.001-07:00

Tonight Sophia had dance pictures! I am hoping they turned out cute. Here are a couple of cute ones from her evening:

Sophia with her friend Grace

Doing a turn during her ballet dance

Watching the big girls dance

Tiny Dancer

2011-04-01T09:27:00.001-07:00

Sophia got her costume this week for her dance recital. I made the mistake of calling her tiny dancer after the song, and she put me in my place and told me....."I am not tiny, I am ballerina." It was pretty darn cute and I had to giggle after she said it. Looks like my little girl is growing up!

MOA Day

2011-03-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

Today we spent the day at the MOA as a family. It was lots of fun and we had a blast taking pictures with the new camera. Sophia even picked two new rides to go on. It was fun to take her on some rides that she hadn't been on before. Here are a couple of pictures from our fun day:

Hal with Sophia on the big Dora ferris wheel

After ride number #1

On Diego's Bus

Tonight we are doing our usual special treat of pizza and family movie night. I am thrilled that I don't have to work tomorrow. It should be a great relaxing week!

It's Official

2011-03-23T18:25:00.001-07:00

I have started my own cake pop making. I have two orders that I will be working on in the next couple of weeks.

I started a new blog too. I can barely wait to see that first pops get eaten up.

Follow me at:
http://www.katiecakecreations.blogspot.com

Spring Break at the Children's Museum

2011-03-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

This week Sophia was on her very own Spring Break as our daycare provider Corey took the week off to visit some warmer weather and go on her very first cruise.

Sophia spent several days back and forth with mommy and daddy. She was so eager to hang out with us, that the countdown leading up to the week involved her asking every day, "Is today the special day I get to stay home?"

One of the many days she was at home we decided to head to the Children's Museum. Thanks to her papa and nana we used our museum pass which will allow us to visit as many times as we want over the course of the next year. I know that this will come in handy this summer!

When we got there we visited the first exhibit that dealt with Art. Sophia thought that the large chicken you could ride on was pretty cool.

After finishing in the Art room, we headed over to her most favorite spot as she calls it, "The Water Room". She played in all of the different water items and created some humongous bubbles.

Once she had worn out all of the possibilities of playing in the water, we ventured over to her next favorite spot which is the kitchen and the grocery store.

We spent quite a bit of our day here, pretending to grocery shop and make things in the restaurant. She looks like such a natural in the kitchen.

Then we headed up to the fourth floor to check out the new Lego Castle exhibit. It was incredible. Several Lego things to play with. Sophia enjoyed sitting on the castle throne inside of the gigantic castle.

To end the day we made a stop at the face painting station. Sophia has never wanted to get her face painted, but had begged to paint mine so I let her. I was hoping it would show her that it was fun and it didn't hurt. Sure enough my trick worked.

It was such a fun day spent together. I am counting down the days until my break so we can go back again!

Cupcake Cake Pops

2011-03-13T18:43:00.000-07:00

This weekend I made cupcake cake pops for two different birthdays. One is my running partner in crime Molly and the other is my teammate at school Amy. Amy requested them so I thought that I would try something different and make them into cupcake shapes. Here was the process from start to finish:

First I made and decorated the cupcake pop holders which are like little vases. They had two different themes. One was birthday and the other was more like pretty in pink.

After I had the base ready to go I molded the cupcakes. Excuse the one that looks like it is going to tip over. It was a bit unstable.

Then I dipped the base in chocolate and the top in pink. I decorated the tops with sprinkles and put a cherry on top which was a red jelly bean. I didn't have any m&ms otherwise I probably would've preferred that.

Then I let them all dry. I used some styrofoam from our new speakers as a stand. Hal is currently making me one out of wood.

After they dried I put them into their little cupcake vases.

Then I put them in the bag and tied them all up with a ribbon.

I was extremely impressed with how my first ever batch turned out. Now I have quite the hang of it and probably will explore some more with these. One however didn't have quite enough to keep it's cupcake form.

So I made into a regular cake pop and Sophia ate it for a treat tonight after dinner.

So it's official I am totally addicted to making these cake pops. If you know of anyone who would love a fun treat for a baby shower, birthday, wedding shower, or just a girly party send them my way. Wouldn't it be fun to turn my hobby into a business.

Another experiment

2011-03-06T15:37:00.000-08:00

Today I showed my neighbor Mara how to make the infamous truffles. Then Hal gave me a great idea to use our Thin Mint cookies in the middle of the truffles. Well, needless to say these are a tiny piece of heaven! I was a bit sad when I knew that all of my Girl Scout cookies were now gone.

Then I remembered that my neighbor's daughter was selling them. I emailed her this morning and sure enough two hours later she showed up on my doorstep with two boxes of Thin Mints.

Happy Sunday!

Moving on Up!

2011-02-26T16:09:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend Sophia attended her regular gymnastics class on Friday night and a make-up class on today. We have been practicing cartwheels at home quite a bit and Friday and Saturday it paid off. She landed four cartwheels in a row on Friday night and many more today.

With this new skill, she was able to move up to the next level. She can barely wait to be a "Super Tumbler" now! She came out and high-fived me after she landed the first one today. The coach was impressed and thought she was pretty cute.

What this means for us.....we have a real gymnast on our hands. It also means my little girl isn't so little anymore. I couldn't take my eyes off of her today as she demonstrated to the rest of the class how she could do a cartwheel, land it, and she even had the fancy "ta-dah" stance with her legs and arms. She just amazes me a bit more each day. I am so thrilled with her advancement, but also a bit sad. Some day I hope to be able to go back and show her the video of her first cartwheel and say, "Look this is before you grew into this beautiful young woman."

God's greatest gift to me: being a wife and a mother. What could be better!

Weekends

2011-02-20T07:04:00.000-08:00

It has been so nice to be home and relaxing these last couple of weekends. I am trying ever so hard to not over plan and have some more time to just be at home. So far so good. The month of February has been quite busy during the week so the weekends are a fantastic treat to look forward to.

Sophia has been doing such a great job at gymnastics. She almost has her cartwheel. This summer she will hopefully be able to move up to Super Tumblers. This is more for advanced gymnasts. She gets to try this class out on Saturday next weekend while doing a make-up class. I adore watching her on Friday evenings. It is really a great way to end our week. Plus she only has one other person in her class. We hope that this will continue for the rest of the school year. Then during the summer we will probably switch to a day class. She is getting excited for her dance recital and is showing me her "brush, brush, step" all the time. Whenever music is on, my little ballerina gets her legs moving and grooving. This morning she had a great time in her dress-up clothes.

Hal has been busy with work and hanging out at home this past week with Sophia while I had conferences. We are both looking forward to spring when the weather gets a bit nicer and we can be outside more. We have both been getting some great runs in the past couple of weeks and I now have him doing yoga. He seems to be enjoying it just as much as I am.

With these relaxing weekends I have also been able to cook a bit more. Last night I made a new creation: homemade chocolate chip cookies with a Girl Scout Cookie Tagalong in the inside. It was just delicious. Next weekend, I am headed to William and Sonoma to meet my newest baking idol Bakerella. I can barely wait! Hopefully I will get some more tips on making good cake pops. Last week was my treat week at school, and everyone thought that I should open up a bakery. Who knows maybe in my future.

Today we are off to a birthday party for one of Sophia's friends. Here's hoping the snow holds off. Until then.....dreaming of another weekend.

First Sleep-Over

2011-02-12T14:06:00.000-08:00

So it is true, Sophia's first big girl sleep-over last night was a success!! I couldn't believe my ears when I heard that she wanted another one as soon as possible.

We hired a babysitter last night so we could go out with our friends the Matzas. Well the babysitter came to their house and had a great time with all three kids. They ate dinner, watched a movie, and even had popcorn! After the movie it was time to head off to bed. The babysitter said she could hear the girls whispering for quite some time, so she went up and told them it was time for sleep. Both girls were on the bunk beads so there was no escaping the talking.

She said after a while they both fell right asleep. When we got home we went to check on them and they looked just adorable all snuggled up. I almost got a bit teary. I can't believe how fast my little girl is growing up. It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating her first birthday in just a few short months she will be four and going off to pre-kindergarten in the fall. It ceases to amaze me how time flies.

This morning she got up at the same time as her friend. They had some breakfast, played, and then she came home. After that she was off to a playdate. What an exciting day!

Winter Blahs

2011-01-30T07:10:00.000-08:00

So I am officially getting sick of winter. It just seems like it gets colder and snowier with each day. This doesn't lead to a happy person. I am really looking forward to spring and getting outside. I need the sun!

We have been busy the past couple of weeks with school, work, and Corey's house. Sophia is ready for spring as well. This winter has been very difficult for outside play. She got outside a couple of times last week and we are hoping she will get ouside again this week.

She continues to love gymnastics and dance. They are currently working on their recital dances so it is fun and exciting to watch what is to come in early June. She will take a break from dance for the summer, but continue in gymnastics. She is doing a great job of writing her name and drawing/coloring more each day. Her favorites right now are still her Barbies, fairies, and Littlest Pet Shop. She will be going to several birthday parties over the next two months and it is hard for her to understand it is not quite time for hers yet.

Wishing spring could come quicker, I am excited for green grass and warm sun. Until then, I will just have to hope for those warmer 30 degree days when I can get outside and run.

And we're off

2011-01-19T19:20:00.000-08:00

So the start to the new year was quite the quick one. I can hardly believe that January is almost over. So much has happened since the beginning of the year! Hal and I have both had the opportunity to travel one for work and one for play, Sophia started a new evening of gymnastics, Sophia and I are both trying new foods (we love fish!), and my grandma will turn 90 at the end of the week.

Not only do we have all of these things, but I have taken on yet another project....yes cake pops! I bought a whole bunch of supplies, a book, and some molds. I'm making them for an upcoming baby shower so I want to practice and make them perfect before the big day.

I made a New Years Resolution to try new things and I think that so far I'm off to a good start.

Here are a couple of photos from our brand new year:

My best friend's son was baptized in Chicago

My first cake pop bouquet

Christmas #3 and Adventures with Uncle Ryan

2011-01-02T16:39:00.000-08:00

Shortly after Christmas my brother came home from Tucson. So we had another family Christmas on the 29th. It was so fun to get together at our house. We had appetizers for dinner instead of a traditional Christmas dinner and the fun carried us through the entire evening. The tree basically exploded with presents after my parents and brother arrived.

The tree

The table

We started off our celebration in style with a champagne toast. Sophia even had her very own glass to toast with filled with water of course.

The toast

After eating our snackies and catching up, we began opening stockings. It is a tradition in our family that we exchange names and then we buy "stocking" presents that equal up to $20. It is so fun to see how creative people get each year on a budget. Plus it is so fun to get a whole bunch of little presents. After opening stockings, the present opening began and lasted well into the evening. Everyone was happy with their gifts and everyone was more than generous this year!!

Sophia with just some of her presents

My family stayed until everyone was exhausted and in a large food coma. Then it was off to bed for us.

Each year when my brother comes home at Christmas we always make a date to go to the Mall of America. It was a fun day today filled with TONS of rides. Sophia had a great time and enjoyed all of the special "uncle Ryan time" that she got.

The rides and mall wore us both out and we headed back home. We are excited to hang out with Ryan a couple more times until he heads back to Tucson. We did find out good news that he will be home for Sophia's birthday which is very exciting. I'm sure like always we will have some crazy family fun.

It will be difficult to head back to work this week, but I think everyone is ready to get back into a routine. The break has been a welcomed one. Now to look forward to what is to come in 2011.......

Christmas 2010 #1 and #2

2010-12-26T06:38:00.000-08:00

Christmas came and went all too quickly yesterday. I tried to cherish each little moment of spending time with family. We had not one, but two celebrations yesterday. We began the day opening gifts from Santa. Sophia was thrilled to see that Santa came and brought her the ENTIRE Disney Princess collection.

Hal got a remote controlled helicopter from Sophia and just had a blast flying it around the house.

After opening presents and having breakfast, we headed over to my parents for Christmas dinner.

It was nice to have my Grandma with us for another celebration this year. Next month she will be 90 so this is quite a special time for her.

Sophia with Papa and Nana
We had some snacks and then sat down to a fantastic holiday dinner. Great food and great conversation took us into the late afternoon. Our family made our way back to our house so Sophia could have a nap and we could get ready for celebration #2. We got the house set up and patiently awaited our guests.

Hal's family arrived and the food and fun started all over again. This time we had appetizers and grazed while we opened presents. It was fun to see the kiddos open their presents together. Sophia and Abby got cute little chairs from their cousins and it was adorable to see them take a liking to them immediately.

Once we got through all of the presents it was time for everyone to head home. What a wonderful way to end the day.

This week will be busy with us traveling to yet another Christmas at my parents when my brother arrives home. We are so thrilled for him to come home and Sophia can barely wait to play with her uncle Ryan.

Breakfast with Santa

2010-12-19T05:54:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we went as a family to Breakfast with Santa. This is our third year that we have gone to this event. It is put on by 3M at Tartan Park Clubhouse. The breakfast is normally the same each year, but it is awfully wonderful food.
I look forward each year to this new tradition we have started. It is such a relaxing morning to sit and have a breakfast together as a family without rushing. We got to breakfast and I instantly felt that calm come over me. It was fun to see Sophia recognize Santa right away.

We sat down and had our breakfast and saw our friends the Hickels. They have also done this the past three years with their family. I went to high school with Katie, Hal works with Katie's dad, and my dad used to work with Katie's husband. It is fun to catch up with them and watch their family grow.

After breakfast we patiently awaited Santa's arrival to our table. When he came Sophia was thrilled to see him. She again asked Santa for a stuffed animal. It seems to be the new thing for her. Despite the fact she has a bed full of them, she continues to ask for one.

Santa was wonderful with Sophia and even gave her a candy cane. Then it was off back home to enjoy the rest of a relaxing day.

Today we will finish up some last minute shopping and go out for dinner this evening to celebrate my dad's birthday which is on the 22nd. Only six more days.......

Mountain of Snow

2010-12-14T17:51:00.000-08:00

I don't think I need say more. We got too much snow in Minnesota and now we have a mountain in the middle of our circle. It is almost as tall as the tops of the trees. Sophia and Hal ventured out on Sunday to climb up top of it and then slide down.

This week has been a busy one with Hal sick, Sophia and all of her programs for dance and gymnastics, and everything else on top of it. The holidays are taking us over.....I don't mind though. I still have a work party to attend to, holiday light tour with the family, and breakfast with Santa. Much more to come throughout the week, but for now a short post to keep you entertained on our mountain of snow.

Santa, Santa, Everywhere

2010-12-05T05:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had a cookie exchange with all of my girlfriends from the neighborhood. It was a wonderful time for us to all get together. I hope we can do it again next year. I walked away with a plate and then some of all different types of cookies.

After the exchange Hal and I took Sophia to see Santa. She again was not the least bit scared and ran right up to him.

She asked him several questions like what do the reindeer eat and then told him she wanted a new stuffed animal for her bed.

We also met her friend Peyton at the mall. The girls looked just adorable together!

Peyton also just adored Santa. It was so fun to see how much the girls looked up to Santa.

Then we left the mall and headed home for lunch. We all ate lunch and then it was nap for Sophia. I went to workout and Hal worked on the house. He is currently working on a huge project! He is so incredibly handy. He put up chair rail in the house and is painting underneath it. He is working so that it all gets done before our party this weekend.

Sophia woke up for nap and we went again to see Santa at the Stonemill Christmas Party. It was awfully funny as we walked in Hal and I thought the Santa looked almost the same as earlier, but we knew that it couldn't be possible as Stonemill has the same Santa each year. Not so I guess, because.......it was the exact same Santa from earlier. Sophia gave him her list and they discussed the presents she

wanted. Santa told Sophia that he really enjoyed Buzz Light Year as she had the figurines from Toy Story 3 on her list. It was pretty cute.

She sat on Santa's lap and he gave her a treat and a picture of himself signed. To her, this was the most exciting thing in the world. She couldn't believe that Santa gave her a note with a picture.

We finished up with Santa and then went outside for a sleigh ride with the real reindeer Dasher and Prancer. It was a bit chilly outside, but the memories will last a lifetime.

After this fun event filled day, we came home to Hal finishing the house projects into the late evening and I wrapped presents. We were both exhausted.

It will be a busy week with Hal doing some DIY for work with painting and I have an event for school, haircut, and party stuff. Sophia has her usual gymnastics, dance, and then party at Corey's house on Wednesday night.

Happy busy holidays!

Let the holidays begin!

2010-11-28T13:58:00.000-08:00

Today Sophia and I kicked off Christmas in style. We started the day by reading Christmas books as a family by the tree. We did this last night too, and she thought it was great fun to read in the dark with the tree lights.

Then I went to the gym and Sophia and Hal played and ate breakfast. Hal got ready and headed out to watch some football with the guys. When I got back we got ready and Sophia and I headed out to "A Day In The Life Of An Elf" on the 8th floor at Macy's. I have always loved taking her to see this, but this year seemed so much more fun. She was aware of everything that was going on around her. She kept pointing things out to me, which in previous years has been reversed. Along the route, we met Mrs. Clause and Sophia eagerly had her photo taken with her.

Her favorite part of the display was the dogs trying to take the mail away from the elves.

She also said she loved the part where the cooks were trying to catch the little mouse in the kitchen. After making it through the display, we got in line to see and greet Santa.

Sophia has just adored Santa the past two years. It is so funny to watch how her entire face lights up when she sees the man dressed in red.

When Santa asked her what she wanted for Christmas her response was, "I want a new pet for my house and a new doll." Not sure what she meant by the pet part. Then she said, "Oh by the way.....what do the reindeer eat?" I couldn't believe the way she just nonchalantly through this question it. It was soooo beyond her years.

After seeing Santa, we got a treat and enjoyed it together on the way to Walmart. We stopped to get cookie supplies and ended up seeing yet ANOTHER Santa. Her excitement couldn't be contained and she ran right up to him and sat on his lap. Not a shy bone in this girl's body.

She chatted her way through another conversation, thanked Santa, and told him not to eat too many cookies. It was quite cute.

Then we headed home to make cookies and get ready for my cookie exchange next weekend. She just loved rolling the cookie dough and helping me decorate in her little apron. It was like I was watching her grow up right before my eyes.

I have a feeling that this holiday season will be quite a treat for us as parents. I can't wait to see the story unfold.

Relaxing Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T14:14:00.000-08:00

Today has been the most relaxing day considering it is Thanksgiving. Since my family and Hal's family are both out of town, we had Thanksgiving early at the end of October. It was really fun to celebrate early and have this day to ourselves.

We both got to workout this morning and then watched the Macy's parade with Sophia. I thought she would be really in to watching it, but she didn't seem to care much. While we watched the parade I made homemade cinnamon rolls from scratch. I was awfully impressed with myself! This was my first attempt ever and they turned out fantastic.

The rest of the day has been spent playing games, watching movies, and putting up the Christmas tree and decorations. We have had a non-traditional dinner of pizza fries for lunch and buffalo chicken dip for dinner.

The sights and sounds of Christmas are all around, yet today is supposed to be a day filled with turkeys!

I'm off in the morning with Sophia to hit the Black Friday sales. Can't wait to see what we find.......

Princess of the Week

2010-11-17T19:22:00.000-08:00

This week Sophia got to be the Princess of the Week at dance. She was completely thrilled and was actually bashful.

They invite the parents in just for their dance. The Princess of the Week gets to pick a song and then they lead the ballet dance. The other dancers in the class then copy what the princess does.

Sophia had a hard time thinking of moves at first as I think she was a tad bit shy. Her dance teacher Miss Shelley was very patient with her and helped her think of a couple of moves. Once she got started she did a much better job. The hard part was the brand new tutu that kept her busy. She just couldn't get over it.

This will be a day I will never forget!

Tea with Beauty and the Beast

2010-11-08T16:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I took Sophia to her first ever tea party. East Ridge High School which is right down the road from our house is putting on the musical Beauty and the Beast. This is their first ever play/musical so they are going all out. They are not only having two of the teas, but they are also having a huge opening night gala as well.

We arrived to the tea and all of the characters were wandering around the room. We were seated at our table with our friends/neighbors Amy and Ava Matza.

After welcoming us with songs, we were ready to eat and begin the tea party. The girls and the mommies loved the treats. We also just adored the cute table settings.

Throughout the tea they performed songs from the musical. It was really cute to watch Sophia sing along with them. Then in the end we were able to take pictures with all of the characters.

This was so well worth the money we spent. I was a bit nervous that it might be a bit lame, but it turned out to be one of the coolest days that I have spent mommy/Sophia in a long time.

To top it all off, Sophia and Ava were both dressed in their Belle dresses. What a wonderful way to end the weekend!

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a busy Halloween! Sophia started off her day by trick-or-treating at my parents house at 10am. It was awfully cute how she rang the doorbell. Sophia got some Scooby Doo action figures which she just adores!!

After heading across the street to my parents neighbors house where she got a little treat bag full of candy, it was off to the grocery store.

Of course she would not take her Scooby costume off, so if you saw a Scooby Doo yesterday at the Woodbury Cub Foods Store, that was my Sophia. People in the store were just oohing and aahing over her. It was pretty cute and she of course LOVED all of the attention the costume was getting her.

Then we made a quick pit stop at home for some lunch and headed to see Sophia's great gramma. Great Gramma was thrilled to see her and of course, she got some more treats.

After a short visit, we headed to pick up the pizzas at Papa Murphys where AGAIN she got candy!

Then it was home for a nap. She fell asleep instantly. While she napped I finished up laundry, got the house ready for our company, and got ready for the evening. Then our neighbors the Matzas came over with their kids for our tradition of pizza and trick-or-treating together. The kids just love hanging out with each other, and the adults always have a great time as well.

We finished up dinner and the Wickmans came over to join us for trick-or-treating.

The kids had a great time trick-or-treating on the street and then Hal came back and Sophia and I went on with Ava, Amy, and Roger. Abby and Bennett had called it quits and the Wickmans went home. We are excited to see them again on Friday though for dinner.

The girls had a blast together and lasted until almost 8:30. They sure did get a whole ton of candy. Sophia's overflows out of an ice cream pail. I would say she for surely has enough. To top all of that, one of the houses was giving away stuffed animals. Needless to say, after the girls got them, they were the highlight of the evening and they stopped caring about the candy so much.

All in all, it was a wonderful Halloween evening. We have another busy week with gymnastics, dance, the Y, and dinner with the Wickmans on Friday. Sophia has a playdate with her friend Peyton Collins on Saturday which she is really looking forward to. Then Sunday we are off to do a meet and greet for Beauty and the Beast and then a wedding shower.

Life doesn't slow down one bit in this house......I always stop though and make sure I cherish every moment. Don't let the little things slide by. One day your kids will be grown up before you know it.

Hallows Eve

2010-10-30T16:18:00.000-07:00

Tonight we carved our pumpkins so they were ready for Halloween. We had a great time getting the pumpkin seeds. Sophia said she was going on a treasure hunt and putting them in the strainer. The pumpkins turned out really cute. Now we are ready for Halloween tomorrow.

Sophia and her pumpkin

Sophia and mommy with our pumpkins

Sophia and daddy with their pumpkins

In other news......
Sophia had her first real injury this week. While jumping up and down, she bit through her entire lip with her teeth. It bled quite a bit according to Corey our daycare provider. Then Hal went to get her and take her to get it fixed. They gave him the option of glue or stitches and our pediatrician told him the glue would leave less of a scar, so this is the option they took.

Her face is much better today, but still pretty red and scabby. She can't wash that part of her face until it heals which could take a while. She was quite the trooper and is not really phased by it.

Oh well, a pleasant start to an otherwise busy weekend. I ran the Monster Dash half marathon today as well, and PRd on the course. I was really happy!! The bad part about the race was that it was not organized at all, and we had to wait in the freezing cold for over two hours for a shuttle bus. Let me tell ya, people were NOT happy about this and several of us have already written to the company to get refunds.

I am excited to trick-or-treat tomorrow and I'm sure there will be many more pictures to come.

Zoo Boo at Como Zoo

2010-10-24T05:59:00.001-07:00

On Friday, Sophia and I went to the Como Zoo for their annual Zoo Boo event. This is the third year we have attended this event. She loves it because it is a fun Halloween night with nothing scarry. I love it because I know that all of the money is going back to support the zoo we spend the entire summer going to. The major plus this year was that it was 70 degrees outside so it made the evening extremely enjoyable.

This year her friend Ava came with us. The girls had a great time going from station to station. There were more stops this year along the path which surprised me. It was fun to watch the girls wants their picture taken along the way.

When we got back to the inside part of the zoo, the girls got to see some real snakes and make a bat finger puppet with some paper, felt, and googly eyes. Then it was time to head home. The girls were at their limit. Hungry, tired, and ready for bed.

What a great night for Zoo Boo!

Monster Mash

2010-10-16T18:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went to Monster Mash sponsored by 3M. The event is held each year at Tartan Park. As we made the short drive to Lake Elmo, we remember back to last year when the weather was a bit chillier. It is amazing that it is still 65 degrees outside and almost the middle of October. I hope this means that trick-or-treating will be promising this year.

When we got to the event, we decided to do the hay ride right away since the line gets long. This year they informed us they had two different tractors which helped speed things up drastically.

Sophia is Scooby Doo this year. So we used the couple of waiting minutes to take a picture in the tons of leaves that were on the ground.

After the hay ride, we went up to the pavilion and played games. Sophia did the fish pond and got a cute little prize.

Then we headed around to the trick-or-treating stations. She picked quite a few Starbursts this year which is funny. She doesn't really like the chewy fruity treats so much as the chocolate things.

From trick-or-treating we moved on to the cake walk. Sophia didn't win, but looked extremely adorable doing the walk with Hal.

Our last stop was decorating a sugar cookie. Sophia loved doing this and the end product was her favorite part!

All in all, such a fun event. We are so blessed that 3M offers this great events for families with children. Next I am looking forward to breakfast with Santa!

Is there such thing as an Indian Fall?

2010-10-10T12:26:00.000-07:00

So I know that I have heard of an Indian Summer where it gets hot late in the season. Is there such thing as an Indian Fall? The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous! It has actually been record breaking. On Friday, the temperature actually got up to 87 degrees. That hasn't happened since like the 40s I guess. The last recorded high was in 1940 something and it was 84 degrees.

With all of this nice weather, we decided to change up the weekend plans a bit and spend as much time as possible outside. On Saturday, we got up and headed out to Pine Tree Apple Orchard before all of the crowds. The weather was just perfect, but it was awfully weird to be wearing t-shirts and shorts, when a year ago the weather was COLD!

We got all of the necessary supplies first for our apple delights at home: cinnamon raisin apple cookies, and two bags of Honeycrisp apples. I am making apple crisp, apple bread, and apple muffins tonight!

After putting the goodies in the car we went up and walked through the orchard.

Sophia loved picking the apples off of the trees.

Then after walking through the orchard, we went to check out the pumpkin patch. Hal found the coolest pumpkin.....a green one!

Sophia had a blast navigating her way through the maze of pumpkins. She kept getting her little feet stuck. After a while I think it was on purpose though.

After all of the excitement we left the orchard and headed out to Pumpkin Mania in Mahtomedi at Triangle Park. It was a fun fall event, but way too many people in a tight space outside. Sophia went down the giant inflatable slide. Then we headed home.

Today I got a ten mile run in outside which was a great way to start the day. Then Sophia and I did some errands and played outside. Hal went to watch football with a friend. I can't wait to make apple treats tonight.

Happy Fall!

Pumpkins Galore

2010-10-06T19:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to our favorite little pumpkin spot to pick out our pumpkins. It is the best little spot ever, as it is in someones driveway! They sell the pumpkins at the end of the driveway and you put your money in their donation box.

They have so many pumpkins that you can't go wrong. This year they had a whole bunch of different kinds of gourds out too. Sophia's favorite was the bumpy green one.

We found three perfect pumpkins and promptly brought them home. Sophia claimed which one she wanted very quickly! Here are a couple of cute pictures from our pumpkin adventures:

A pumpkin just her size

Sophia with Hal and the giant pumpkin

Human Tracing

2010-10-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

Sophia loves tracing around her hand, our hands, and her feet. So last night we decided to make ourselves BIG! Hal brought home this big huge role of paper for us to use for art projects at home.

Sophia had a blast getting traced and then making herself. We also did the same for Hal. It was such a funny family activity. Who knew that drawing this way could be so much fun.

I love that we can take the time to do these silly family things. Our weeks get so busy, so it is very important to take some down time on the weekends to be together.

Big Truck Day

2010-09-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

Today Sophia and I went to Big Truck Day at the library. The event is sponsored by the City of Woodbury. This is the third year in a row we have attended this event, and it seems to get better each year!

Sophia got to ride in/drive the:
-school bus
-UPS truck (super cool with flames down the sides)
-snow plow
-city bus
-ice cream truck
-fire truck
-police cruiser
-mail truck

It was so fun to watch her in each of the vehicles. Her all time favorite was the school bus. She has a mild obsession for this vehicle. Not sure why, but she loves a big yellow bus!

Here are some cute pictures from today.

Driving the mail truck

Hanging in the ice cream truck

Loving the snow plow

Growing Up

2010-09-19T12:28:00.001-07:00

In the past couple of months I have had several friends who have had babies. It was like a baby fever from June all the way until now. I was having a hard time keeping track of all of them. Each child that was born was a new little blessing. With each blessing, I started getting more reminiscent of the days when Sophia was just that small.

Now it seems as though my little girl is growing up right before my eyes. Sometimes I daydream about where her life will lead her. Will she go to college? Will she be teacher? These days it seems at though our hectic schedule makes me more thankful for the time that I have with my little girl. I love watching all of her new accomplishments. I will still always be able to remember though when I held her in my arms for the very first time.

I am eager to see what the upcoming months will bring, but I will continue to not wish my time away and soak in as much as I possibly can.

I love a routine!

2010-09-10T17:33:00.000-07:00

What a busy first week back to school. Sophia was back to Corey's and I was back to work. Tuesday I didn't have kids, but an open house that lasted for an hour. It went well and I was eager to start the day on Wednesday.

Sophia woke up ready to go on Wednesday and was thrilled to see all of her old friends at Corey's house. She colored, went to the park, and had a great nap. Thursday was just the same as Wednesday. It was a busy day at school and Sophia enjoyed being at Corey's again.

Thursday night I came home to a beautiful vase of roses to celebrate my completion of my first week back to school. What a wonderful husband I have!

Tonight Sophia and I hit the gym after work/Corey's house and had a great time. Then we came home for dinner and Hal made Sophia a special ice cream sundae with sprinkles, hot fudge, and a Girl Scout cookie to top if off. This was to celebrate Sophia doing a great job on her first week back to Corey's house. Poor kid already has her first cold. Hopefully it will clear up quickly!

This weekend we are going to get some grocery shopping done, go out for Hal's birthday dinner, and relax. I love being back to a normal routine.

State Fair 2010

2010-09-05T05:46:00.000-07:00

Friday and Saturday we spent the days at the State Fair. Friday was a shorter day and then Saturday was our full out marathon day. We got to the fair on Friday around 9. Sophia and I headed to the mini-donut stand so she could have them for breakfast. The weather on Friday was chilly and windy so these little treasures helped warm our bodies a bit.

After the donuts we went to the animals. Sophia adores petting all of the cows, pigs, and horses. We did a Moo Quiz in the cow barn and Sophia earned a ribbon.

She found this baby cow and completely fell in love with it. It was so adorable. She wanted to feed it and pet it. At one point she asked if we could have a pet cow. I told her probably not as we didn't live on a farm.

After seeing all of the animals we met her cousins at the rides. The kids had a great time on all of the rides. It was nice that she had someone her age to go on them with.

Sophia and Hailey on the motorcycles. We spent all of our tickets on the rides and then said our good-byes to head on to our next destination. Sophia was hungry again and I gave her a couple of choices, but while walking on the street she saw someone with a deep fried candy bar and told me that this would be her next choice.

She picked a deep fried 3 Musketeers Bar. Needless to say the treat was a hit! She wasn't very good at sharing.

We headed home about 1:30 so I could make it to my hair appointment at 2. Sophia was quite tired out and so was I. Needless to say, I knew we had yet another day tomorrow so being at the fair for that long was just perfect.

Yesterday, we got to the fair about 9 again. My parents and I parked in some guys yard for $5 which was a good deal. It was much better than walking the millions of miles that I had done while carrying a three year old the day before. I woke up with a sore upper body from all of my "carrying" so I decided to bit the bullet and five didn't seem nearly as bad as the $20 we saw while driving around.

We started out with the animals again. Sophia got to see some new baby pigs which she loved. We also made a trip into the pig barn, which we hadn't done on our previous trips.

We both loved wearing our pig ears. Then it was time for our first bite of food. So we all ventured to the french fry stand. My dad waited in line and Sophia, myself, and my mom staked out a great spot right in front of the Midway on a bench.

While we enjoyed our salty fries, I was intrigued by this ride which happened to be directly in front of us. If you don't know me well, you would never guess that I happen to love rides. I much prefer the ones that go upside down to the ones that go around in circles. This looked like the perfect ride to me....one of the rides where people stop to watch it because, number one is it huge, and number two it is daring.

Can you see the giant ride in the background of the picture?

Here was the ride of my choice called "Ka-Boom"! At this point the ride is directly upside down and is about to go over the top.

After the rides, we headed to the Grandstand and walked around inside a bit. Not much for us to purchase this year, but still fun to see everything. Then we made our way over to the Giant Slide. I have wanted to go on this every year, and have never done it so I figured this was the perfect time. Sophia could barely wait and told me it was, "more fun than I have ever had!" The funny part was that she said this while waiting on the steps in line. We hadn't even gone down the slide yet.

It is also our main goal to try a brand new food item each year when I attend the fair with my parents. This year we tried a fudge puppy. It was a Belgian waffle on a stick, covered in chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and sprinkles. This was one of the best things I think I have ever eaten at the fair.

On one of our last stops for the day I took Sophia to this barn called The Little Farm Hands. It is a free thing that kids can do and learn about where our food comes from. They get a little apron and a bucket and go from station to station collecting food and doing "farm chores". Here she is on the tractor.

At about 5 we started wearing down and it was time to head home. When we got home I cleaned the house top to bottom and then it was time for Sophia to head off to bed.

Not sure what we will be up to today as it is one of our last days of summer vacation. Tomorrow Hal comes home and it is his birthday. Can't wait to celebrate his special day!

Happy Early Birthday Hal!

2010-08-31T18:18:00.000-07:00

On Sunday Hal's family arrived from Utah after our big trip to the MN State Fair. Hal's birthday is on Labor Day, but since everyone is together we decided to celebrate it a bit early.

Last night we had a big family dinner complete with Hal's favorites: deep fried turkey and cheesy potatoes. We also had birthday cake to top off the special occasion.

It was so fun to have all five of the kids together for the celebration.

The week is flying by and I am looking forward to the weekend. Sophia and I are headed back to the fair and Hal will be in Kansas City and return on his birthday. Happy almost birthday hon!

Busy, busy, week/weekend

2010-08-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

Today was the start to our very busy week and weekend to come. We got up bright and early and headed to the MN State Fair. It is my most favorite place in the entire world. We started our day with me running my fastest
5K I have ever done. Less than nine minute miles!

While I ran the race, Sophia and Hal toured the fair for a bit. After I got done with the race we went exploring. Our favorites today were the: Miracle of Birth Barn, the Kidway Rides, the food, and the Creative Arts building.

My scrapbook pages unfortunately didn't win a prize this year, but I'm ok with that. Now next year I will try harder and get that first place prize.

Here are a couple of pictures from the day. We still have two more trips to the fair this week.

Cookies with Daddy

Petting a baby duck

On the bee ride with Mommy

Tomorrow I start my first official day of work. I am very excited! This will be a busy week for us as well with Hal's sister, her husband, and their kids staying with us. We are celebrating Hal's birthday tomorrow evening with the whole family.

Tuesday the boys and Hailey my niece are going to the Twins Game. I'm sure they will have a great time. Wednesday I have to work and Thursday Hal leaves for Kansas City. I'm sure we will have several updates from the week. Until then........

A week full of parties

2010-08-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

Sophia has now officially attended three birthday parties in one week. I guess she is quite the popular little one. On Wednesday, she went to a party for her friend Caroline. The girls made their own ice cream sundaes, had cupcakes, and got their nails painted. It was quite the girlie event!

Then on Friday we celebrated Caroline's birthday at the American Girl Cafe. The girls had a great time at lunch and it was so fun to watch them interact with their dolls. The mommies had an equal amount of fun watching the girls!

Yesterday Sophia attended a birthday party for one of her friends Emerson across the street. The theme of the party was like a ranch style with ponies and cowgirls. It was awfully cute!

The kids did pony races and made their own cowgirl hats with markers and such. They also got little bandannas to wear around their necks. After eating cupcakes and opening presents the real fun arrived.

Sophia rode two ponies yesterday: Snickers and Oreo. They were such good ponies. She adored riding the ponies and talked about them all day yesterday. Looks like we might have a future rider on our hands!

We have a new nephew!!

2010-08-17T19:46:00.000-07:00

Our new nephew was born today! His name is Bennett Gerald Wickman. He came into the world today at 12:15 pm weighing a whopping 6 pounds 4 ounces 19 inches long. He is a tiny little thing, but boy does he have long skinny fingers and toes.

Sophia absolutely adores him and it makes me twinge when she holds him. Hmmm......should we have another????? For now I can't wait to enjoy him. I made him a birthday cake and I hope their family loves every last bite!

Here are a couple of cute pictures from this evening:

Hal, Sophia, and Baby Ben

Sophia with her new cousin Ben

Those long skinny feet I was talking about

As for our family.........
We have been extremely busy with school. I have been at school quite a bit over the last two weeks and there is only more to come. Sophia has been wonderful at entertaining herself in my classroom while I work and helping me organize and clean things.

She loves sitting in the desks and wearing her backpack around my school. My little girl so desperately wants to grow up. It makes me sad to think that she is three and will have her first official year of pre-school next fall. Until then, I will cherish all of her excitement about school and all that is to come.

We are gearing up for a big weekend of birthday parties for Sophia and friends/neighborhood Olympics for the adults. Two of Sophia's friends have birthdays this week and she is thrilled to be going back to the American Girl Cafe and riding ponies. Not sure how she will actually do once she sits on the horse though.

Well, it's off to bed for me. Another early day at school tomorrow!

And a baby makes three

2010-08-11T06:40:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I hosted a baby shower for my very best friend in the entire world Becca. It was such a beautiful day despite the heat. The sun was shining and it was so much fun to celebrate and recognize this wonderful person.

We had a great time playing games and eating amazing food. Of course my favorite were the cupcakes we had from Cupcake in Minneapolis. It is my newest obsession! My goal just might be to try as many different cupcakes as I can.

After eating, she opened her presents and then the guests left with some beautiful vases that were tinted blue with white hydrangea in them. Can you tell my theme was blue and white? Yes....she is having a boy!

As I look back on my baby shower, it was also such an amazing experience I can only hope that I gave her the same.

Congratulations Becca, Dan, and Baby B! We can't wait to meet you!!

Summer Fun

2010-08-04T05:09:00.000-07:00

Just had to share two pictures with you of a photo shoot with Sophia.....I think that they turned out pretty darn cute, but of course I am totally biased as I am the mom :)

Go Gophers!

2010-08-03T04:16:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we made a trip to the University of Minnesota campus and walked around. Hal graduated from this school and we just adore the campus and the walking paths it has to offer.

We walked past the new stadium and peered inside. It looked quite amazing and we are hoping to get to a game this year. We also made a stop at the bookstore where Sophia wanted me to take her picture with the mannequins. She is completely obsessed with them in all stores that we go in to.

After purchasing a couple of things we headed out along the way to the river.

There we found the shoe tree and the Weisman Musuem.

The flowers were also super gorgeous along the campus and we couldn't help but take pictures with them.

A little piece of me truly hopes that Sophia will attend this amazing school, but who knows where life will bring us.

This week we are off on a couple of fun summertime dates. Today I am taking Sophia to the art museum. Tomorrow we are going to meet up with friends at the Minnesota Zoo. Then it is off to the Teddy Bear Park on Thursday. Summer is coming to an end so now it is time to get all of the last places in we haven't been yet.

Earrings for my big girl!

2010-07-27T05:19:00.000-07:00

Last week Sophia decided that she finally wanted to get her ears pierced. After much deliberation of going in the store and then changing her mind, she did it. I kept telling her it would only be a little pinch and then it would be done. She continued to repeat this to the ladies at the store.

Being the planner that I am, I called the store to make sure that in advance we would be going at a time when two people were working. Well, it turned out we didn't need the two people because she ended up getting them done one at a time.

She was SO brave!! After she got her ears pierced she proceeded to go and pick out a prize of sparkly Hello Kitty polish in the store along with a pair of earrings to wear when she can change her earrings in 6 weeks.

For now we are working on keeping them clean three times a day. Sophia loves her earrings and shows EVERY person we come in contact with that she has earrings. She even stopped a teenage boy the other day in the store to show him that she had her ears pierced and he also did. Needless to say he had quite the bling in his ears....nothing compared to the tiny little silver balls she has. Oh well, he found it quite funny and was a good sport about the whole thing.

Camping and a Coin Carnival

2010-07-21T05:12:00.000-07:00

Last week my friend Rana and I took our three kids camping for the first time ever. We went to a local state park that wasn't too far from either of our houses as a "just in case" precautionary measure. Little did we know the adventures that would ensue over such a short 24 hour period of time.

We got to Lake Elmo on Thursday around noon. We got checked in, picked up the fire wood, and then headed to the beach. Our original plan was to set up the tent first, but the people at our site had not yet checked out and they had until one o'clock. So the kids had lunch/snacks and swam for what seemed like forever.

The weather was beautiful and the beach was packed. The kids had so much fun playing in the sand, covering themselves in the sand, and then rushing to the water to rinse it off. To my surprise it took Sophia quite some time before she actually put her head back in the sand. She was however quite the brave little turkey in the water and at one point got in way over her head literally! She didn't seem at all scared when I pulled her up. I was waiting for the tears, but she said "lets do it again".

After the beach, we went back and got the tent set up.

The kids had a great time bouncing all over the air mattresses and sleeping bags. Who knew you could create a jumpy right in your very own tent. We decided to head back to the beach for a bit more play before dinner. Then we came back and the kids made pizza pockets over the fire. I was quite proud at finding a recipe online and then inventing it to make it "kid friendly" and tasty!

After dinner we went up to the play area and lets the kids run free for a while. Then it was back to the tent for the long awaited smores. Boy did they turn out fantastic! I had this wonderful idea to use a Reeses peanut butter cup instead of a Hershey bar and I couldn't believe how yummy it was!

The smores were eaten and tummies were full. It was time to get pjs on and get ready for bed. The kids listened to some books that I brought and sat by the fire for a bit.

Eyes were droopy from both moms and the kids. It was quite the big day. So we put the kids in bed. Rana and I sat by the fire and then it happened................we could hear some rustling from the bushes, but couldn't see anything. All of a sudden two beady little eyes popped out right by our campfire where we were sitting. It was a raccoon!!!!!
We ran over and picked up rocks, but it didn't stop that hungry little critter from getting our trash and trying to rip it open. So I went to find a place with my flashlight to dispose of the trash. We didn't want to have any more close encounters with the fuzzy kind.

In the morning the kids surprisingly slept in. We got up and had breakfast and then cleaned everything up. Then it was off to home for a quick clean up and heading out to the Coin Carnival. The kids had so much fun playing all of the games.

By the time lunch rolled around, we were all tired and hot. So we opted to cut the Coin Carnival short and head to the pool. By Friday night we were so tired. Sophia slept like a log and so did I. I would have to say that our first camping experience was quite fantastic. Hopefully we can do it again sometime soon!

My little gymnast

2010-07-13T05:01:00.000-07:00

Sophia has been attending gymnastics since June 14th and she is just loving it. I am amazed at how far she has come in such a short amount of time. They really do "real" gymnastics compared to some of the other places that I see where they just crawl through tunnels and such.

I would love for her to continue gymnastics for a while this fall and will hopefully sign her up for at least 2 of the five sessions offered. We love her teacher Miss Frankie and luckily we would be able to get into the same class with her during the school year that doesn't conflict with dance.

This week there focus was on balance and I got a couple of great shots of her focusing on her skills.

Standing on the high bar balancing without one hand

Trying to stand on the swing and balance

Hot fun in the summertime

2010-07-07T04:22:00.000-07:00

We have been having a wonderful time in all of this hot weather so far. Friday marked the start of a long weekend with Hal which was so nice. Sophia and I spent the day on Friday by the pool with my family and Hal worked on getting our landscaping in the front yard done. Friday evening we went to Pier 500 for dinner. After dinner we went to get Sophia a fish. She has been wanting a pet for quite some time and a fish is the perfect one for her to have. She named the fish Firefly and just adores it.

Saturday we spent the morning looking for new shrubs and then went to my parents for the rest of the day. We lounged by the pool all day and snacked on apps and drinks. It was the most perfect day! By 6 everyone was completely sunned out and we went home.

Sunday was the Fourth of July. We spent the rainy morning relaxing at home and then took Sophia to her first ever movie "Toy Story 3". She loved every second of the movie theater, but I think she loved eating the popcorn and Whoppers even more. She didn't share very much with us and by the time the movie got done she was tired and ready for a nap. Hal went to take care of his parents cats and then I got the food ready for the party that evening. We went over to our neighbors for the party later in the evening. The food was great and it was so fun to hang out with everyone.

Monday the weather was so completely weird it didn't know if it was going to rain or be sunny. So after we had gotten all ready to get up to the pool for the day, the tornado sirens went off. What a bummer. There were funnel clouds spotted in the area so we spent lunch time down in the basement. After we were given the all clear, Sophia played outside in the rain. Then we got ready to get to gymnastics. We were all completely wiped from the weekend and went to bed early that evening.

Yesterday I took Sophia to Como Zoo. We had such a great day looking at all of the animals, going to the shows, going on rides, and having a picnic lunch despite the extreme heat.

Then we spent another round at the swimming pool after we were completely done with the zoo and the heat. Last night we also had a family dinner with my grandma. Today it looks at though they predicted wrong again. The skies are sunny and the weather is hot, so it looks like we will be yet again at the pool. So needless to say, there has been quite a bit of fun had even with the heat of the summer.

The wagon parade

2010-07-02T05:09:00.000-07:00

Last night our community center had a 4th of July parade for the kids. I wasn't able to attend due to a CPR class, but Hal took Sophia. We spent yesterday afternoon getting her cute outfit ready and decorating the wagon.

Hal said Sophia had a wonderful time seeing the firetrucks, police cars, and getting pulled in the "parade". After all of the kids went around the circle in the parade they had ice cream. Of course Sophia didn't pass that up.

Today we are off to spend the day by the pool with Uncle Ryan who is home for a week. Bring on the warm weather.

Sophia's newest stats

2010-06-28T13:42:00.000-07:00

Today Sophia had her three year appointment. When I called they told me no vaccinations. Yippee!!

Little did I know that they do not communicate well, and I was told wrong. Sophia had a great time at her "big girl" appointment. This was the first time she had her eyes checked, her height measured, and her hearing checked. She did wonderful on all of them. She got everything correct on the two screenings and I was shocked at her height.

People have commented lately on how tall she is. Well contrary to belief she is actually quite small. Here are her latest stats:

Height 34 inches tall which puts her at the 10th percentile
Weight 28 pounds which puts her at the 25th percentile

After we saw Dr. Strong and she did some showing off, in came the nurse with the shot. Little did I know that my big girl would be such a trooper. She didn't even cry at all!! I was completely shocked. She was grinning ear to ear walking down the hall back to the lobby about how she "was a rock star". It was pretty cute.

We spent the rest of the morning/afternoon getting my classroom set up. Oh there is so much to do still, but I feel a bit better now getting the room organized. Tomorrow I'm off to have lunch with my college roommates two of which I haven't seen since graduation.

High Seas Adventure

2010-06-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

This week Sophia and I have been quite busy. Sophia attended her first ever vacation bible adventures camp. I volunteered as a crew leader and had a wonderful time. We came home each day feeling quite exhausted from all of the fun.

The kiddos traveled to several different stations throughout the day. Sophia even made a wonderful little friend named Emma. She was such a sweet girl. Sophia looked up to Emma (who is 5) all week.

I took quite a few pictures so I picked some of the best of to share:

Father's Day

2010-06-21T04:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Father's Day and we had a great day together as a family. We started off the day by making breakfast and having my parents over to eat. We enjoyed homemade waffles, bacon, sausage, and pineapple. Sophia was a great little helper when making the waffles.

Sophia with Hal making waffles

After breakfast the guys opened their presents. Sophia was also a great helper, but was confused by the fact that she didn't get to open them.

Hal opening his presents

Then we spent some time outside as the day got hot and humid.

Sophia with Hal

My Daddy

We played outside for most of the day and ate our meals out on the deck. This was the first day that it felt like summer in quite a long time. It was so fun to spend the day together as a family and quite relaxing before the busy week ahead.

Sophia starts VBS this week and has gymnastics. Hal will be busy for work and helping with a commercial shoot for his blue tape. I will be volunteering this week at church along with getting ready for the weekend of baby showers.

The tap shoes.....

2010-06-17T05:06:00.000-07:00

This week Sophia got a pair of tap shoes from her friend Ava which are too small for her. Sophia took an instant love to them! They are still quite big for her, but she wanted to wear them all over. We told her she could only wear them on the carpet for they will ruin the hardwood floors in the house. She continued to ask me for almost 30 minutes when it was time for her to go to "tap class". I told her we were going to start in the fall, but clearly that was not the answer she wanted to hear.

So she proceeded to put on a show for me. In the video she is tapping her to and singing a song that the tap class at her dance studio performed at the recital. The tapping of the toe and the song are all from this dance. It was amazing that she memorized all of the moves and the song from this dance class after only watching them twice, but seemed not as interested in her dance when it came time to practice before the big recital.

She can clearly remember things quite easily when she likes them. I could only get a little bit of her "performance" so I hope you enjoy!

One Amazing Weekend

2010-06-08T12:25:00.000-07:00

I don't think that this weekend will ever compare to getting married or giving birth, but it was right up there!

My day started out on Friday with a phone call, needless to say an important one at that. The job I interviewed for in Fridley as a Fourth Grade teacher was offered to me! I was completely thrilled and couldn't have been happier. I went in to sign my contract and make it official. You're looking at the newest member of the Stevenson Elementary Staff.

The rest of the weekend was spent preparing my body and mind for my first ever marathon. 18 long weeks of training all led up to Sunday. Sunday morning I left with my partner in crime Molly to run my first ever marathon. It was quite steamy outside and there were several hills, but I made it!

Several friends, family, and neighbors came out to cheer me on. It was quite a rush at the finish line. Molly and I were both ecstatic! This was my first finish and her fifth.

Our special treat at the end of the race was a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup! It became a staple on our longer training runs as we stopped at the gas station for a little extra pick-me-up when we were almost done.

The rest of the day on Sunday was spent relaxing, eating, and napping. I recovered much to my surprise very quickly. We had a celebratory pizza dinner that night and then it was off to bed.

Yesterday was my 31st birthday. I couldn't have had a more special day. I had breakfast with my daughter, niece, and sister-in-law. Then it was off to play outside with some of the neighbor children and my friend Michelle. After a bit of play, Sophia and I ventured out for lunch. We met my friend Molly and her kiddos. It was quite the celebration with ice cream for the kids and balloons for me :)

Then I dropped Sophia off at my parents and came home for a little rest and relaxation. I had the most amazing afternoon laying outside with the sun beating down. Hal came home early and we got ready for dinner.

We headed out to Washington Square in White Bear Lake, MN to sit on the patio. It was such a great end to a perfect day with my family. Everyone enjoyed their dinner and then we went back to my parents house for birthday cake.

I opened my presents and cards and then we came back to our house. Everyone was quite tired from the big day and we all fell asleep.

Today has been very relaxing. The rain helps a bit too. We have a busy rest of the week with Hal working nights and me going to meet my kiddos for next year. I don't think I will be able to top last weekend!

Playing piano

2010-06-02T06:08:00.000-07:00

I had to catch a short clip of this......Sophia is now teaching her doll how to play the piano. It is just so funny to hear her use the exact same words that I say when teaching her how to play.

Sophia is Three!

2010-05-26T04:44:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was quite a whirlwind. I am still trying to recover from all of the activities. I have been playing Sophia's third birthday for months and it came and went so quick.

Friday Sophia had her very first dance recital. She did an amazing job and it was so fun to watch her perform on stage. I couldn't believe how at ease she was in front of all of those people with the lights. I am hoping that there will be many more to come.

Sophia with mommy in her costume

Sophia up on stage with her class during their performance

Sophia with her dance teacher Miss Mary and her dance teacher assistant Miss Erica

Saturday was Sophia's third birthday. I can hardly believe how fast the time has gone. It seems like only yesterday she was learning how to walk. Now she is playing with Barbies and riding a big girl bike.
Here is a comparison for you:

Sophia 1 day old

Sophia at 3 years old

She had a wonderful Cinderella party with her friends. They were so cute! They were dressed up in full princess gear and made crowns, wands, and colored Cinderella pictures.

I was proud of how the cake turned out since I made it myself and had this far fetched idea in my head of what I wanted to do.

After cake and ice cream, Sophia opened her presents. She was so excited to play with her new toys. She also got a new big girl bike from my parents. It was so funny to watch her ride it in the garage due to the rain in her Cinderella dress.

The girls left and we cleaned up a bit. Then we all took a little nap before we went out for dinner to the Rainforest Cafe at the Mall of America. It was a pretty chaotic restaurant, but we all had a great time.

Sunday we had friends over to watch the Twins game and then went to my parents for a BBQ before my brother left on Monday.

This week the weather has been beautiful and we have already spent quite a bit of time outside and swimming in the pool. I am looking forward to another weekend full of fun and family!

Every girl's dream

2010-05-18T19:02:00.000-07:00

Today Sophia and I spent the day with my friend Molly and her daughter Caroline and we celebrated Sophia's third birthday (which is coming up on Saturday). Molly thought it would be fun to take the girls to the American Girl Cafe at the Mall of America. I never imagined how much fun we would have! From the minute that we walked in they made a big deal about Sophia's birthday. She got a special card, a sticker to wear, and a special place card. All of the servers called the girls princesses. Of course they totally loved that.

The girls each got to begin by picking a doll out to bring along and sit at our table. The dolls got their own high chairs, menus, and meals. It was just adorable.

The girls with their dolls

Both girls loved feeding their dolls and giving the dolls some lemonade to drink (by the way everything was REAL!)

Sophia feeding her doll

The menu at the cafe was amazing. Molly and I were quite impressed by the selections. All adult meals include an appetizer and an entree. The children's menu includes an entree, drink, and treat. Sophia and Caroline both picked chicken fingers and ice cream for the treats. When they brought out the ice cream Sophia's had a candle in it and the severs gathered around so and sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Sophia just adored this and loved even more that she got to blow out the candle in her ice cream.

During her birthday song

After we finished treats, we went to ride all of the rides the girls could go on. It was so fun to hear them giggle and have such a great day together.

We got home and Sophia was completely exhausted. I haven't had that much fun in a long time. I can hardly believe my little girl will be three on Saturday, but this was such a great way to spend time with her and create a wonderful memory. I can barely wait to go back for Caroline's birthday in August. If you are looking for something totally girly to do, this is it!

Cookie Monsters

2010-05-12T13:27:00.000-07:00

Today Sophia had a playdate with her friend Peyton. They had a wonderful time making cookies and playing Barbies. What a great friend she is!

This week seems to be flying by. It is amazing how quickly the time goes now that I am a stay at home mommy. Sophia and I have such a great time together. I love being able to do such fun things for her, and the fact that they are free is even better.

Tomorrow we will go to Story Hour at the library in Woodbury. Sophia enjoys hearing the books and checking out new ones. We try to get to the library at least once a week. It is amazing how long she will sit and listen to books.

I can hardly believe that a week from Saturday my little girl will be 3! Oh the time goes by so quick.

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T13:57:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful Mother's Day it has been! We started off the day by getting together with my mom and walking the Race for the Cure. It is our tradition to walk every year together. With met up with our group of friends and we were off.

It always amazes me at how much the walk/run grow each year. I can hardly believe that my mom has almost made it to her 10 year mark as a survivor! What a blessing and a tragedy that experience was. It sure does make you realize that you're very lucky.

I am so incredibly blessed to be a mother and have such a wonderful relationship with my mother. I couldn't ask for more!

Sophia was quite the trooper during the walk. My mom figured that we walked seven miles by the time all was said and done.

Our group

After getting home from the walk, we took Sophia to the park. We played for a while and tried to soak up the sun! It is so beautiful outside it was hard for me to come in. We played soccer and did some chalk on the driveway. Sophia went down for a nap and Hal and I enjoyed some quality time together outside in the lounge chairs reading the newspaper.

Tonight we are going to have a pizza picnic and watch a movie. Oh and how I could forget the stop from the ice cream man! What a wonderful day.

On another positive note, I have an interview tomorrow so wish me luck!

Happy Mother's Day!

Making cookies

2010-05-01T11:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Sophia helped me make cookies. We both put our aprons on and had a great time. She is getting to be so grown up!

Mommy and Sophia in our aprons

Mixing the cookie dough

Changing times

2010-04-28T06:21:00.001-07:00

It has been so nice having the sun shining and as the weather gets warmer, we spend most of out time outside. Recently I lost my teaching job at the Tesseract School in Eagan, MN. It was quite a shock to be working one day and not the next. This is my second week off and it still feels very awkward. I am looking for a new teaching job, but they are very hard to come by.

Along with me losing my job, we decided it best to have Sophia at home with me not going to daycare. It was so hard to say good-bye and we truly feel blessed to have had the opportunity to be at Corey's house. Sophia will go back in the fall if I can find a job.

We have been having quite a bit of fun at home. Sophia and I have been doing several art projects, going to the park, applying for jobs, cleaning the house, and much more. She is such a trooper!

Yesterday we made a caterpillar to celebrate spring and the sunny weather. She did such a great job painting it with water colors and glitter paint.

On another note, we have been practicing writing her name and she has the S and O down. Now if we could just get that tricky P next.

A pet and a party

2010-04-20T04:34:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend my mother-in-law came home from Utah. Along with her she brought Sophia a new pet. Well, it isn't exactly alive though. She brought her a ZhuZhu pet. I'm not sure if you are aware of just what this thing exactly is......
It's name is Jilly. She is a pink and white hamster. She moves quite quickly and makes noise. It's almost like she is alive.

Sophia has had a blast playing with Jilly. She made Jilly a little bed out of an ice cream pail. In it she put one of her baby doll blankies and pillows so Jilly could, "get a good night rest". It is quite hysterical to watch her with this little thing. She also found out her friend Ava had two of them and a track for them to play in so the girls had a movie playdate and watched Tinkerbell with popcorn and played with their pets.

We also went to a party over the weekend. Our niece Abby Wickman turned 2 on Sunday. The party was Saturday and the weather held out. It was a bit breezy, but nice enough to be outside and enjoy the sun with jackets on. Sophia had a great time playing with all of the toys in the yard.

All of the girls at the party

Abby opening her presents

The birthday girl drawing with chalk

It was a wonderful weekend and I'm really glad that the weather is starting to get warmer and less windy. On to a beautiful week outside!

Easter Sunday

2010-04-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful weekend with all of the festivities, but Easter Sunday couldn't have been more amazing. We got up and let Sophia go find her basket on the front step. She was thrilled that the bunny ate most of the carrots she left.

She played with her basket goodies for a bit and then we headed out to church. The service was wonderful and the music was excellent! After church we had my parents over for brunch. It was so good, and I could hardly stop eating.

We were so happy to have my parents back home in MN. Sophia was thrilled to see Papa and Nana too. As evidence from the photo above!

Sophia loved finding all of the eggs in the yard, but loved the treats even more. We barely came inside and she had cracked one of the eggs open and indulged in a little melty chocolate candy.

My parents left for the afternoon and we played a bit outside with Sophia. Then she went down for a nap and I cleaned up after our brunch. I also took the decorations down. I felt a little guilty considering it was still Easter and here I was taking down the decorations before the day was over, but I needed to clean.

That night we went to the park and it felt a little like summer. I commented on this and Hal agreed. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful end to a fun-filled weekend!

Egg Mania

2010-04-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

Last night we colored eggs with Sophia in preparation for Easter on Sunday. She had quite a bit of fun doing this, but kept wanting to touch the color dye in the cups. Being the over paranoid person that I am, every time she reached for the cup I thought in my mind here it goes. To my surprise, we made it through the whole process without any dye spilling on the floor or her clothes.

Sophia ready with all of the colors out

My happy little bunny

Today we went to the first annual egg hunt for our neighborhood. One of the neighbor mom's put it together. It was just AMAZING! Each of the kids found so many eggs and they had such a wonderful time. I was shocked at how many eggs Sophia found and brought home all filled with different treats.

Ready to hunt for eggs

The whole crew posing for a pre-egg hunt photo

Sophia hunting for eggs (the entire time she hunted she was singing the song, "A Hunting We Will Go")

Sophia post-hunt with all of her treats

While hunting, Sophia found an egg wrapped in silver tin foil. We were unaware, but there were only two eggs that were put out like this. Sophia was thrilled when she found out that this egg entitled her to a special surprise. In family tradition, one of the neighbors has done this for years and put together the special surprise for the two lucky finders. Here was prize:

We can hardly wait to have the egg hunt again next year! What a success for everyone. The kids loved it and found tons of eggs. The parents had a great time watching all of the smiles and happy kiddos.

A meeting with the bunny

2010-03-30T18:24:00.000-07:00

Last weekend after our flight got in from Florida, I got Sophia all dressed up to go and see the Easter Bunny. We did the same thing last year and it didn't go nearly as well. She loved all of the activities provided last year, but when it came to meeting the bunny she was deathly afraid and cried.

This year was a completely different story. She could hardly wait to meet the bunny. She loved doing all of the activities provided and wanted to sit with the bunny, "just one more tiny time."

Here she is with the bunny

A dream come true

2010-03-28T18:12:00.000-07:00

Well it's official, we took a dream vacation and I will never forget it! Yesterday we got back from Disney World in Florida. It was the most amazing time ever. We were gone for 7 days and the weather surely did cooperate with us.

We stayed in a house with my parents at a gorgeous resort. It was nice to have the resort amenities, but be able to have our own kitchen and such too cook in. We mainly had breakfast and lunch at our house and then ate dinner out at night. All except for one day did we eat breakfast at home. The exception was our breakfast at the Contemporary Resort with the characters. Sophia could hardly eat because there was so much going on. It was great to have each of the characters stop by the table, but I think her favorite was Minnie. Here's the proof:

The breakfast was quite fun and they even had a little party where all of the characters came out to dance and sing.

The first park we went to was Epcot. Sophia really enjoyed going to see the Monsters Inc Show. She also adored going on the Clam Mobiles for the Finding Nemo Ride. It was a great sunny day and we were all tired after the 12 miles of walking we did over the course of the day.

Sophia's favorite character that she met that day at the park had to be Marie.

The next day we spent the entire sunny, hot, day at Magic Kingdom. We had such a great time riding on all of the rides. Our favorite as a family was probably Small World. Sophia adored the Dumbo Ride and going on Peter Pan. We saw the parade in the afternoon and Sophia got to meet Belle, Cinderella, and Aurora. That was the most amazing sight. I teared up just a bit watching her face as she met Cinderella. I knew that this would be a memory that I would cherish forever.

Sophia on the tea cup ride

Our third park day we went to Animal Kingdom. This was a new one for our whole family. We all had a great time on the safari seeing the giraffes and all of the animals. Hal and I loved going on the huge roller coaster. After finishing at the park, we went back and went in the pool.

For our final couple of days, we spent time by the pool, going down the water slide, and hanging out on the lazy river. We went also went to Down Town Disney which was really quite fun. Sophia loved it because she got to pick out her souvenir.

All in all, I can honestly say this was the best vacation ever. I would highly recommend going with young kids and I can barely wait to go back. Hal and I have already started planning our next trip back!

I took a million more pictures, but couldn't fit them all. Until our next trip.....

Sophia's first baby shower

2010-03-14T06:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend has given me a chance to relive some wonderful memories. It all started with watching an episode of the Office believe it or not. Pam and Jim and a baby girl. As Hal and I watched the episode we talked about when Sophia was born. We had some laughs and tried hard to remember some of the little details. It amazed me that it all went so smooth. I felt sad watching that Pam and Jim were struggling. Then I started thinking hopefully we will be as lucky the first time as we will be the second time if we have another baby.

On Saturday, Sophia attended her first baby shower. My girlfriend Christy had a baby girl on February 13th. Little Lilly was about the most precious thing ever. Sophia couldn't get over how "beautiful" she was. At one point she even looked at me and said, "I just love her". It was quite adorable.

It was a great chance for me to hang out with some wonderful friends and spend an afternoon celebrating Lilly's little life so far. Sophia was very gentle with Lilly and just loved holding her. It made me realize that she will be a wonderful big sister if and when the day does come.

We are getting geared up for a busy week at both school and home. I am in the midst of doing the summer laundry and putting everything together for Florida. We leave for Disney World on Saturday and couldn't be more thrilled.

Fun filled weekend

2010-03-07T18:37:00.000-08:00

Wow it was quite the fun filled weekend. What was going to be a weekend of no plans surely turned into a busy one, but luckily most at home. Friday night Hal worked very late and didn't get home until we were in bed. Saturday morning we got up and Hal made a great breakfast. Sophia must be going through a growing spurt because she ate a huge meal. We spent most of the day in our jammies hanging out around the house. Our new computer arrived on Saturday too which was quite exciting.

Hal spent most of the day trying to get the new computer hooked up to the Internet. Sophia and I played toys and then my friend Lisa stopped by with a whole bunch of clothes. Sophia spent the majority of the rest of the day playing dress up. She really took a love to this bat girl costume and a rain jacket with matching rain boots. After Sophia went for a nap I went and did my long run for the weekend. It felt so great to have 12 miles done! When I got home we had a lazy evening and went to bed early to gear up for the zoo.

Today we got ready and made the trip out to the MN Zoo. Sophia could barely wait to see the monkeys.

Sophia on the turtle

She loved seeing all of the animals and it was amazing to see her reactions compared to being at the same zoo only a year ago.

Checking out the fish with daddy

After a couple of hours, Sophia had seen the animals and was done so we headed home. We had some lunch and then it was time to try the rain boots outside. Sophia had the greatest time splashing around in the puddles.

Once she was completely soaked, it was time to go back inside. We played for a bit more before nap. After nap we got ready for the family dinner.

Hal's mom is in town from Utah so we had his parents, sister, and our niece over for dinner. The girls played a ton of toys together and had a great time.

Sophia and Abby playing kitchen

We had a wonderful dinner and then everyone headed home.

Potty Princess

2010-03-04T06:03:00.000-08:00

Sophia has finally done it! She made it through her first entire night from start to finish dry wearing her big girl panties. This morning I made a huge deal out of it and made her a crown that said Potty Princess on it.

She was not completely thrilled with me taking pictures so early in the morning, but once she saw the crown her eyes lit up and started twinkling.

We are so very proud of our little girl and can hardly believe that she is potty trained now before the age of 3!

The amaryllis

2010-02-26T07:06:00.000-08:00

So when my parents leave for their warm weather destinations during the winter, my mom has me take care of her amaryllis. Well, this is the first year that it has had five flowers on it. It is quite amazing to watch this plant grow.

Sophia is just mesmerized by the fact that it is growing so tall and that flowers can actually come out of it. Last night one of the flowers started to open and this morning I showed her what it looked like. Of course she wanted to touch it which was super funny. She was very gentle so she wouldn't hurt it.

I can't wait to see the actual flowers open up this weekend. I hope I don't miss it today by being at work.

Tomorrow I am in charge of a pancake breakfast fundraiser at my school. Sophia and Hal are coming to join me later in all of the chaos. We sold 240 tickets so I'm sure I will be exhausted by the time it gets done. Wish me luck!

Our First Garden

2010-02-22T19:03:00.000-08:00

Hal and I have been talking about starting a garden ever since we got married. In our old house, we had a rose garden and had 4 rose bushes. We really enjoyed watching them grow and bloom, but really wanted to have vegetables and fruit.

Now that we have been in our new house for a year and four months, we are finally ready for the garden. We started out by buying several of those little plants from the dollar section at Target. We have gone through several of them, but nothing has survived. So this weekend we went all out. We officially started our very own garden. We planted mini pumpkins, chives, cilantro, jalapeno peppers, and green peppers.

Sophia had a wonderful time planting the seeds. She picked out the baby pumpkins and she can barely wait to see them. She keeps talking about her growing pumpkins every time she walks in the sun room.

Along with the garden growing in the sun room, we also have an amaryllis plant. Right now it has five plants waiting to flower. One of them is just starting to open up. Sophia just loves watering the bulb and watching it slowly grow and change. Each year when my parents leave they leave a gift with us....the plant. It has been quite amazing this year and I can barely wait to see all of the flowers open.

Thinking spring here at our house!

The little scientist

2010-02-20T17:06:00.000-08:00

Here's a great picture of our little scientist.....

New Teeth and Dry Nights

2010-02-19T06:15:00.000-08:00

This morning marks 6 nights out of 7 that Sophia has been dry in the morning. I hope that this signals the bitter end of potty training for us. She has been completely dry during the day since forever, but the night thing hadn't kicked in for her yet. She is completely thrilled to wear her "big girl panties" to bed tonight as a celebration of her dry nights!

Also this morning as I was brushing her teeth I noticed two new teeth coming in. They are just barely popping through, but I am guessing that these are called her two-year molars. Funny how they have that name considering she is much closer to three than two.

Lots of successes this week. My little girl is growing up!

Cookie Monsters

2010-02-09T18:54:00.000-08:00

Tonight Sophia had a playdate with Peyton and Gavin. They came over to make sugar cookies for Valentine's Day and decorated them with sprinkles and frosting. They all had a great time rolling out the dough and cutting the cookies out. After the cookies were all done, the tasting began. The kids could barely resist getting their hands on a fresh sugar cookie. They turned out just fantastic and tasted even better!

Sophia rolling her cookie dough out

Peyton rolling her dough out

Gavin rolling his dough out
All in all we had a wonderful playdate. It was so fun to hang out with Rana too. The rest of the week can fly by already. I'm ready for the weekend. Sophia is too!

Culver's Night

2010-02-02T18:13:00.000-08:00

Last night Sophia got to come help out at my school fundraiser at Culver's Restaurant in Eagan. She did such a wonderful job of helping me bring orders to the tables and entertaining the patrons of the restaurant. Of course, she was loved by all. Yes, my little ham for surely did show off everything she knew last night. After working for a bit, she took a break to have dinner. When she finished she could barely wait for her ice cream treat. She picked vanilla custard with sprinkles. This is her most favorite treat and she has the same thing every time we go to Culver's. She is just like her mom! She is very close to having all of her team scoopie points. She is saving them for the hot pink t-shirt.

In other news, tonight was our last class of Sports Sampler. We had such a great time playing basketball, scooters, hockey, soccer, and tumbling down the wedge mat. I'm sure Sophia will miss going to this class and asked if we could go again sometime. I'm bummed because you have to be 4 to start in the youth soccer program which I thought we might be able to try this summer. Oh well, next summer then. Not sure what we will try this summer. I know she will continue with dance, but maybe swimming or gymnastics. I'm also hoping to find a music class to enroll her in since she likes to play marching band so much at home.

This weekend will be another busy one. Friday Sophia and I will be spending the day together due to the fact that Corey will be out of town. We plan on getting all of our Valentine's presents/cards. She also needs some new shoes so it looks as though we will head to Stride Rite. Saturday night is the big Silent Auction with Tim Mahoney for my school. I'm hoping it will be a big success. Sunday will be a day to relax before heading back to another busy week at work.

I'm really looking forward to a little break and some warmer weather. Only 46 more days until we head to Disney World.

Sophia's First Haircut

2010-01-24T14:18:00.001-08:00

Saturday morning we took Sophia to get her very first haircut ever! The place we took her to was just adorable and really fit her personality. It was called Wild Child Hair.

After getting into the chair and getting situated she acted like she was an old pro. She just loved being able to watch "the puppy movie" or 101 Dalmatians while getting her hair done.

When she was finished getting it cut, the lady put some styling mango foam in her hair. Sophia thought that was about the greatest thing ever. Hal and I could not get over how curly her hair actually was after getting it cut. It was so incredibly adorable to see all of the curls really come out.

Check out these curls!

When she was all done, all of the ladies in the store commented on how adorable her hair looked. She was thrilled to get her very own sticker and sucker. They even saved some cute little locks for me and put them in an adorable keepsake envelope that I can put in her baby book.

This was the most wonderful experience and Sophia can barely wait to go back and have another haircut!

A Whale of a Tale

2010-01-20T18:56:00.000-08:00

Sophia has been learning about the letter W this week at Corey's house. They made pictures of water slides, colored watermelons, and today they finished their W project which was creating a whale. Corey does just the cutest things ever with these kids! Hope you enjoy this adorable little girl and her new best friend.

Sophia has also been practicing jumping on one foot. This seems to be her new favorite thing to do. It is quite funny to watch her jump around attempting to jump on one foot. She hasn't really mastered this skill yet, but she will hopefully soon.

Playdate with Peyton and Great Grandma's Birthday

2010-01-17T18:59:00.000-08:00

Today Sophia had a playdate with Peyton. The girls had a great time wearing their princess tutus, crowns, and wands. They each made three of their very own princess rings. Of course Sophia's favorite was Snow White.

After playing a bit the girls had lunch and then played some more. Before we left to go home they played with the kitchen items. Sophia just loved all of the play food that they had.

When it was time to go, both girls were quite exhausted. Sophia went down for a nap and then it was off to Grandma's birthday. She had so much fun with her third cousins Thomas and Matthew. The kids loved the cake and ice cream and then started the movie Up. We were sad to see them go.

Tomorrow daddy leaves for a whole week. We will miss him very much!

Sports Class

2010-01-13T07:43:00.000-08:00

Last night Hal and I took Sophia to her first Sports Sampler class. I found this class through Community Education and thought that it sounded really fun. Well little did we know how much fun it would be!

Sophia had a blast playing at all of the different stations. Last night they had: basketball, soccer, hockey, hula hoops, beanbags, and cones set out. I think Sophia loved the soccer and hockey the most. She also tried dribbling a basketball which was quite the experience. Hal and I had a great time doing all of the different activities with her. It was set up like an open gym so we got to play at our own leisure.

Then in the middle of the class we went around and said our names and our favorite colors. At the end of the class we played Sophia's most favorite game in the world....Duck, Duck, Grey Duck. Each time the person would get close to her, I watched her get ready to jump up and chase them. When it came time for her to chase, she chased the little boy and giggled so much that they both went around the circle twice. It was hysterical!

By the time we got home we were all quite tired. The class doesn't last very long and it is only once a week, but I'm so glad that we signed up!

P.S. Sorry no pictures.....we were playing way too hard :)

Sophia's fresh start to 2010

2010-01-03T13:45:00.000-08:00

To start off the new year on the right foot, Sophia had a friend over to celebrate new years eve. The girls had a great time playing with each other and watching movies while the parents enjoyed the time chatting together. We had a great 9 o'clock new years celebration together and then they went home.

Saturday, we went bowling together as a family. We had never been bowling with Sophia before, but she just loved it! She did such a wonderful job. What a fun place too! We went to Pinz in Oakdale. I couldn't believe how much there was to do for all ages. We got to bowl in the VIP room and so there was only one other lane besides us. Sophia did so well bowling she even beat my mom! My mom vows to get bumpers next time too. After bowling we went out to lunch. Last night Hal and I had date night. It was so fun to have a night together.

I am not looking forward to getting back into the routine, but know that soon enough it will be time for vacation! I just hope that time comes quicker than anticipated.