Ty Canu Hapus

Fireworks at Riverfest

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Riverfest, La Crosse, WI. July 4, 2009.

End of Riverfest.

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All done.

Sean with face painted at Riverfest.

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Riverfest, La Crosse, WI

Paid by the word?

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Red faces

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Faces in red pins, La Crosse Childrens Museum.

Life is good.

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Seani with Dadi, and a big slice of pizza. Thumbs up!

New haircut: Owen

2009-03-28T13:26:00.001-05:00

With wiki sticks, out with Dadi on a sunny Saturday.

Seattle sunset.

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Clouds and Mt Rainier

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On the approach to Seattle. Mt Ranier is disguised as a cloud, off to the right. Seattle's somewhere under the clouds....

Pretzel tic tac toe

2009-03-01T12:48:00.001-06:00

Dough by Dadi. Shapes and idea by Emma, Owen, and Sean.

Vegas. Las Vegas.

2009-02-17T18:51:00.001-06:00

James Bond wine table in Las Vegas. It opens, lights up, and plays Bond movie themes. Nobody does it better, indeed.

Emma's valentines.

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Dadi is a photographer

2009-01-27T10:45:00.000-06:00

At the Childrens Museum, St Paul.

San Jose morning

2009-01-19T10:20:00.001-06:00

Clearer today than yesterday. A full day of tech conference lies ahead.

Flags at the Fairmont

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Flags, entry of Fairmont Hotel in San Jose.

Warming house.

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Hot cocoa and warm fire. Ahhhh.

Sliding at Hyland Park, Bloomington.

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A sunny New Years Day, with temps in the upper 20s. Perfect for sledding (or sliding, as one does in MN).

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Hyland Park

Chocolate Crinkles.

2008-12-21T22:43:00.002-06:00

As described on All Things Considered by Shirley Corriher, 12/17/08.

Cookies!

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The end result of the previous post!

Christmas cookie making!

2008-12-21T17:20:00.001-06:00

"Spritz" cookies, using a cookie press to make stars, trees, and hearts. John had three eager helpers!

Sundog, five below.

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Slushy the snowman!

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Sunset at the snowy park.

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Playing until the sun goes down...

Owen skating too!

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Owen now wears Emma's adjustable skates. He's skating without being held now. Sean will fit in Owen's skates, in turn.

Emma skating at the park.

2008-12-14T08:02:00.001-06:00

Breaking in her new skates.

Snowman snow.

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Perfect snowman snow today. In front of a friend's house.

Snowball fight!

2008-12-14T07:57:00.001-06:00

Owen has thrown a snowball at you! 40 degree temps turned powder into snowball snow.

Sean at the Hmong exhibit.

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Emma in Hmong dress.

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At the Hmong exhibit, MN Childrens Museum.

Owen & Dadi

2008-11-15T14:18:00.001-06:00

Owen as a reflection of his Dad... On the way to the Childrens Museum on a crisp fall day.

Dominos!

2008-11-12T20:37:00.002-06:00

Sean playing dominos with blocks at Playworks. Dadi spent some good "floor time" with the boys, helping to set the blocks up. The kids did the knocking down, of course!

Expanding vocabulary

2008-09-21T20:55:00.001-05:00

Emma heard the phrase "throw someone under the bus" on a TV game show, and asked what it meant. She seems to have picked up the concept, because later in the day, the following exchange occurred:

Owen: "Mama said we weren't going out like we were going to, because Emma wasn't listening to her."

Emma: "Owen! Don't throw me under the bus!"

I wonder how often I will hear that phrase now….

Dancing Seani

2008-08-26T10:26:00.000-05:00

Sean dancing in front of a restaurant in Shakopee. The motion blur is surreal...

Owen's manwich

2008-07-02T12:02:00.000-05:00

Owen made his own PBJ while out fishing with Emma, Sean, and Dadi in our neighborhood. In the background is Prior Lake. I think we've captured the essence of Owen here....

Stitches

2008-05-10T20:31:00.003-05:00

A day in the life.... One for the "at least it was Saturday" files. Sean slipped on the front stairs and banged the back of his head on the corner of the wall. So our day was spent at the emergency room, where Sean received five stitches and John took Emma and Owen exploring in the tunnels of Childrens'. Fortunately, the ER did a nice job sewing him up, and Sean is no worse for wear, it seems.

Kids frolicking by the Minnesota River

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Out walking, March 3oth. The next morning, it was snowing hard, putting about half a
a foot of heavy wet stuff down! Out like a lamb, indeed...

Cool Sean. Photo by Emma.

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Emma at all-elementary art show

2008-03-25T01:14:00.000-05:00

Pizza making

2007-12-12T12:19:00.000-06:00

We had the kids make their own pizzas the other night. It was a fun (if flour-y) time, and they had no complaints about ingredients, since they chose them themselves. Owen was proud of his long pizza, while Emma went for the traditional round shape. Unfortunately, when she lifted the pizza up for the camera, the melted cheese followed gravity down. The good news is that the reconstructed pizza (with chunks of ham on it!) still tasted good.

Snow!

2007-12-02T00:52:00.000-06:00

With the arrival of December in the Twin Cities has also come the arrival of snow! It started snowing this morning, and by afternoon there was about 6 inches Much of the day was cold and windy (in the teens), but the kids couldn't resist heading out for a little while to experience the white stuff.

North Shore IV

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Last of this Duluth set, ending with an evening shot from Skyline Drive.

North Shore III

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More Brighton Beach.

North Shore II

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More Brighton Beach.

North Shore I

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Brighton Beach, just north of Duluth on the North Shore of Minnesota.

Lift Bridge, Duluth

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Up...up...up...!

The deck at Grandma's, Duluth

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In early August, we took a day trip to Duluth. We had lunch on the outdoor deck at Grandma's, and watched the lift bridge go up and down while eating in the glow of red umbrellas. The family has decided that we like Duluth!

Butterflies at the zoo

2007-08-18T14:59:00.000-05:00

The Minnesota Zoo has a really nice butterfly exhibit. The kids loved being in and around all of the butterflies. Sean says "look!"

Dinner on the deck

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The children like their little table, next to the "adult" table on our deck. The weather has been dry of late, giving lots of opportunities to eat outside, although the arrival of yellowjackets has put a bit of a damper on eating anything sweet outside!

Kids' eye view

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Owen, by Emma. Emma, by Owen.

Water rocket!

2007-05-31T02:28:00.000-05:00

Maggie and Mike came over this past Sunday to grill out with us and celebrate Maggie's birthday. We had a fun time, and the kids loved watching Mike launch his water new water rocket.

Happy Easter / Happy Spring!

2007-04-09T10:04:00.001-05:00

Click to view card

Hello friends and family!

We missed doing Christmas cards this year, but we were able to get the kids in for some spring photos by Lifetouch. So, warm tidings of the Easter season and arriving springtime to all of you! We're hoping that the warm feelings turn to warm temperatures, since it has been downright cold here in Minnesota for the past week. We were teased with a few very warm days, but had to pull our coats back out during a counterpunch cold snap.

The kids continue to grow and change. Emma is six and in kindergarten. She loves school, and is already looking forward to being a first grader in the fall. She attends a half-day (AM) kindergarten in a new "early childhood education / kindergarten" building with all of the half-day kindergarteners in the district. Owen, proud to be a four-year-old, starts preschool in the fall downstairs from where Emma is going to school now. Sean is closing in on two years old (a May birthday), and shows every indication of planning to charge around the yard and the neighborhood with enthusiasm when the warm weather comes. The words are starting to bubble up as well, which is fun....

Mandy is kept very busy with the three not-so-little ones, and she has continued her involvement in the local MOMS Club and also volunteering for Early Childhood Family Education and helping out in Emma's classroom. In response to Mandy's instruction for John to "volunteer for something" at the first PTC (aka PTA) meeting, he is now the president of the kindergarten PTC. His day job at Lifetouch continues to be very interesting, and he manages the corporate R&D group there.

We hope this blog post finds you well! Think Spring!

-John, Mandy, Emma, Owen, and Sean Reinert Nash

More Nakai Baptism Pics

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Nakai's baptism

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We went to visit Rose, Che, and baby Nakai in Elgin last weekend to celebrate Nakai's baptism. He's a beautiful baby, and gets bigger each time we see him. As you can see from the photo, Emma wanted to be involved.... Congratulations, Rose and Che!

Nakai at Christmastime

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Christmas at the Reinerts

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After Christmas in Prior Lake with Mamgu and Datcu (John's parents), we went to La Crosse the next weekend for a second celebration. We filled the house, with our family, plus Rose, Che, Nakai, Maggie, and Mike!

Emma baking with Mamgu

2007-01-21T20:41:00.000-06:00

Emma enjoyed baking with Mamgu, who visiting us for Christmas. She loves her new apron! We used the mixer that Mamgu used when John was growing up, which we now have in our house.

Christmastime ice skating

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Ice skating at Boudins Park, near our house, with Datcu. Owen's ice skating is a lot better this year than last!

You know it's been a long week when.....

2006-12-04T16:48:00.000-06:00

...you realize on Saturday afternoon that the last time you left the house was Monday night.

The house has just recovered from a solid week of stomach flu. We are a sharing household, everyone had a turn with the flu.

We are a week behind in regular laundry, even though we have been doing laundry nonstop all week - mostly a few full cycles of towels and sheets, however.

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is not the time to lose a week.

Our family's to do list has been growing this week, but nothing has come off the list.

We will see if we can make up some time in the air on the journey to Christmas!

Dadi, Sean, and Owen in silhouette

2006-11-12T16:01:00.000-06:00

Dadi connecting with the boys...

Rocking out at the Childrens Museum

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Emma, Owen, and Sean rocking out in front of a video blue screen at the Minnesota Childrens Museum on Friday, Nov 10th.

Welcome Nakai!

2006-11-12T15:46:00.000-06:00

Ok, so we're not as fast as Maggie at posting news to the blog (or as good at a post-a-day!). We do have some photos from when Mandy and Emma went to visit Rose and her new baby Nakai in Elgin, IL last weekend. For those who don't know the news, here are the vital stats on Nakai:

Nakai Aaron Lamar Allen
Born: 10/21/06
7:10 p.m.
8 lbs, 20 inches

The updated news is that Rose, Che, and Nakai are doing great, and we're thrilled to have the new nephew (and cousin to the kiddos) in the family!

Emma the Lego architect

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Out and about with the boys

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(photo of Sean, by Owen)

On Saturday, Dadi headed out with Owen and Sean to Murphy Hanrehan park in nearby Savage, MN. The kids had a good time walking and playing in the leaves on the trail. It is even warmer out today, so we might try the "full loop" if Owen's legs are willing. A promised visit to "Choo Choo Bob's Train Store" afterwards might propel the trip along....

Fun in the Leaves!

2006-11-04T22:21:00.000-06:00

The kids are enjoying the fall, playing in the leaves, and generally enjoying bneing outside when it's warm enough to do so. We've had days in the 20's, but also days in the 50's. The days are really starting to get shorter now, so darkness seems to come all too soon.

Holiday Photo Series, continued

2006-11-03T11:42:00.000-06:00

Post a day for November

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Okay, so I am a perpetual procrastinator... or just a bit sleep deprived.

Our plan for November was to post each day. I heard about it from Friday Playdate. She heard about it from the nablopomo page. I will not be winning any prizes!

We have arrived at Friday and we are so happy for the weekend. This am I am off to coffee with some friends and the boys. After that, I hope to make a stop at a thrift store to buy some jeans to use the denim for a project. I was a good recycle-er and had a stack of old jeans that had tears in them. This project would have been perfect for this project. I had been carrying the pile around for about 5 years. Well this past winter the garage mice used it as a nice bed so we had to throw them out.

I have to end this the boys are climbing on me and we need to leave the house. So the mirror today is frazzled, but we see the weekend in sight!

Holiday Photo Series, continued

2006-11-02T15:55:00.000-06:00

Holiday Photo Series!

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In time for the holiday season, the Reinert Nash family proudly presents a series of winter-themed portraits! The photos were taken in June, but due to marketing confidentiality, we couldn't distribute them until now, since the backdrops and concepts are Target Portrait Studios winter season offerings. Now, the embargo is lifted -- see the recent Target Portraits ad brochure for some of our family pics!

Click on the small image to get to a gallery of the hi-res source files.

Koln Dom at night

2006-10-11T14:23:00.000-05:00

The view of the Köln Dom from across the Rhine. I stayed at a hotel with this view while visiting the Photokina 2006 photography show for work.

Trip to Colorado: Hiking along the Roaring Fork

2006-09-20T12:28:00.000-05:00

Hiking by the Roaring Fork river, near Snowmass, CO. (link to a photo album)

Trip to Colorado: Pictures Pictures and more Pictures!

2006-09-18T09:53:00.000-05:00

We are slowly working through all the great pictures we got of the great times we had on our trip to Colorado. To speed up sharing the pictures, I went through and processed the people pictures. John has some spectacular landscape views, but those were taking a bit longer to tweak.

Here are our pictures:
The People Pictures

Here are the photographer's pictures:
Proofs

Here are pictures from Huw and Karla's friend Shanthi:
Shanthi's pictures

Enjoy!

Trip to Colorado: Along the Union Pacific Railroad

2006-09-16T23:07:00.000-05:00

Taken somewhere near Yampa, CO. I like the mood of this photo.

Prior Lake weather force field?

2006-09-16T22:59:00.000-05:00

Well, the force field that apparently keeps severe weather away from Prior Lake, MN, where we live (the + on the map) seems to be working well tonight. Note that the upside down purple triangles are tornado signatures on the radar, one to the north of us and one to the south. I hope everyone's all right out there. Severe weather really does seem to flow north and south of us -- we must be between two "alleys." We were awfully close to getting very nasty weather here last month, though, when very large hail hit Belle Plaine, just to the south of us. We suffered no damage, fortunately.

A Public Radio Family

2006-09-05T15:00:00.000-05:00

I grew up in a public radio family. The memories of Saturday mornings are intertwined with the sounds of Car Talk and Whad'Ya Know? Saturday dinner preparation was laced with laughter while listening to A Prairie Home Companion.

We kind of had a border battle of sorts too. I grew up in La Crosse, WI across the river from MN. We listened to WPR on the weekends to get our morning humor fix. During the week, the MPR Classical station was on in the background while driving around town. I lived in Madison for a year, and WPR became even more of a favorite for me.

When we moved here, I was really looking forward to listing to WPR again. Well, come to find the River Falls, WI station is just out of range. I have not bothered to set up the streaming WPR station over the radio here, I just dip in and out now and then. I have come to love MPR more for just classical music and a prairie home companion, but I still think WPR has the edge.

I consider myself very lucky to have NPR/MPR/WPR enriching my life so much. Hardly a day goes by where I don't have something I heard on the radio come up in real life.

So where is this going? What does this have to do with anything? It is to set up the background NPR has in my life and how often I listen to it. It is almost always on in the morning, in the car, at dinner time. The kids are exposed to it a lot. I am never sure how much they are paying attention to the word/stories.

This week the kids broke the fourth wall about their radio listening habits. Owen was really impacted by our trip to Mt. Rushmore. He picked up some on George Washington, but especially he loves "Thomas" Jefferson. He is Owen Thomas, in case you did not know. He proudly announced during the movie at the lighting that it was "Thomas, like me." But, it is Washington that has caused him to listen more to the radio. Every time a reporter announces they are broadcasting from Washington, D.C., Owen turns to us and says, "He said Washington!" He is so proud and excited to be noticing something big and grown up.

Emma's story is more sobering. Just this week, she called to me in the car announcing that a soldier had died in Iraq from Minnesota. It was part of the news headlines at the top of the hour. I turned off the radio and had a very interesting discussion about war and the army with Owen and Emma. They were glad were not in a place where there was a war. I am sure the conversation will come up again with them.

Look for more wedding pictures soon! God bless! -Mandy

Trip to Colorado: Mt Rushmore

2006-09-02T22:45:00.000-05:00

On the drive home, we went through the Black Hills of South Dakota, arriving at Mount Rushmore just in time for sunset. We stayed and watched the evening's program on the stage in front of the mountain, and were rewarded with the official lighting of the mountain at the end of the ceremony. The big dipper was visible just over the mountain.

Trip to Colorado

2006-08-30T12:56:00.000-05:00

Snowmass Creek Valley from the Watson Divide.

In mid-August, the family traveled by minivan to John's brother Huw's wedding in Apsen and Snowmass Village, Colorado. We will have photos and stories to share in the coming days and weeks, but here's a teaser of some of the scenery that was all around us.

New tree swing

2006-07-28T23:33:00.000-05:00

Our new tree-swing (from Ikea). Whose feet are those?

Sean's feet! The swing is comfy enough to sleep in...

Riverfest '06: Hiking and Geocaching

2006-07-16T00:01:00.000-05:00

On July 4th, we took the family on a walk from the Riverfest grounds along the "Three Rivers Trail," up to Myrick Park, and then back to the fest for the fireworks. It was about a 5 mile hike round trip, and the family did great! Along the way, we found two geocaches, including one with a "travel bug" bound for Florida. We picked up the travel bug and put him in a cache near Interstate 90, and the bug is already on the move from there! We plan to place some travel bugs of our own in Colorado next month, and see if they can make their way back to us.

No geocache in this log, says the surprised mouse!

This old guy was guarding one of the caches....

Riverfest '06: Big Wheel Races

2006-07-10T19:30:00.000-05:00

Following what's becoming another family tradition, the kids did well in the "baby" and "big wheel" races. Owen was the fastest three-year old (Mandy's instruction: go run over Dadi), and Emma placed second in the five-year old final. Sean was given a bronze medal for winning his heat in the baby race, although the La Crosse Tribune listed him as the winner the next morning.

Riverfest 2006, La Crosse, WI

2006-07-09T12:26:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful family time visiting Mandy's family in La Crosse, WI. Every year, we go to Riverfest on the banks of the Mississippi, and it is lots of fun. This is Emma, wearing a blinky light earring just before the fireworks on the fourth.

Comments

2006-06-28T09:15:00.000-05:00

If you read our blog leave a comment! We want to know that you are reading! :-) Just click on the link at the bottom of this post that says "0 COMMENTS." Maybe it will say something other than zero by the end of the day.

We are tossing around ways to have more discipline (a la fripp) in writing. Make it more of a journal. I thought I might start today with a preview of our day.

9:30-11:30 Emma and Owen have "Tot lot." It is a park and rec day camp (2 times a week) at a local park. Sean and I will come home and I will work on packing lunch and beach stuff.

11:30-? We are meeting MOMS Club friends at Cleary Lake Park for a beach playdate.

Then I am not sure. We will probably drive home and Sean will sleep and Owen and Emma will play with their neighbor friends.

Hamburgers for dinner tonight. There is supposed to be a Moms' Night Out for MOMS Club, but I think I am the only one who rsvp-ed for it. I may just stay home and do chores.

With the wedding and some illnesses and John working overtime we have had limited time to do the required chores around the house. It has been a couple weeks of "two steps forward, 1.80 steps back."

I will try and post tomorrow to let you know how the day went!

Blessings,

Mandy

Cecropia moth emerges!

2006-06-18T17:33:00.000-05:00

Last fall, we found a Cecropia (Robin Moth) caterpillar by our front water spigot. We put it in a "bug house" with some leaves, and were surprised to find it already in a coccoon the next morning! We've taken care of the moth all winter long (in our garage) and into the summer on our front steps. Well, today, when I checked the bug house, the moth had emerged! The hot and humid weather of this week must have told it it was time to come out.

The whole family got to watch the moth go from floppy wings to rigid wings, and they enjoyed observing this beautiful insect for much of the afternoon.

The next morning, she found a friend...

Here Comes the Flood (of photos)

2006-06-16T01:04:00.000-05:00

Trip to Rochester, NY, May 2006

Mandy and the children drove to Columbus, OH to visit our friend Karen and her family. Then, the family drove to Rochester, NY and met up with John, who flew out to a meeting for his work. We enjoyed seeing John's parents, our children's Mamgu and Datcu.

There was walking, playing, and even geocaching (in the Webster Arboretum).

We were very excited to see John's brother Huw and his fiancee Karla, who are getting married in August. We also visited our friends Casey, Deborah, and Roddy and Karen. The family visited the science museum, the zoo (with Roddy and Karen), Mendon Ponds park (with Huw, Karla, Mamgu, and Datcu), Powder Mill park and fish hatchery, and of course the English-Japanese garden in Mamgu and Datcu's back yard. Emma would like to show you some of her photographs of sights in the garden!

It was a wonderful trip for our family.

Getting back online

2006-05-26T10:00:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the long absence from our blog! We are slowly getting back to normal after our "big trip" out East. Here are few reasons we have been offline, in reverse chronological order.

-my severe case of swimmer's ear, needing two trips to urgent care. I still can't hear out of one side but at least I am able to sleep at night without the tylenol with codeine.

-our MOMS Club garage sale that kept us busy last weekend. We made $399 (gross) for the club!

-our various gastrointestinal problems this week: Owen throwing up all over the car and car seat, John having a sour stomach and missing work for a day, and Sean throwing up at the park right as John brought dinner. (Good timing dadi!)

-a two week absence from my baby, I mean my laptop! :-) My laptop and I had a vacation away from each other. I had planned on trying to blog from the road. I think it was a bit of a blessing in disguise because I was able to be more in the moment. However, two weeks was just about my limit!

We were going to go to a park playdate at 10 am today. It is 10:06 right now and I have a sound asleep Sean on my lap. Owen is sitting next to me reading a book. He has been playing with his cars and trucks this morning. Something about one or two of them being "sick" monster trucks and the other trucks caring for them.

Now he has decided he wanted to see his bottom and has taken off his diaper. He wants to be without diaper now he says, however, he has not shown any ability to actually know when potty activity is happening in his body until he notices he is standing in a puddle! Ugh. Potty training here we come, one of my least favorite parenting activities.

Oh, and Emma is still sleeping in bed. She was up the latest last night. The boys went to bed early and she was up chatting with us.

I am going to try and get some web pages up with pictures from our trip! So stay tuned!

-Mandy

Jail 'n' Bail

2006-05-01T21:52:00.000-05:00

The local crew, behind bars at the top of the stairs...

Easter 2006, La Crosse WI

2006-05-01T21:42:00.000-05:00

At the Zoo

2006-04-30T23:34:00.000-05:00

Tidbits from my morning!

2006-03-31T13:01:00.000-06:00

This will be a stream of consciousness-like post that will give you a flavor of life at home without John.

I heard about a sociology study when I was in college and I have been unable to confirm or deny it. Maggie thinks I have made it up which I may have done accidentally. The story was about an unethical sociology research study. The study took a group of people on a plane and observed their actions. However, the people did not know they were being studied. Somehow some disaster ensued and they were going to crash. The study looked at how people responded to stress and disasters.

Today I felt like there had to be a camera looking at me trying to figure out how many stressors they could add before my head exploded! Here are some highlights:

Picking out clothes for the kids in their room, Owen comes into the room with a plate and a can of whipped cream. This was his plan for breakfast. So, I take the whipped cream away and walk back to the kitchen to find the refrigerator door wide open, and Sean pulled up trying to open the produce drawer. The milk was tipped over on the floor (cap still on).

This all derailed my morning routine of “getting the children dressed.” I am seriously considering having them go to bed already dressed for the next day. I think I soon should take Flylady’s advice and set clothes out the night before. I cannot wait for summer and sock free living! No jackets and hats and mittens. Dressing Owen is just a nightmare each day. He would be happy if we just let him wear one outfit per week. At least Emma “dresses” herself. (see below)

So the pollen has hit so this morning I dealt with a very itchy and runny nose. This does not help your parenting. As I dress a very unhappy Sean (dressing is his least favorite thing after the evil carseat we strap him into), with annoying nose, Emma is begging incessantly for a pickle!

So we finally get to breakfast. Emma is insistent on a cheese sandwich with brown mustard and pickles. She did concede that the two pickle spears might be a little awkward to eat on the sandwich. She decided to eat them on the side. She ate them like watermelons and left the “rind” behind. Owen ate a peanut butter sandwich and a pickle.

While they ate I tried to explain the idea of serial processing, e.g. how my brain works. Not sure how much sunk in.

Here is a picture of the two kiddos this morning:

Notes about this picture:

Yes, Emma did dress herself this morning. Her only requirement today was she had to wear pants. She is wearing jeans with pink shorts over the jeans. She is wearing her Wisconsin Badgers cheerleading outfit. She has a pink short sleeve shirt on underneath.

The teapot in the background is a find from a neat shop up in St. Paul called “Practical Goods.” It is a store for all kinds of recycled goods. Kind of like a well loved garage store. She always has a neat display outside her shop. There is always a wagon, a stack of warm wool blankets, the rows of wellies and cowboy boots. My favorite thing has always been the rainbow row of teakettles.

We chose the yellow teakettle to cheer up our kitchen in our continuing process in “thinking spring”! We brought the teakettle into the kitchen and it looks great. It matches the cheerful daffodils John bought for me. Emma’s take on it was she said: “The kitchen is smiling now!”

Emma's World!

2006-03-31T11:19:00.000-06:00

I just offloaded some pictures from Emma's camera. Trying to find a way to describe Emma is often tough. Emma is the classic "spirited child." She is just more of pretty much any adjective you can think up. Here is some of her art. I did not do any cropping so you can see her mostly centered work.

Sometimes Emma delights in helping out with Sean. Here she is directing the picture taking

Here is Cobi in the sink. He used to do this when he was a kitten. Emma woke up to this scene one morning and thought it was the funniest thing ever.

Emma posed and took this shot. She loves to arrange her food in a neat way. Here it is a face (for those without kids).

Here is an example of one of Emma's posed shots. We have a few dozen of this variety. Usually it is stuffed animals. Sometimes cars and trucks or even an Owen.

Emma's artwork has exploded into recognizable things! It seems like it happened overnight, but really it has been a progression. She prefers to draw freehand versus using coloring books. This week she has been very busy making up letters and decorating envelopes for the mail. I keep having to put her mail in larger envelopes because she will cover the envelope with designs. She doesn't get the idea that the postmaster wants to read who it is to. JAKE in big capital letters surrounded by flowers and squiggles will not get it to his house!

Here is under the dining room table. Sean can just stand up under the table. When he gets to the edge his head bumps. This is the table my parents used when I was growing up. The kids were pondering the idea that their mom used to do homework on that table!

Here is a series of photos we did not know existed until the last offload session. Yes there are pictures of me and John. I have yet to decide if we should post them. Let me know in the comments if there is interest! *smile*

Out and about in spring snow

2006-03-30T23:37:00.000-06:00

As I write this, it is pouring rain outside, washing away the remains of the dirty snow and ushering in warmer weather. However, we were able to enjoy the spring snow the weekend before last. We had a fun time geocaching, finding a fun "treasure" in the woods with the help of our GPS unit (great present, Huw!).

Emma's power of persuasion

2006-03-29T23:15:00.000-06:00

Owen was hiding from Dadi inside the minivan, refusing to be corralled for a diaper change.

Me: "Owen, are you coming by yourself, or are you choosing for me to come and get you?"

Owen: (giggle)

Me: Resigned sigh as I prepare to chase him down.

Emma: "Owen, Dadi has to tell you something."

Emma, whispering in my ear: "Dadi, this will work."

Owen proceeds to come to my side of the car, and say, "Yes, Dadi?"

Diaper changed without incident.

Note that if I said that I "had to tell him something," Owen would have seen right through it and stayed in hiding. Coming from big sister Emma, it *must* be true, I guess. He didn't even seem all that upset about the deception.

If only we could make sure that Emma always used her powers for good.....

Maggie and Owen: Two peas in a pod

2006-03-29T18:53:00.000-06:00

Maggie has posted a few times about Owen recently. John and I both agree that Maggie and Owen get along famously. I think as Owen gets older the two will be a dangerous combination of silliness and laughter and kindred-spiritness. Great English there. We wonder if it is because they are both middle kids? They did seem to get along great before Sean came along though. Maybe when Maggie was living with us Owen imprinted on her? Well, we will keep working on a theory!

Owen is the clown of the family. The good kind of clown. (I am not fond of the scary kind of clown that causes anxiety as they track you down in the department store). He is quick to smile and laugh. He is sweet and tender. He also can be stubborn and he is often full of monkey-like energy. Owen is quick to switch from a sour mood to being pleasant. He will then announce to everyone, "I happy!"

Lately he has loved bopping around on his tricycle. We have a two wheel bike to set up with training wheels for him. We will see how he does on that. He also enjoys nodding his head to the music in the car. He has started interacting more with Sean, although mostly it is singing songs loudly in his face. He still would be happy to just eat potatoes. He does have times when he will have a couple of cups of broccoli for dinner or 6 slices of American cheese. We never can tell what will be his next "thing."

Here are some recent (this calendar year) pictures of the two.

First steps for Sean

2006-03-25T00:08:00.000-06:00

In the last week, Sean has moved from standing unaided for a period of time to actually taking steps. Last Saturday marked his first official steps, and he was nice enough to do it while both his Mama and Dadi were watching! He's now up to about 5 steps at a time, and seems awfully pleased with himself!

I can't wait for the weather to get warmer. I took Emma and Owen for a big wheel / tricycle ride today, with me walking with Sean on my back. The longer days mean I get my evenings outside with the family back after work. As the snow melts and the weather warms, the neighborhood will be again filled with walking families, strollers, trikes, and bikes. Huzzah.

Think spring!