Wordless Wednesday - Wedding Photo Booth Fun

Girl Scouts and the Police Department

This past Sunday, the girls and I went to the Police Station to have a tour with their Girl Scout Troop.  The three of us really enjoyed the tour and it was cool to see the "ins" and "outs" of the Police station and how it is "run". 

Some of the highlights of the tour include the Lock Up of troop in the jail cell.  However, a few of the girls including A decided not to take part in the lock up but to get "out" of the cell and do the locking up themselves. 

Another highlight was getting to get in and investigate a cop car.  They sat in the back, the front, pretended to drive and even got to see the lights and hear the sirens.

The adults on the tour had lots of questions for the Community Service Officer Jake that was our tour guide.  Jake did an awesome job and we thanked him with two boxes of Girl Scout cookies.  Jake was very appreciative.  It was an awesome afternoon and we all learned so much. 

Freeze with your Hands Up!

Cloudy Days

The past few weeks have been a bit cloudy in my world.  Yesterday, we had a funeral for Jon's Uncle Bill.  It was a beautiful ceremony and such an awesome tribute to Bill.  We enjoyed retelling stories about Bill and learning of new stories of Bill.  He was a neat guy and one that will be missed by all of us but especially his family and wife Pat. 
Last week, a very close friend of mine, Carol, passed away.  Carol was my second mother growing up as she was my daycare lady.  My brother Tony and I spent many hours, days, and sometimes weeks living at Carol's house with her family.  It was a shock to learn of Carol's illness and then a few days later her passing.  I was able to attend the visitation for Carol and it was neat to see some of her family again and tell stories and learn new stories about growing up in "Carol's" family.  I will miss Carol very much, but her husband Roger of 52 years will miss her the most. 
Both Carol and Bill were 71 years old.  In my book that feels "young" to pass on.  Both of these incidents along with news of another terminally ill "friend" from my childhood have been clouding up my days.  It is such a great reminder of how precious life truly is.  I find comfort in thinking of both Carol and Bill having relief from their illness and finally being free from their pain.  Thinking about this may bring some sunshine into my world.  For now, I will hug Jon and my kiddos and try and remember that *EVERYDAY* is a gift and we should be grateful for all we have and find joy in the simple and small things in life. 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Second Cousins Rock

Easter Fun 2012

It was a different kind of Easter this year for us.  Jon was out of town, Grandpa Al and Uncle T were gone but then returned later in the day.  Janie had gone back home to visit her family, and well as you know, Gracie is at training.  So it was Grandma Mary and myself with the three kiddos on Easter morning.

Our festivities started on Saturday afternoon with the big Easter Egg coloring.  We had a great time and this year we ended up with some tie dye eggs and some decorative eggs.  The kids sure enjoy coloring the eggs.

The Easter Bunny did happen to make an appearance at Grandma Mary's house and the eggs were all hidden and the baskets full of goodies arrived.

After the big hunt, a little breakfast, and some hair combing, we headed to church.  We celebrated the fact that Jesus rose from the dead to save all of us and our sins.

It was a wonderful mass and my favorite part was when Father walked around to bless us with holy water and he dosed K right in the face and then smiled about it as he went on his way.  So cute.
We then headed out for some breakfast and soon it was time to pick up Grandpa and Uncle T at the airport.

We had a wonderful afternoon full of great food, lots of laughs and even a mean game of soccer.  The girls lost to the boys but we all had a good time.  Oh how these kids are growing and changing.  It was so nice to celebrate Easter today.  God Blessed Us!

Spring Break 2012

This past week the kids spent sometime in Fargo with their Grandparents.  They all had a good time.  Here is the update from Grandma Carol;

A little sample of life in Fargo over Spring Break.  Did a little egg coloring, a little shopping and a lot of Easter Egg hunting.   Weather has been wonderful, tomorrow we are looking at a day of visiting the parks - Lindenwood for sure and maybe some of the others.  Kids are good; good behavior, good to go to bed at night and also eating good.  

You might want to buy stock in General Mills.    K likes Cinnamon Burst Cheerios, Chocolate Cheerios and Peanut Butter Cheerios; A likes Chocolate Cheerios, and E likes regular Cheerios with sugar.  

Just to add, they went to Space Aliens for Lunch on their last day and they all loved it.  It was one of the highlights of the trip. 

Huge Thank You to Grandma Carol and Grandpa Ronnie for having three house guests this week.  They all truly had a wonderful time and want to know when they can go back. 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Blast from the Past Games

Gracie is off to School

Jon and I dropped Gracie off at her Obedience Training this morning.  She will be gone for four weeks this time.  We let her ride outside of her kennel when we drove out to the facility where we had to take her.  She laid on her bed in back most of the time but as we got closer to the facility, she crawled up front into my lap and laid there.  It was a sweet departure snuggle for me.
Once we got to the facility, she got out of the car and immediately started to bark.  The boarding facility was full dogs (80 to be exact) due to spring break and all you could hear were dogs barking and barking.
We spend a good amount of time talking to Dave who will be training Gracie for the next four weeks.  Dave actually lives in the Black Hills of SD so today, Gracie was heading to the Black Hills with 7 other dogs who Dave will train.  You will be able to see photos of Gracie and video of her training on Facebook in about a week.  If you go to Facebook and search Black Hills Gun Dogs, you will see the site where she will spend some time for the next two weeks.  Not to shabby!

Note the Pink Bow the Girls added to her!

After she is done with her training in SD she will head back to MN for the last two weeks of training.  During this time, Jon and I will both go out to work with her and her obedience.  Today Dave said that training the dog is the easy part....its the owners that need work....Dave has no idea what he is in for with me!

We know that Gracie is in good hands but I can't tell you how much she is missed.  The kids talked about it so much this morning, that I had to finally ask them to stop for awhile because it was making me so sad.  It's amazing how far I have come in the last six months.  Gracie really is like our 4th child.  She is very LOVED and extremely missed. It's truly amazing how a dog can capture your heart! We will all be excited to see her when she returns and I cannot wait to witness how much she will have learned.

However, I do feel that it is only fair to point out that the two beautiful boys above are THRILLED about having their house back to themselves!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Grandpa and his Girls

First Grade Music Concert

 Last Thursday the kids had their 1st grade music concert.  All three of them did an awesome job.  Actually, all 90 of them did an excellent job. 

 I have heard rave reviews of the music teacher at the kiddos school and after watching the concert, I know exactly what the kids and other parents are talking about.  It was such great variety and included lots of musical instruments as well as some pretty awesome songs. 

 You could tell that all the kids enjoyed giving the concert to their families. 

 The kids were lucky enough to have both sets of Grandparents at the show, as well as Jane, and both Jon and I. 

 It is amazing to watch the kids and see how far they have come this year.  They are all learning new things at a rapid pace and it just makes Jon and I so proud with all their accomplishments. 

 K is always asking BIG questions of us, questions that I need to google to find out the answer.  A is doing awesome at her Math and reading, and E has mastered her hand writing, reading, and math as well. 

 We sure have some smart cookies and we could not be more proud. It was so fun for the kiddos to have so many loved ones at their concert to cheer them on.  You could tell they were proud of their accomplishments.

We are so incredibly blessed to have A,E,and K in our lives.  We are proud of your every accomplishment A, E, and K.  We love you. 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Gracie's New Friend Bella