Three Beekers

Ski Whitefish

2012-02-08T16:38:00.001-06:00

This is our second annual family ski trip. Each trip shows more skill improvement and lots of family fun. It also shows me and Phil how out of shape we are. Phil has some videos on his phone of me and Addy; I'll have to try to get those posted, as well, but for now here are two of the little kids. This was day two of skiing and they were showing us their skills on the tiniest of hills. We went with our friends, Matthew, Maria and their oldest two - Lila and Grace. The first ones here are from my phone. The other ones are from the photographer up on the mountain. I just can't resist pictures of my kiddos.

The beautiful town of Whitefish. Told the kids to stand in the middle of the road like a good Momma.

Lila and Grace warm up with a shared cup of hot cocoa

the second and third days were pretty much full whiteouts. Makes for some pretty hard skiing.

I started the third day with a run with my Bacon

Last year I saw these at the restaurant and I didn't order them. I've been obsessing about them ever since and they were everything I imagined and much, much more.

Philly enjoys his Philly

For about 20 minutes after lunch the snow let up and the clouds lifted a bit and we got an amazing view of the beautiful town of Whitefish and Whitefish Lake.

Addy and I skied together on the third day. She was not happy with my pace and lack of adventure. I just didn't want to get hurt.

Addy and Maria on a beautiful bridge

and then I ended the third day with my Bacon. Love that girl.

The vacation rental was kind of a bust, but it did provide a cozy fire.

on the third day in the morning, the ski instructor walked up to Kate and Henry and said, "you girls ready to ski!?" Henry can't help it that he's pretty like a girl.

San Francisco

2011-12-31T12:34:00.000-06:00

Just when you thought I'd abandoned my blog forever, I post the biggest blog post ever. There are two reasons why I never post:

1. Life is too busy

2. The majority of the photos I take of our lives are with my phone

Because of the second reason, I just bought a scrapbook that I can put cell phone photos in so we at least can look at them, but that doesn't help you much. So I'll try...don't hold your breath, though.

We ended up doing quite a bit of traveling this year, but our big trip this year was to Phoenix and San Francisco. Phil and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary in July, but we couldn't get away to celebrate until October. We flew the whole family to Phoenix and then left the kids with Dave and Bev for a weekend. They show the kids a great time with their backyard swimming pool and a trip to Golf Land. We came back from San Francisco and then we took a trip down to Tombstone in their RV. We toured Tombstone and also took a trip to Kartchner Caverns...and enjoyed more pool time. It was a great trip.

Kate was my travel partner on the plane. I love this girl.

Dave and Bev took us from the plane to Scottsdale and our first stop was the Sugar Bowl. I love that place.

The Dude loved that place and finished off all the leftovers with vim and vigor.

Can we please go back to this moment?

The Rock in the background

Chinatown, obviously.

Phil's classique look

The view from our hotel room was aaah-mazing. Problem with that, was the steep decline every time we left the hotel and subsequent incline back to the hotel. It was a near-death experience for me and we took a lot of cabs, buses, cable cars. There was tons of whining.

Alcatraz was so interesting.

Was this Al Capone's cell? I can't remember.

We hired a photographer to get some photos of the two of us, in spite of the rain it was fun for both of us. I love my man.

and then we hired a photographer to get family photos in Phoenix, they favored Henry, but who wouldn't.

Flood

2011-12-23T23:51:00.000-06:00

If you are anything like I was prior to June, you have no idea what a flood does to a home/structure. Here's a little picture of what it did to our community this summer. It will affect so many for years and it's so sad. Here's a small picture of it.

Minot's Flood

On a sidenote, I hope to update the blog in the next week since it's my last week "off" and maybe my only real week off this year.

Montana 4th of July

2011-07-08T20:12:00.001-05:00

This is getting to be a regular occurrence, us spending holidays in Montana. We met Mollie, Aram, Camden, and Claire in Montana so the guys could go fly fishing. Problem was, there was tons of run-off from the mountains this spring so the rivers were running too quickly to get anything. We had fun anyway; the weather was awesome, the cabin was great and the company was greater. My only complaint is how far we have to travel to see each other.

Me and Addy went white water rafting one day; first for both of us. We couldn't take a camera, though, so you'll have to take my word for it. It was awesome.

This is the tootie tah. Maybe sometime you'll be lucky enough to see it in person.

On Saturday all the girls went to the Farmer's Market in Missoula - Missoula is a cool city.

There was the most amazing salsa bar there. Awesome idea.

Claire loved the hammock

4th of July burger

Minneapolis

2011-06-15T22:26:00.000-05:00

We headed to Minneapolis for my last appointment with my neurologist. He says he doesn't have justification to see me anymore since I'm off meds and fairly asymptomatic. I still have leg symptoms, but they're under control and unchanged since I've gone off meds. We had an awesome time there, including the Children's Science Museum, which happened to be hosting the King Tut exhibit....amazing. Also, we went to the Mall of America and one day met up with some friends of ours from Germany (who are currently living in Wisconsin, about to live in Minneapolis, just moved from Japan) at the Como Park Zoo. Lastly, we took a quick trip to Ikea to buy tons of shelving for my new studio...more about that later.

the only thing Addy got at the Mall of America...a big, fat lollipop

Ana Sophia was a baby the last time I saw her. Why do kids have to grow up?

It's awesome when you can pick up right where you left off

Favorite family photo EVER

Now THIS is an IKEA trip

Piano Recital

2011-06-15T21:38:00.000-05:00

It's not short, but I figured a few of you would want to see the whole thing.

Teenager

2011-06-15T19:29:00.000-05:00

Granted, she became a teenager almost four months ago, but I've passed the point of worrying about punctuality. So, she's a teenager now and in spite of her hormonal moments, she's still our little Cheeklay.

Addy is all about the dogs, so I couldn't do this post without a photo of Piper enjoying her party.

The dogs each got her a card.

Addy loves gardening; she's in charge of our garden this year.

G'pops

2011-05-04T14:21:00.000-05:00

Almost two years ago my Grandpa Kercher and Grandma Liz came to visit us on their semi-annual trek across the country. Every other year they go from Florida to Oregon to Michigan (where all our extended family lives) and then back down to Florida. We were so thankful they went so far out of their way to visit us and we didn't have a hard time bending their arm to get them to unpack the several instruments out of their Prius to give us a little concert.

G'pops and G'ma are such an awesome example: they don't sit around and complain about politics, the weather, and people. Instead, they sit around and tell stories from their past, listen to your stories and laugh and smile...and play beautiful music. As they travel across the country, they take secondary roads and stop in small towns along the way, buying local papers and stopping in local coffee shops and chatting with the local people.

Right now G'pops is in the hospital. He's really struggling and really needs prayers. Please pray for my Grandpa.

National Pinata Day

2011-02-20T14:56:00.001-06:00

Who knew you could make up your own holiday? We're visiting friends in Colorado and Henry cashed in on a promise I made months, nay, years ago.

National Pinata Day from Mandi Carroll on Vimeo.

Henry's 7th

2011-02-05T08:59:00.002-06:00

Either Henry is faking it in these photos or he had an amazing time for his birthday. We tried to keep it simple this year; poor guy just happens to have a birthday every.single.year on January 10, right after the holiday madness. Anyway, Minot happens to have the incredible gem of Pizza Planet, which is the coolest thing to Henry because it is straight out of the Toy Story movie, his all-time favorite movie. The place is actually called Planet Pizza, but don't tell Henry that. Actually, if you tell him that, you'll argue about it for a while until you finally give up, because he never will.

So...he invited one friend, Jo, whom he adores - and Jo's sister joined the fun. After that, we made it back to our house for gifts and Batman cake. I love my expressive boy.

Two reasons for this photo: 1) My Grandma and Grandpa and Nan often ask me to put more photos of myself on here. 2) I won a boat-load of tickets because I figured out the train game. I won enough tickets to purchase an all-expense paid trip to the Bahamas. hmm...that last part might not be true.

Something about the way Henry is looking at Phil is just awesome to me.

Part of the deal with Henry's birthday was that we would spring for the Galactic sized pizza, not realizing that it has a galactic-sized price tag. It fed us for three days.

I ordered the Batman cake from a local bakery. I was surprised at how ghetto it turned out, but Henry loved it.

Yup, that's my son kissing bubble gum.

At some point it got so exciting, he had to get on top of the table.

Where did my baby go?

Jammie Day

2011-01-24T15:07:00.000-06:00

I had last week off; the first week I've had off, and stayed at home, in over a year, I think. I promised the kids a jammie day. Jammie day is pretty simple: jammies (obviously), a movie or two and Rice Crispy Treats, breakfast for all three meals that day and...nope, that's about it. My kids are the best.

The puppies took the assignment pretty seriously

Published!

2011-01-21T10:25:00.000-06:00

The photo editor for Family Circle Magazine contacted me in October, asking me if I would like to photograph a Bismarck Family for the January "Hometown" feature. I asked her if she knew that I lived over 100 miles away and she told me that I was her pick. I'm so flattered and honored that they choose me and even more honored that after I submitted my photos they choose to feature me as one of their guest contributors. There's something to be said for running a business like mine in a sparsely-populated state: I would never have had this opportunity, otherwise.

Montana Christmas

2010-12-28T15:08:00.002-06:00

We met the Treits in Montana for Christmas. Today is our last day and we had an amazing trip. We struck gold with the house rental we found; it's an 8000 square foot house with four fireplaces, two master suites, two jacuzzi tubs and tons of room for the kids to spread out. We went skiing two of the days and the rest of the time hung out, played games, played in the snow, ate good food and caught up. Celebrating Christmas with them was awesome; both of our families used the same book for Advent this year and we were able to finish up our Advent celebration together. Too bad it has to be over.

Kate was really, really tired in the jacuzzi tub

Elise was so enraptured by the dogs that she had to go to a pet store on Christmas Eve to get them poodle-sized squeaky tennis balls.

Lauren sharing her new mp3 player with Kate.

Addy got dog clothes for Christmas and then we had to have a fashion show, of course. There were even dog pjs for Christmas eve.

Kate got an Easy Bake Oven; Elise helped her learn how to use it.

I didn't bring my camera skiing, so I just have a few phone photos. My battery went dead, so I couldn't get one of Addy or anyone else. It was gorgeous up there. We're all addicted to skiing now; the kids did awesome.

Wax On; Wax Off

2010-12-24T14:12:00.000-06:00

Henry started Taekwondo this summer and the girls thought it looked like so much fun that they started doing it a few months later. I'm all for it because it's something you can do year-round and all the kids go to the same family class, just one shuttle trip. This particular class, Kate was testing for her orange belt, which is why I have the most photos of her. Plus she was in the best position for shots. Addy, was in the worst. Poor Addy, I just don't love her as much, I guess.

Girls' Trip 2010

2010-12-23T15:50:00.001-06:00

Man, I love my girls. We had an awesome, awesome girls' trip this year. We decided to head for Grand Forks this year since there's a military base there and we can stay in temporary lodging and have a kitchen, tv and dvd player and two bedrooms all for about half the price of a hotel. Also Grand Forks has a really great water park at one of the local hotels; that was the deciding factor. We brought lots of girl movies to watch (even one Oscar-worthy Barbie movie), lots of candy, root beer floats and nail polish. The one downer was the brand-new puzzle we bought that was missing at least 10 pieces. Very uncool. Very.

There was even a bed for the girls' dolls

root beer floats and silly straws are a great mix

No girls' trip is complete without some funny face photos. My girls are the best.

root beer floats, popcorn and chick flicks are also a good mix

puzzles with missing pieces do not make me happy

super duper manicures means I missed my calling in life

There are no waterpark pictures because I actually got in the water with my girls. THAT'S how much I love them.

Give Thanks

2010-12-23T15:18:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving this year was minus the turducken, but we added in a ham with the turkey. Lots of side dishes later and MANY hours of cooking later and I've decided to tone it back next year. We have so much to be thankful for.

Kate's Ninth

2010-12-23T14:08:00.000-06:00

Our family is on vacation and one of the things I want to do is catch up on some family blogging, that is along with relaxing, reading and sitting in front of the fire. I don't think these posts will be in any particular order, but I'm posting to the blog, so I'm sure no one will complain.

Kate had a cupcake, chocolate fondue tea party this year and I went all out. It was beautiful and fun just like Kate.

Punkin Patch

2010-10-11T17:41:00.001-05:00

While Phil was taking a final, I took the kiddos to our new local pumpkin patch and corn maze. Pumpkin patch was fun. Corn maze was annoying. Whoever designed it had a very good work ethic and we finally just resorted to cutting through rows of corn to get to the end. We went a little over the top with our pumpkin purchases, but at least when I give people directions to my house, I can just tell them to look for the pumpkins.

June

2010-09-08T14:01:00.000-05:00

I figured there's no time like the present to dust off the old blog. It's been a busy summer - too busy - and now we're staring another North Dakota winter in the face. For now, we'll enjoy the two weeks of fall that ND affords.

As I was looking through my June folder, I expected to find twelve personal photos, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a few more.

First set of photos here is from when Addy went to camp/we bought a new van. Addy was scheduled to go to Bible/horse camp for a week and, fortuitously, our van also decided to go out around that same time. We decided to buy a van in Fargo and make a weekend out of the deal since Addy needed to be dropped off near Fargo on Monday. We drove the trusty Buick across the state, and Kate enjoyed some time in the middle front seat. It was also our first road trip with the dogs, which proved rather stinky since they didn't want to go numero dos in route.

Phil had to go back home to do homework after we bought the van, so the kids and I stayed on base in Grand Forks. We found this waterpark - kids had a blast.

While Addy was gone I took the little kids to make pottery. There isn't much to do in Minot, so they're pretty easily amused. Painting pottery is their new-found favorite thing to do and, if they have anything to do with it, everyone will get a piece of art for Christmas.

and these are the finished pieces. what did I tell you...art?

and our new van...ordinary, blue, run-o-the-mill van

Second set of photos was from a trip to our little zoo, one of the only other things to do here. It takes just about an hour or so to make it through the zoo, although I took Kate and Henry once while Addy was at camp and we made it through in a record 45 minutes. It's always a good time for the kiddos, though.

without fail, Henry wants a photo of himself in this wooden cut-out. Kate was helping this time.

Henry must have followed me around, hammin it up the whole time; I didn't realize how many more photos of him I have than the girls.

I'm not a vet or anything, but I'm going to say this moose has leprosy.

I didn't get any good photos of Kate at the zoo, but I did get this one a few days before that I love. It's just so "Kate" to me.

and Phil will love me more if I post this one

Flower Bragging

2010-06-13T18:45:00.000-05:00

Mom wanted to see some pictures of my yard and flowers. I've been meaning to do this, but that was just the push I needed to actually do it. I'm so excited that the landscaping plan I had is working, for the most part. I just winged it with the landscaping and I wasn't sure it would actually work out. Plus there isn't a whole lot that grows in the Tundra, so my choices were limited.

Fence isn't quite finished; we have some caps to put on the 4x4s, but it's so nice to have a place to send the dogs instead of going out with them every time.

Pipes on Botox

Vegetable and strawberry garden...I'll have to post one later (but don't hold your breath) when the plants are more mature. I also have a couple perennials in there for cut flowers.

Addy had a Birthday

2010-05-20T08:34:00.000-05:00

I'm definitely out of the running for Mother of the Year because of the tardiness of this post. Bummer!

Addy's birthday was so fun this year; she wanted a horse party. For a girl who is turning 12, I wasn't sure how to do this age-appropriately. Many of the horse games are for much younger children. We got an awesome horse cake - and no, I didn't make this cake - and she spread her horse collection around the house. That was the extent of the horse theme. Games are more my area of specialty. We played a photo scavenger hunt - each person had a camera and they had to go around the house and find things and then show off their finds, including photos of 20 different horses. We played some sort of a candy game which included having a mouth full of candy, two pieces at a time which included a little bit of multicolored drooling. There was another game, but her birthday was two months ago and I can't remember it. Suffice it to say, it was amazingly fun.

Addy doesn't normally give her smiles out Kate-style; she's much more reserved. Her unabashed smiling over and over again on her birthday was the biggest gift to me.

The bakery did a really good job on her cake. It wasn't the tastiest confection, but it was pretty.

We've reached the age of funny face photos. I'm so very proud.

Addy's three friends plus Kate - for some reason I only got photos of two girls, this is Gen.

and Taylor - I love both of these photos equally, not sure how she'll feel about them

Henry would take part in the fun activities of the party - meaning the candy game, gifts and cake and ice cream. Otherwise he was off doing manly things.

Addy got this cool stamp collecting set from my Mom. All the girls were really into it.

Candle pictures are my favorite

iPod from Grandma and Grandpa - in Addy's favorite color

Elliot found a good napping spot the evening of Addy's party

and Pipes, so he doesn't feel left out

Matters of Business

2010-05-20T08:01:00.001-05:00

I'll bet you never expected to see me again, huh? I haven't abandoned this blog in my heart, although it appears that way. Every few days I think about posting here, but then I think...I have to edit photos, resize photos and painstakingly upload them one at a time. I wish Blogger had FTP or batch upload capability because this just feels like work. I do like the results, though.

Another reason that I don't blog as often is because this blog shows up when people search for me by name and people search for me by name because I unwisely named my business after myself. No matter what I do (that's why I didn't use my name with my "about me"), it shows up on Google when my name is searched. I've removed the link to my website from this blog, in hopes that it will fix it. If not, I'm thinking about changing the blog to only allow subscribers. I know that's a pain for everyone, so I'm trying to avoid it.

Any gurus out there who know a better solution?

The Blacks

2010-01-24T19:17:00.001-06:00

One of the only things we didn't like about Germany is that every summer we had to say goodbye to our best friends. We figured when we moved back to the States, that wouldn't be so frequent an occurrence. Our best friends here in Minot were the Blacks and they weren't military. In fact, Vince was a pastor at our church, so we were safe, right? Pretty sure you've figured out where this is going. The Blacks were called by God to plant a church in Ft. Collins, Colorado, and they left at the beginning of October. I took these photos at their going-away picnic. Before now, I don't think I realized why I hadn't blogged these yet. Kind of emotional. I trust that God has a bigger purpose for this family than simply being our friends in Minot. We love these kiddos.

So, on our way back from our Colorado vacation, we stopped for two days in Ft. Collins...of course.

Colorado

2010-01-22T20:23:00.000-06:00

Lots of pictures on this post...I just couldn't narrow it down further...

Our vacation in Colorado was amazing. It was perfection. Even though we left a day and a half late because of a Christmas Day blizzard that lasted 36 hours, it was still perfection. It was relaxing, fun and we even saw family and great friends. Addy and I went skiing our first day there (she blogged those photos and the camera was in the locker so we don't have many photos of it anyway---so I'm not blogging those), we went sledding with the help of a lift, went sledding old-school style, and snowmobiling. We also sat in the hot tub, did a puzzle, played games and the Wii, ate and...spent great time with family and friends. It was perfect.

Mostly what I have photos of from the trip is from our two old-school sledding expeditions

Kate went down the hill with her hat over her eyes every time. It was part of what entertained us throughout the day.

Henry and his hair and smile were the other major form of entertainment. You'd just have to be there.

Maggie? Even though she appears to have been pretty entertaining...this was a rare moment.

although her outfit did provide lots of entertainment for me.

I made a bad choice in hats

and pants, quite obviously

kids in the snow with sleds...cute

I didn't get any snowmobiling photos, but Bev got this one. Phil is quite proud of this shot.

The whole group - Dave and Bev, their son Dan and his wife, Beth and...us.

Phil pulled a Britney Spears

Candids in the condo

Phil obviously injected some botox on the sly. Either that, or this photo was pre-coffee for me.

Maggie and I took a walk in the snow

Maggie and I laugh a lot together. It's one of my favorite things.

Maggie celebrated her birthday. She attempted to blow out all 24 candles in one fail swoop. Nope.

I have about 10 photos just like this and still she didn't blow out that last candle.

and you know...because I'm cruel

King of the Hill

2010-01-20T21:21:00.000-06:00

Last week we had an unusual warm snap - several days even saw the low 40s. It made Minot a lot more tolerable, in large because the kiddos played outside for hours every day. The first day of warmth, I looked out the front window and saw Henry up on this hill waving to all the cars that passed by.

Henry's 6th

2010-01-20T21:02:00.000-06:00

Henry's birthday celebration was a bit disjointed this year, which is a bummer for me. I like my kiddos' birthdays to be special. I hope he will have good memories, regardless. We celebrated with Grandma and Grandpa Saturday night (birthday eve) with cake and gifts and then Sunday after church we went to Space Aliens for pizza and games. It was a little distracting, though, as we were all thinking about picking up our puppies....and the rest of the story has already been blogged.

the moment when he realized he hadn't extinguished even one candle

Kate hits the jackpot

Elliot

2010-01-20T19:57:00.000-06:00

Just a little update - we changed Noel's name to Elliot Noel. She wasn't responding to her name and it was very close to the word no, so a few times both dogs got confused. I know you'll all so very interested in our dogs...

Twins!

2010-01-15T09:29:00.003-06:00

If you follow this blog regularly, you will know the saga of the hamsters and how they were a pet offering to my kids since I was avoiding getting a real pet. You will probably also remember that didn't work out quite as we planned. I did lots of research about dog breeds and had second-hand experience about the toy poodle breed through my friend, Carroll. They are a smart, highly trainable dog, they don't shed, aren't barky and they're small. They also love people and want very much to please them. Sounded great to us, so we found a breeder and had things sort of in place. On Saturday we went to meet the breeder and fell in love with the puppies that were available as well the mother of the puppies. We went down on Sunday and picked up two puppies of our very own; Piper and Noel...brother and sister. There was another brother that wasn't for sale and, of course, that was the one Henry fell in love with. Sunday was his birthday, so it was a rather bittersweet day for him: we did get two puppies on his birthday, but we had to leave his beloved behind.

This is Henry with Reagan.

The next two photos are from the first night with the puppies.

I have taken so many photos of these dogs. They really are so much fun and seem to be smart. They already understand their boundaries in the house and sleep through the night. Now if I can only train them to go to the bathroom in the right place, life will be beautiful.

Piper and Kate

Noel and Addy

Henry got over it.

On our way to get the puppies, we offered $6 to anyone who wanted to get rid of their hamster. Kate and Henry took us up on it, so we figure two puppies for two hamsters was a very fine trade, indeed.

Not Sporty

2009-12-27T11:44:00.000-06:00

Phil and Henry signed up for flag football this fall. Both were very excited about the prospect, but Henry soon lost interest. He was at a definite disadvantage: 1) he has my sport's genes, or lack thereof, 2) we don't watch much football so he didn't have much interest in the game. He really thought he was just going to play with other boys. The times he was most happy was when he was messing around off the field (or whatever it's called in football).

He spent most of his time chewing on his flag or playing with it ("because it feels good") and standing there, looking forlorn or lost or something.

Kate Turns Eight

2009-12-26T16:34:00.002-06:00

I wonder if I will ever NOT feel nostalgic when my kiddos have a birthday. Kate's was over a month ago, but thankfully there's no statute of limitations on blogging (because I have a backlog that dates much further back). We had a celebration for just our family and then on the weekend Grandma and Grandpa came over as well as some family friends. They conveniently have 7 kiddos that are all built-in playmate age for all my kiddos as well as some cute babies that afford me my baby fix. All in all, a great way to celebrate Kate and what she adds to our family - lots of fun, sweetness, cuddles and most of all - smiles. We all love her so much.

Our tradition is to let the kiddos choose whatever dinner they want, including side dishes. When I asked Kate what she wanted she said, "I can have anything? - even Wendys?" We compromised by having Wendys for lunch and I even sprung for the fancy Frosties. Kate loves bacon more than any food and they have a "sandwich called The Baconator at Wendys. 840 calories and 51 grams of fat deliciousness. Yuck.

Not an unusual situation. Henry is very touchy-feely and Kate loves that...except when delivered by Henry who is a little robust with his touchy-feelyness. He also doesn't like to take no for an answer. I see Used Car Salesman in his future.

Kate got a Barbie for her birthday and Henry is always willing to play with someone - for a time. His version of playing Barbies is a bit more aggressive than Kate's.

and then there was the cake. I think I may have worked harder on this than I worked on November 18, 2001.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-26T15:54:00.002-06:00

Christmas day in the Carroll house was really fun and relaxing. The kiddos were all very thankful for their gifts, which makes the parents happy. I got the family the new Super Marios Bros game for our Wii; Phil and I played that for hours until we lost all feeling in our left thumbs. We played some board games, kiddos played with their toys and we enjoyed the yummy lasagna I'd made the day before. At dinner Henry announced, "This was the best Christmas EVER and it's STILL Jesus's birthday!"

Christmas wouldn't be complete without a photo like this.

Kate's very excited about her new "Zum Buddy."

Henry's new "Mic-Tar."

a blog post that includes Henry isn't complete without a photo like this.

Kate found the pickle this year - lots of excitement.

the aftermath.

Much - and I mean MUCH - to be thankful for.

As a P.S. I have these two random photos that seem to fit here. "My" tree that Addy calls boring and a photo of the Beeker's parents - on our way to Phil's Christmas party. We didn't mean to match, really.

White Christmas

2009-12-26T15:39:00.000-06:00

We were supposed to leave at 5am this morning for our long-anticipated vacation in Colorado. Yesterday at 1pm the blizzard began and lasted until a couple hours ago. The snow plows are just now beginning to work on the roads, so we don't know how long our trip will be delayed. I've decided to work on my long-neglected blog to try to make me thankful for the things I have. I confess that I'm not feeling particularly thankful right now. I was pretty attached to the idea of a cozy vacation in the mountains of Colorado.

First up: photos of the storm. We'll see if this turns into a true blogging marathon or merely a 5K.

Phil removed the snow from the side of the house so there wouldn't be an "ice dam".

Our view of the homes across the street. We couldn't get across the street to get a photo of our house. We're hoping the snow plows don't take too long to get to our street and then we can head out.

After looking at these photos, I can say that I'm thankful for a snowblower and very thankful for a hubby to take care of all that outside "man stuff."

Snow Day

2009-12-09T08:09:00.002-06:00

Henry really gets a bad rap around here. It's well-deserved most of the time, but still, it's gotta be hard to be in trouble all the time. This particular day, his sisters had been irritated at him for about 16 hours straight and I decided to quietly ask him if he wanted to go outside and play in the snow. I asked quietly because if I had asked in anything higher than 2 decibels the girls would have wanted to join in and I wanted some Mommy/Henry time. As I'm posting these photos now, Kate is asking when this happened and if that snowman is still outside. The snowman is NOT outside. This happened back in October and then we had some freakishly warm weather in November and the snow melted. Of course we currently have snow, but the temps are well below zero and nobody around here wants to play when it hurts to play.

when he starts throwing snow at me, it's time to put away the camera

First Beeker

2009-11-16T11:42:00.000-06:00

Addy has her very own blog now. She's waited a very long time for this privilege and she's about as excited as Addy gets.

Check her:

Addy's Blog

LA with Maggie

2009-11-15T08:12:00.001-06:00

So, in my last post I referenced my trip to LA with Maggie. I figured I might as well post those photos. An old friend from my Air Force days got engaged and asked me to fly out to photograph her wedding. I jumped at the chance to shoot a wedding at the beach and Maggie jumped at the chance to join me. We really only had less than a day to hang out, just the two of us, but we made the most of our time.

Here, we're enjoying the free bag of microwave popcorn at the hotel before the wedding. Hotels that give out free bags of popcorn really understand the Kercher spirit.

on our day off, we went to Hollywood Boulevard and found lots of touristy photo ops

(and the best frozen yogurt known to man - Pinkberry - my mouth is watering at the mere thought)

We also went to Chinatown and were embarrassed by our lack of ChineseFoodOrderingSkills

and...you know...because we're both still 12

this was our ride for the day

Here's one of the pictures I took with my "real" camera.

and another, for those of you who don't like sunflare pictures

Dating

2009-11-14T13:51:00.000-06:00

Kirsten left me a not-so-subtle comment about posting to the blog. It worked.

Phil and I take turns going on dates with the kiddos one on one. I wish I could say that we do them at regular, scheduled intervals, but that wouldn't be true. The kids do tend to "remind" us when we're due for one and they also tend to remember who's turn is next.

When I was in LA with Maggie in September (probably didn't blog about that yet, did I?), we got a pedicure with flowers on our toes and Kate really wanted one. So...we finally went on our pedicure date. Addy has absolutely no interest in pedicures, nail polish or girly things. All of the above totally float Kate's boat. Addy loves to play games with me, but that really isn't Kate's favorite. I'm so glad God blessed me with the two best daughters ever.

The last date I had with Henry we went to Space Aliens. It's a pizza joint decorated with...well...aliens, space ships, Yoda and other such space paraphernalia. They also have those games you can play which give you tickets which buy you junk prizes. He loves that place. As we were having lunch, I was trying to have a heart to heart with Henry and I asked him what things I do as a mommy that he doesn't like. He said, "I really don't like it when you spank me."

I asked him what I should do when he disobeys me, then. He looked up at the space ship that was above me and started to talk about whether or not it was real. Deep things are going on in that head of his, quite obviously.

Consequences for Spontaneity

2009-09-28T12:24:00.006-05:00

My poor kiddos want a pet. They've been wanting a pet for a long time. I referred to this in my last post before my blogging sabbatical. My sweet kiddos never beg or even ask. They completely understand my stance on the topic. One day the girls asked about hamsters. I considered it and thought it might be a good compromise. I told them when Phil got home from work we'd discuss it. Phil and I went for a walk around the neighborhood (yes, Addy is now old enough for us to do that. Awesome), and we decided it wasn't a bad idea. No research. Nothing. The kids were so excited and we were so excited to make them happy. We told them that they could each get one but they all needed to be female. Nope, I don't want a hamster farm.So, the next day we made the trek to a local pet store and all three Beekers picked out 3 Beekers of their own. The pet store assured us that the three hamsters were all female, but said they could not assure us that they weren't already pregnant. They told us we could return the babies when they were done nursing and that sounded reasonable to me. Off we went.

Less than two weeks later, one hamster gave birth to six babies and promptly ate 3 of them.

This was NOT something we were prepared for. A few days later another hamster gave birth to six babies. None were consumed, thankfully, but one of the mothers was viciously attacked by the only mother who didn't have babies, leaving a gaping wound. The blood bath was also something we didn't expect. We upgraded to two cages since we were told the fighting and consuming babies was a space issue. We weren't sure if any of our 12 hamsters would make it

through the night. The next morning everyone was alive and well and all nine babies have made it thus far. Last weekend we returned the three babies from the first litter, leaving us with just one more week with the other six infants. Addy, in particular, has grown very attached to the rodents. I can't bring myself to touch them. What I've learned through this is that I

hate hamsters and that maybe a dog isn't such a bad idea. We are currently in the preliminary

miniature poodle research stages.

This is day 1 with Aggie, Sophia, and Rachel.

This was D-day. We were prepared to take all nine babies back to the pet store. Unfortunately, only 3 were old enough, so we're prolonging the process.

S-T-U-P-I-D

2009-09-28T09:14:00.003-05:00

We are starting to get back into the swing of things here. School started for us last week and I'm working less, so maybe I'll have time for this blog. Now for your story...

Stupid has been a bad word in our house for a very long time. Recently, the kids asked us why it's a bad word. We decided to give them the freedom to use the word appropriately in hopes that they would use good judgment. Many conversations have ensued. Can we say bugs are stupid? Can we say that color is stupid. We told them they just can't call people stupid and if we find they are using the word too prolifically the privilege will be taken away. After telling them they couldn't call people stupid, they asked if they could call the devil stupid. sigh...yes, I guess.

Changing topics a bit, but it's really part of the story...Henry likes to spell things. He can't spell at all and doesn't know very many of his letters yet. Up until recently, he didn't have much interest. His spelling interest started with a quote from Toy Story - where Woody says to Buzz Lightyear, "You are a TOY. T-O-Y, toy!" Henry spells everything T-O-Y. "That is disgusting; T-O-Y, disgusting. " Then he realized that disgusting doesn't start with a T, so he started spelling disgusting D-O-Y.

Saturday night Henry was taking a bath with his Army Men. Yup, you read that right. After he was done, he came downstairs and said, "Mommy, the devil is H-E-N-R 9-1-1 stupid. STUPID. The stupidest girl I ever seen." Yes, you read that last little grammar bit right, too. He's my shining star.

Yes, this photo is two steps worse than terrible. I recently got a point and shoot camera so I could start getting more snapshots of the kids without having to lug my big camera around. This is one of the first shots I got with my camera - gotta love the wide angle effect. This photo may make me ditch my SLR.

Here's hoping this blog stays more up to date.

Little Tidbits

2009-07-15T10:41:00.004-05:00

As my kids get older, it seems like there isn’t as much news. Maybe because I’m in the throes of the day-to-day, maybe because they don’t say as many cute-little-kid-things. Regardless, there isn’t a lot of news about Addy and Kate to share. Little tidbits: Addy is getting braces on Monday. Both girls took swim lessons in June and were invited to be part of the Minot Swim Club, starting in November. Both girls are finished with school for the schoolyear and can’t wait to start up again. Both girls continue to
be complete opposites yet play together nicely, most of the time.

Whereas nothing much changes with the girls…there is lots to report on Henry. He continues to charm and amuse both our household and the neighbors. They love to see him streaking through the yard in only his underwear, streaking through the yard with a batman cape, or just streaking through the yard. I’m glad we have such nice neighbors.
Recently I was reading my Bible in the morning when Henry got up. I started to read aloud to him and he interrupted me after a few minutes to say, “Mommy, remember that story about Jesus going into a duck?” I say, “you mean Jonah getting swallowed by the whale?” and he says, “Yeah. That’s my favorite story.”

To completely change the subject, I still won’t get a pet. I just really don’t want the hassle. I also don’t want an animal in the house for our 8 months of winter. Not really sure it’s fair to the animal, anyway. So the other day the kids are talking and Addy says, “When I grow up, I’m going to get a cat.” Kate says, “When I grow up, I’m going to get a dog.” Henry says, “When I grow up, I’m going to get a computer phone.”….because texting is infinitely less maintenance than a pet. In the interim, our lovely neighbors let our kids walk their dogs and the kids love it. I’m not sure the dogs are happy with the arrangement, but they’re dogs and…well…I’ll let you finish the sentence.

For those of you who say you never see me featured on this blog…here goes. Not my favorite photo of me, but here you go.

NYC

2009-06-22T14:01:00.008-05:00

Terri and Bill are our fabulous friends (and former neighbors) from Germany. Their daughter, Jessica, was graduating from college (with honors!) and they were attending her graduation. Terri and Jessica had plans for two days and two nights in NYC and invited me to come along. We had a fabulous time together. The highlights: Phantom of the Opera, New York cheesecake, buying knock-off bags from a lady in a van in Chinatown, laughing at the laughably bad service in the Vietnamese restaurant, and walking around looking at the amazing sights.

First there were friends:

and there were bags:

and there were crazy Italians: and really bad service:

and Grand Central station:

and sights:

and architecture:

I want to go back. I heart NYC.

Elephants and Poodles

2009-06-20T18:31:00.003-05:00

After a long blogging sabbatical, I'm baaaaack.

Amazing how you can spend so much time practicing for a show that lasts just two minutes. If you're a faithful blog reader, you'll remember Kate had her first dance recital at Christmastime and I commented on her two left feet and overall lack of coordination. She seems to have improved a bit with that, further proving that bad genes can be overcome. She really enjoys ballet now and can't wait for it to start up again in the fall. Personally, I'm happy for the rest from practices and waiting room drama. The theme was carnival of animals and her whole class was a herd of elephants, rather fitting for the beginner's class. At the last minute the teacher needed a time-filler and asked Kate to be one of five poodles in a second act. She was beyond thrilled to be chosen and was the cutest pink poodle I've ever seen.

A couple waiting shots...

There was a lot of off-time backstage, and really, I'm pretty certain that's what filled Kate's tank, rather than the actual dancing. Remember what I said about the cutest pink poodle ever? Told ya.

Signs of Spring

2009-04-18T20:56:00.003-05:00

I have never, never been so excited for spring. As of this week, all the snow has melted out of our yard. You can still find snow piles here and there around Minot, but not in our yard.

Every day I go outside and check for shoots in a small flower bed that I was able to stick a few perennials and bulbs in last fall. I have them all counted and am excited for each new one that pops up; we are now up to more than one a day. Sure beats counting tumbleweeds.

It's just in this last week that the kids have been able to play outside. Of course, all they do is play in the driveway, still, because they were so used to not being allowed in the "yard" last year. First, because it was mostly mud for almost the first year we lived here; then, for a short time, because the sod needed to take root; then because there was snow on the ground for at least a solid 6 months.

Today was a nice, low-key day. It was great. It was still pretty chilly. I mean; the high was 38 degrees, so most of you in the rest of the country wouldn't even have ventured outside, but it's spring!

Work Clothes

2009-04-06T14:13:00.002-05:00

My conversation with Henry today:
H: “Did you ever shoot a gun, Mommy?”

M: “Lots! I used to wear work clothes like Daddy and I would shoot guns sometimes.”

H: “Work clothes? I don't get it. Like for cleaning?”

M: “No, I wore work clothes like Daddy and would go to work like Daddy.”

Henry’s response…”I don’t get it.”

My proof:

Camden and Claire

2009-04-06T13:55:00.002-05:00

Mollie and fam came for a visit and these are the only candids I got. Shame on me.

We did get lots of not-so-candids, though.

My niece is squishy and I love it

Sadly, they're gone now and I miss them.

Her Smile

2009-03-05T20:09:00.006-06:00

Sweet Addy turned 11 on Monday. Phil and I always celebrate our parenting anniversary on her birthday; amazing that we've made it this far without seriously harming our kiddos or each other. Grandma and Grandpa moved here the week before and helped celebrate her big day.

I love her smile.

Addy's always been my sunshine, so she wanted a sunshine cake. I was thinking this would be a simple cake; turned out to be a pain in my neck. It ended up looking rather...regurgitated.

What Makes Me Laugh

2009-03-05T19:35:00.003-06:00

I sat down tonight to work on some pictures from Addy's birthday and this is the first photo I looked at. I couldn't help myself...I just had to post this. That's my boy. He may be a few peas short of a casserole, but I love him anyway.

The Date

2009-02-18T14:19:00.005-06:00

Dave and Bev treated Phil and I to a night away, our first in nine years...and they kept Addy that time, too. We might need to get out more. We rode to Tucson in style. Riding in a convertible was a first for me. I have yet to make driving a convertible a first. Phil hogged the controls.

I decided I look pretty good in a convertible. Although, my hair was sticking to my lips quite a bit. Hairy lips don't look good on me.

Our first stop was an old mission. It wasn't amazing, but provided some good photo ops.

Possibly a bit random, but I was interested in all the bilingual signs.

Something that was supposed to be a speciality in the area. It tasted remarkably similar to an elephant ear.

The hotel was really cool; very different from anywhere else I've stayed. I loved the little oasis of flowers in the middle, surrounded by cacti.

The next morning we decided to take a hike at a nearby National Park. The hike was more of a walk, since the paths were all paved. Round trip, we went 7.5 miles and we were both in hurtin' status when we were done. We REALLY need to get out more.

Phoenix

2009-02-18T13:52:00.005-06:00

As stated in the Let it Snow post, we went to Phoenix to warm our extremities. We had a great time and it was hard to come back. Dave and Bev at The Bear Pause went all out and hosted us in 5-star style. Here are some of the highlights of our trip.

The kids wanted to start their days and end their days in the pool. Addy, in particular, spent most of her waking hours in the water.

Our girls' day out

checking out the desserts

the shop had a lot of bling

my bling...

Dave had a senior's softball tournament while we were there. You would never know these guys are retired; they took the game pretty seriously. None so seriously as Dave, though. He plays to win and his expressions show it.

It's a whole different kind of beauty down there

and the sad part is that we did go visit my Grandma and Bill while we were down there, but I forgot my camera that day...memories will have to suffice.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-13T20:38:00.002-06:00

I may be 5-6 posts behind, but I'm still going to post for Valentine's Day. I love holidays, but this one has to be my least favorite. I mean, even on Martin Luther King day Phil gets a day off, but Love Day? Nothing. My kids love this day, though, and force me to celebrate it each year through subordinate pressure. Here are three of my loved ones.

Let It...Snow?

2009-01-21T14:20:00.002-06:00

To say we've had a lot of snow this winter is an understatement. Apparently, ND hasn't seen snow like this since the 80s. I can think of many things I haven't seen since the 80s that I would prefer to see right about now. We are headed for Phoenix today to warm our toes. Brown will be a welcome change from white.

Our neighbor across the street gave us these first four photos.

1. Phil cleaning the snow off our roof

2. Our house partially covered in snow

3. Our nieghborhood almost completely covered in snow

4. Phil trying to snow blow out our mailboxes, which were completely covered in snow

Yesterday I finally decided to brave the weather to get some photos of my own. It has been unseasonably "warm" over the last few days, which created a thick layer of ice in our driveway...I fell while taking the first photo, gashed up my hand and continued to get the rest of these shots before the sun set completely. Nothing stops me from my mission. Not even blood, ice or cold.

This is our tree out front. The stake on the tree is completely covered, save about 4 inches on the top. You can't see it, but I can.

Our sidewalk. Normally there is about 3-4 feet between sidewalk and street. Now there is about 10 feet. There's just nowhere to put the snow.

Our house is the first one on the left...barely peeking out of the snow and the edge of the frame.

Some mailboxes up the street. See...it's been unseasonably warm lately, which gives us the joy of seeing the dirt that's under the snow. It's going to be an ugly spring.

Number Five

2009-01-21T12:31:00.004-06:00

Henry turned five this month. Thankfully, for me, he still doesn't think he's a big boy. He's decided that he won't acheive that status until he's "a daddy." He did tell me recently what being a daddy will mean to him...he's going to make popcorn for the whole family, buy candy for "the kiddies" and we'll all watch a movie together and it will be "a daddy movie." He was stumped for a minute because he realized if he was a daddy then Kate and Addy would be mommies and we'd need more seating. I told him I would buy a bigger couch. He then proceeded to tell me that I would also need to buy a new bed so he could sleep with Phil and me. I guess we'll cross that bridge when he actually IS a daddy. He told me he would drive Phil's car and go to work, but Phil won't be working any more. I guess Phil has educated Henry on retirement.

The one way that he IS growing up though; he has stopped proposing to me and Phil and recently informed me that he is going to get his OWN wife. THAT'S maturity.

The first two photos here just make me laugh...and wonder. Henry calls this, "blinding mahseelf."

and the obligatory opening gifts photos...

Asher has a birthday six days after Henry so we had a joint celebration. Henry wanted a BumbleBee (the transformer, not the insect) cake and Asher wanted to decorate cupcakes. So we did both.

this is Obed, decorating his cupcake

the BumbleBee cake

Cashing In

2009-01-16T20:23:00.001-06:00

Apparently I don't have a knack for picking out the right size pajamas for Addy. Our tradition is to give the kids new PJs on Christmas Eve. It's the only pair of PJs they get all year. Christmas Eve 2007 I got Addy this pair of pajama bottoms and, instead of buying an XL in girls' size, I bought an XL in women's size. She really wanted to wear them, so we took the tags off and let her. She proceeded to wear them all year, just cinching up the drawstring. I was very excited when, this Christmas Eve, she got her new pair of PJs and was able to give these to Phil as a hand-me-down.

The Blacks said if we posted this photo here, they would post their Christmas PJ photo. We'll see if they're a family of their word.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-03T16:16:00.002-06:00

This Christmas was one of the best ever for us. It helps that all the gifts we chose for the kids hit the mark and they were so thankful and happy. It also helps that Maggie came for a visit on Christmas evening. It also helps that we had our first white Christmas as a family. What else? Phil and I bought each other the same Bible. The kids all knew about both gifts and kept it a secret. The kids were also more excited to give than receive, at least for a few minutes. We also added the Wii to our family and it's provided lots of hours of family fun.

Not that our Christmas was just about gifts and fun family time. We read the Christmas story from Luke over breakfast and I asked, "Henry, what is Christmas really about?"

Henry: "getting presents?"

Me: "No...whose birthday is it?"

Henry: "Mine?"

I guess we have some work to do with that boy. I'm also realizing that he doesn't just give us rote answers that he doesn't understand. It must make sense and he must agree with it before it is fact.

Our Family

2008-12-24T22:52:00.004-06:00

Here's another post with a "real" picture of our family, along the same lines as the "real" kitchen photo in the last post. We recently became members of our church and someone so kindly took photos of the event. It's a pretty classic capture of our family, complete with Phil's great expression, Henry sucking on all his fingers, Kate asking me a question during a 1-minute event (totally unrelated question, I might add), and Addy scratching her stomach. Should have used this for our annual Christmas card.

16 Sticks

2008-12-23T19:26:00.003-06:00

I have really avoided the notion of Christmas baking for years. It just seems like an excuse for eating more during a seasion when eating is quite easy. I can think of much better ways of making family memories and traditions. However...you don't see your neighbors in North Dakota for six months or more (the duration of winter), so, in the name of building relationships, I decided this is the year for baking. Sixteen sticks of butter later, here are the results.

The decorating day was also "jammie day." Jammie day, in definition, means every meal is a breakfast meal. Somehow that works out better for the kids than the mom. I'm still waiting for my very own "jammie day."

This shot is for all of those who so kindly commented on my last post. This is not a "Better Homes" kitchen. This is my kitchen, and I'm proud of it.

Deck the Halls

2008-12-21T18:35:00.006-06:00

Phil started out decking the halls at the end of November. I wish it weren't so cold outside; I would retake the photo so you can see the huge piles of snow in our front yard now. True love - a man who will go on an icy roof in frigid cold weather to put lights on the house for his wife. I wonder how far his love will go when it's time to take the lights down in frigid-ier weather.

Last year our Christmas decorations were pretty sparse since we were still working on the basement until Christmas Eve. This year we pulled out all the stops - two trees, even.

The Beat of a Drum

2008-12-18T21:36:00.006-06:00

Kate started asking us about a year ago if she could take ballet. We found a studio and enrolled her in the fall. The lessons are twice a week and the monthly tuition is pretty reasonable. I didn’t realize, though, that there is so much more to it than that. The kids started practicing for a Christmas performance in October. Also in October I was hit up for a hefty costume fee. As the day approached, I found out I would also need to pay a hefty rental fee for a second costume. Then I found out I would need to buy a pair of shoes for each costume, new tights, and a new leotard to go under one of the costumes that I had paid a hefty costume fee for. Add to that extra practices and a whole week of my life consumed by performances and dress rehearsals….all to see my sweet middle child dancing to the beat of a different drum and smiling her face off with pride. Priceless.

Angel Diva

2008-12-14T16:25:00.003-06:00

This weekend Kate performed in a Christmas ballet. She was in two dances, the second of which was an angel dance. This costume was much prettier than the other, and I couldn't resist getting some photos of her. She agreed as long as she got to choose some of the poses. She's such a diva.

Petits Fours

2008-12-13T15:47:00.002-06:00

This is vindication for me - all of you who voted against me...over and over and over...(you know who you are) - Dave sent us these from Swiss Colony instead of the annual gingerbread house. There is mercy in the man.

I can say that we didn't procrastinate at finishing up this project. So much for my December diet.

***I just found out that instead of sending us a gingerbread house kit, Dave and Bev sent a completed gingerbread house to a child in the hospital in our area. Pretty cool.

The Best

2008-11-23T20:56:00.003-06:00

Well, apparently I saved the best for last. As I was editing the photos from the previous post, I wondered several times that I remember taking many more photos and getting better photos. I realized my file names went from the 9000s back to zero and low-and-behold the other photos were found.

I love how my kids get so excited to give gifts and see their siblings get cool stuff. It makes me happy.

I also love the suprised face. It makes me happy.

Jammie pants that Aunt Maggie made. They made Kate happy.

Kake has Cake

2008-11-23T20:22:00.003-06:00

Our little Kake-y turned seven last week. We celebrated with polka dot cake, a princess crown and lots of girl-y gifts. Fun was had by all.

She put up a pathetic show with her candle blowing abilities. She must get that from the Carroll side, because it's certainly not from her mother.

The Blacks came over for the festivities and Obed enjoyed Henry's newly-acquired punching balloon.

I love this one of Obed peeking around behind Henry (wearing the birthday princess crown)

All the kiddos (if you look close you can see all six)

Absence

2008-11-15T21:13:00.002-06:00

I know I haven't posted in a while. I know it's bad when Phil even questions me about it. I have taken so many photos lately of other people's families and kids that I haven't taken any of my kids. Scandalous.

Here are some photos that I took of Addy and Kate a while ago when Phil was working late and the kids and I were having fun just being together. I already blogged the photos of Henry, but never did anything with these. Bad mother. I wonder if they'll ever forgive me. I'm saving up for therapy already.

What can I write about these two girls that you don't already know? Probably lots. Kate, aka "bacon and eggs," "keeker-beeker," and "shake'n'bake" is a total blonde at heart. The girl can't complete a task. She can't save a penny. She can't finish a chore. She never stops smiling and dances everywhere she goes. She lights the world.

Addy "peeko-reah, diarrhea" (unfortunately for her, her parents have no judgement) is a complex individual. She eats her food from the opposite side of the plate than I do and I just don't get her about 93.2% of the time. She wants to know every single, solitary detail before it happens or is anticipated to happen. She never stops questioning me about ANYTHING and never wants to stray from the rules - as long as it suits her. She also keeps things in order; teaches herself about 80% of her school and keeps me accountable. She loves me unconditionally and I'm always amazed at her awe of me. She makes my life hum and makes me crazy all at the same time. Man, is she a case.

Blizzard

2008-11-06T13:02:00.001-06:00

Yesterday it rained all day, then it snowed all night and continues to do so. It is officially Wicked Windy again and it is offically winter. I think this qualifies as my first blizzard, and I don't mean the Dairy Queen kind. Speaking of Dairy Queen, it closed for the winter about two weeks ago. What's that about?

Personal Space

2008-10-29T18:04:00.001-05:00

Grandma and Bill stopped at our house on their way from Michigan to Arizona. It was really nice to visit with them for a few days and not so nice to get whipped by the 'ills in Euchre.

Henry certainly capitalized on their time here. He especially liked the never-ending supply of candy that Bill provided.

Here the girls were working on puzzles, Grandma was working on a craft, and the guys were annoying us, I'm sure.

Here's an example of Henry's idea of personal space. Good thing Bill puts up with him.

Haunted

2008-10-24T12:36:00.005-05:00

Dave is retired. He thought it would be rather funny to send me a little care package...I guess in celebration of his retirement. It was a haunted gingerbread house kit. It arrived with the following letter. I think it reads a little like a blackmail letter rather than business correspondence. Thoughts?

I decided to take part in his little game with the caveat that it will be the last. Dave...the next time I get a gingerbread house kit in the mail, you will see photos on my blog of my kids eating the stale candy and the gingerbread walls and ceiling straight out of the box.

So, we didn't want a scary house, so we decided to make a pumpkin farm. The kids grew the pumpkins. One of my favorite things about fall is candy corn, so we decided to grow that on our farm, as well.

Isn't it sad when people deface a beautiful piece of architecture with graffiti? I think these may be gang symbols. We hired the ghost as a watchman to ward off any future attacks.

Personality

2008-10-16T14:18:00.003-05:00

There may be a person or two out there who thinks that Henry has no personality and is quite demure. Not so. He just saves it for those whom he deems worthy.

Today I took him to the doctor because he just didn't seem "right." He's had a cold since Sunday, but just hasn't been getting better. Turns out he has an ear infection and the beginnings of pneumonia. I'm glad we made the trek. He wore his favorite baseball cap to the appointment and the doctor needed to remove it to check his ears and lymph nodes and whatnot. As he removed the cap, one of my business cards fell out. The doctor thought it was pretty funny when I told him that Henry likes to store things in his hat. He gave Henry a tongue depressor, which Henry promptly stored in his hat. Not so comfy. He soon transferred that to his cargo pocket. When we were all done, the doctor took him down the hall to get a sticker and said, "I know just the place for this." Yup, stuck it under his hat. I hope he feels better soon.

Girls' Weekend Episode 2

2008-10-12T14:52:00.006-05:00

Last year Addy and I went to Paris for our first mother/daughter weekend. It was, most likely, the most impressive mother/daughter trip we will have for a long time. You would have thought that Bismarck would have been a huge let down after that, but the girls are pretty easily pleased. The weekend was full with swimming, eating, shopping, beading, singing, playing, and driving. I had a lot to teach them about Girly Stuff. Spending that much time with my daughters without distractions was not only fun, but also a great way to get to know them better.

When I say "without distractions," I should add a caveat. I must have a new seafood allergy because about two hours after a Red Lobster visit I broke out in hives, with swollen, itchy, red eye and runny nose. Benadryl took care of it, but also took my mental aptitude for the next 24 hours. If I hadn't been so worried about it, I would have had one of the girls take a picture because my cheeks looked like John McCain cheeks. I was H-O-T!

Pass the Pigs was our appetizer

Cheddar biscuits. Oh Yeah.

The Silly Pictures

The girls each got a pair of Pocahontas boots just in time for our fresh layer of snow this morning.

I liked this blurry picture too much to trash it

and no girls' trip would be complete without a trip to Taco Bell

Me...teaching the girls what's important. In this case, keeping your eyes on the road.

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

2008-10-01T16:22:00.003-05:00

It's the 20% that I'm wondering about...