A Peace Prize, Three Kings, and some revisionist Bible History

As an aside, I couldn't resist posting this and dad, you'll just have to forgive me because (a) I'm probably paraphrasing a bit too much but (b) it's too good not to have as a memory.

Here is the conversation the other morning at Breakfast.

Bumpa (having just watched coverage of the Nobel Peace Prize): Pants, do you know who the King of Norway is?

Pants: King Herod.

Bumpa: Close, it's King Harald. Do you know who King Herod was?

Pants: King of Egypt?

Bumpa: That's right, he tried to kill Moses.

Me: Okay, kids, let's wrangle this in ... King Herod tried to kill the baby Jesus. Pharoah was the "King of Egypt" and tried to kill Moses. Pants, what did Moses say to Pharoah?

Pants: Let my people go!

Me: Good job! King Herod was the guy who sent the Magi to spy for him, but they realized Jesus was the Christ Child and "went home by another way"... Anyone? Anyone?

Bumpa: Oh, yeah, so I missed it by 32 years.

Me: 32 years? Dad, what about Joshua, Judges, Ruth... King David, King Solomon... could have been a few more than 32 years.

Bumpa: Yeah you're right... could've been.

Pants' head just ping ponged back and forth as we discussed.

Advent - Days 12-14

Day 12
Today's verse was John 1:10-18 too good not to publish in it's entirety from the NIV translation:

"He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

The Advent calendar said we were to get our tree tonight, but SN II had tickets to Disney on Ice! So, Pants, Bumpa, SNII and I went to see Disney on Ice - the Princesses. It was a very sweet evening, the skating was great and the stories were all so cute. Jasmine, Mulan (Pants' favorite part: Mu Shu!!), Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and the Little Mermaid took up the first half. Bless his heart, Bumpa kept asking, "Which one is this?" It was fun talking to Pants on my left and Bumpa on my right. The second half was the Cinderella story which was beautifully told on skates. It was a late night, but well worth it. Thanks SN II for making our fun night possible!

Day 13
Our reading today was Mark 1:1-11

Pants really lucked out today and was picked up from school early to go Christmas Tree shopping. She and her daddy brought home a beautiful tree who is temporarily named, "Tree-Tree." I'm thinking that name will stick. I'm not sure when the tradition of naming our trees started, but it has stuck.

We went on to make da lefse and krumkake. It's was a great afternoon and Pants is an amazing lefse flipper. She caught on so quickly and was a great helper in the kitchen. There were Christmas songs on the radio, lots of banter in the kitchen, friends stopping over, and plenty of "Christmas Cheer" *wink*wink*

The day ended with a pizza dinner and rehearsal for Pants' Christmas program at church on Sunday. Put 100+ pre-K through 5th grade on a stage and watch the show. I saw impromptu sword fights, kids turned completely around, kids bobbing and weaving as they sang, girls braiding hair, kids copying the conductor, and of course the usual nose picker and dress lifter -got to have at least one of those in every program ... it was hilarious, but expected, of a rehearsal. They got quite the talking to at the end and we went home exhausted.

Day 14
St. Lucia Day! A Swedish tradition to be sure, but we had some real fun this morning. Pants woke up and was able to open a present or two. She received a St. Lucia gown that her Alpha Grandma (aka Memaw) had sewn, a pretty red sash for it and a crown of candles for her head. The best part was Felicity received a St. Lucia outfit as well!

Pants, Bumpa, and I got dressed, piled in the car and headed out to our friend's St. Lucia Breakfast party ... a full on Swedish smorgasbord. Herring, potato sausage, risgrot (Pants found the almond in her serving and received a beautiful poinsettia plant, bar of chocolate and pretty little Lucia ornament as her prize!), cookies, lefse, julekake, the works! Our friends, Shelly, and her family have been hosting this party for upwards of 20 years - it was wonderful and a great new tradition. Pictures soon!

We came home, relaxed and spent the early afternoon decorating the tree. I forget how fun that is to pull out each ornament and tell the story. Where we got it. Why we got it. Why we love it. A memory that goes with each one. It's something I continually forget about until the time we decorate the tree. This year I made a batch of cookies while Pants decorated. She came running into the kitchen with each ornament and a "Mom! Look at this one!" or "Mom! It's your FAVORITE!" or "Mom! It's our ornament from Lutsen!" Her joy and excitement was enough to bring me to tears more than once. Christmas through a childs eyes... is there anything better? I took some snaps of particularly sentimental, fun, or important ornaments. Would love to hear from you what your favorite ornaments are?

I tried to post the slideshows as before, but must be having an ID 10 T problem. Here is a link.

Advent - Days 9 - 11

Day 9
Again, an evening meeting for me precluded some big activity, so I kept it simple for us. We read Luke 1:11-25 and discussed, "If you were suddenly unable to speak like Zacharias, how would you let people know what you wanted? How would you tell people how you feel or that you love them?" It was fun to hear Pants' answers ranging from "sign language" to "look at my face"

We cuddled up on the couch and watched Rudolph and the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Day 10
Our reading today continued with Luke 1: 26-28 We talked over breakfast about "What is your favorite Christmas carol and why?" Jingle Bells was her answer. She's playing it on her violin so I'm not surprised. We have been listening to Christmas music since Thanksgiving. I love hearing her sweet voice as she belts out the carols in the car.

Charlie Brown Christmas was on this night as was the new show, Prep and Landing. Another low-key night on the couch.

Day 11
This mornings reading was John 1:1-9

And... Bumpa came today! These were the questions: "What does our family do to prepare for special guests? If you knew that Jesus was one of our guests would we do anything differently? Would we do more or less? How could we prepare for unexpected guests?"

And with the Jedi Lefse Master's arrival... let the lefse-bake commence! If you are in town, the flour will be flying on Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. We'll have lefse, herring, adult beverages, krumkake, julekake... the works. Would love to see you.

Oh, and stay tuned for Saturday... it will be a good one!

Advent - Days 5 through 8

These days went a little faster than I hoped. If intent is rewarded then I'm a super star. I might have planned a little more than we can squeeze in. Especially with school, violin, and hockey not to mention my social activities.

Day 5
I had an all day meeting this day - left the house at 7:45AM and returned in the wee hours of the next morning, so our Advent activity was abbreviated this morning. We discussed the question, "If you could be any character in a play about the Nativity, who would you be and why?" Sweet girl answered "Mary, because she is so pretty."

Bible verses for the day were Galatians 4:4-5 & Ephesians 1:9-12

Day 6
Given my stellar performance the night before, today's activities were also abbreviated. We read Numbers 24:17, 19; Revelation 22:16; and 2 Peter 1:19


I had planned to do something I remember being so fun. In the second grade, Mrs. Owen toook us on a Christmas Around the World tour. We did all the Christmas activites from all over the world. We have so many great Christmas traditions from Scandinavia and you'd think that one would have stuck, but no. I loved Holland! Holland of all things. So I intended to share that with Annie with this printed on our Advent Chain:

St. Nicholas' Day. The name Santa Claus comes from the name Sinterklass.
On the morning of St. Nicholas' Day, Sinterklaas travels to Amsterdam in a boat. When Sinterklaas comes ashore from the boat, all of the local church bells ring in celebration. Sinterklaas then leads a procession through Amsterdam, riding a white horse, to meet the Queen of Amsterdam in the Palace.

On December 5th children leave clogs or shoes out to be filled with presents. They also leave some hay and carrots in their shoes for Sinterklaas's horse.

Tonight, leave out shoes and a treat for Sinterklaas and his horse.

Well... I didn't get to it. There's a very good reason - I was invited to speak as a panelist on a local Friday evening, live, television show as part of their political panel. Another blog for another time, but it was a great experience and they've even invited me back!

Day 7
Bible readings today were Malachi 3:1 and Luke 1:67-79 and our activity was supposed to be Breakfast at Tavern on Grand with Santa this morning! Again... intent.

Tavern on Grand is a local place on St. Paul's Grand Avenue and they have the best walleye ever. Just ask my mom! We used to live across the alley from them which made it very easy to spend lots of time there. As part of the Grand Meander, we go to the Tavern and are treated to a free pancake breakfast with Santa! We've been going since small fry was just 1 year old. We missed one year because I thought it was Sunday not Saturday and we missed this year because... well, because I had been out too late too many nights in a row. It was disappointing and Pants did mention it later that we didn't do our "usual" breakfast with Santa. Lesson learned and opportunity missed.

Day 8
Today brought a little redemption. After church we attended breakfast at the University Club with Santa. This is where Pants noted that it wasn't our usual Santa breakfast... true, but we are making some new memories, right?

We lunched with SN who was fabulous as always! So fun to keep her as part of the family. We took some fun group pictures, ate an amazing lunch and Pants got to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas (a Swim To Me Puppy... anyone? anyone?). Buddy the Elf gave her a candy cane, which was hilarious given we watched Elf last weekend. Noting his name was "Buddy," Pants looked up at me and said, "Watch out for the yellow ones, they don't stop." Quoting movies! I love her! She also got to decorate her own gingerbread baby.

At dinner, we lit the Bethlehem Candle!
This is the first day of our second week of Advent! This week, we will be lighting the Bethlehem Candle. First light the Prophecy Candle, then the Bethlehem Candle.

The Bethlehem Candle represents the preparations made for the coming Christ child. Bethlehem is an appropriate place to signify preparation because, even though no room was available for Mary and Joseph when they came, God had orchestrated events so that Caesar Augustus called for a census to be taken. Joseph and Mary had to leave Nazareth so that they could register in Bethlehem and the Scriptures below were fulfilled!

One of the key characters associated with this week in Advent is John the Baptist because he prepares the way for Jesus! He takes us from the prophecies of old and into the time of Jesus. This week, we are one step closer, as God's hand moves in history to bring His Son to us...and us to Him!

We also discussed this question: if you could make up a new Advent or Christmas tradition for your family to start, what would it be? We didn't come up with anything definitive, but had a great conversation.

Big stuff next week - Bumpa comes to town for the Annual Lefse Bake.

Advent - Day 4

Day 4:
Today we did a couple of fun things. It was an early release day from school, so I picked up Pants at 1:30 and we came home to decorate a Gingerbread house!

Gingerbread baby guarding the entrance of His house. This guy has a mustache.

Just a quick note about these pre-packaged Gingerbread Houses... the frosting comes in a big bag. Best make a trip to the craft store for these handy frosting tubes. Ready made, and ready to go. They saved the project, even if they are Martha Stewart... I justified this by looking at the label; it's actually a Wilton product, the cake experts who have licensed Martha to sell more frosting. I know, she still gets the cash. I'll buy a second Going Rogue book to offset this little slip.

The second part of our project entailed gluing our Advent activity slips into a chain. I put the Advent verses and activity lengthwise on a 1/3 of an 8 1/2 x 11" piece of paper and rolled them up into the Advent calendar cubbies. Then each day after we read the verses and do the activity, Pants gets to glue them onto a big chain! Overkill? Maybe, but it's fun to do.

The finished product... and a very hungry little girl looking for a snack.

Verse for today: Daniel 9:24-27. Really obscure, talking about 'sevens' but when I asked Pants what she thought of that verse she said, "Good stuff. Good stuff. Everything will will be good after the prophesy... the Word, Jesus." Um, wow! I'll go with it. This is some more commentary I found on this prophesy. I found it really interesting especially the historical part.

This passage is so important to our Advent journey because it details an exact timeline of events that prove Jesus is the Messiah! Daniel 9:24-27 outlines what is known as the prophecy of sixty-nine weeks. (Or seventy-weeks, because it is sixty-nine and 1 weeks.)

Prior to these verses, Daniel is praying for the sins of Jerusalem to be forgiven. Daniel was among the many Jews who had been taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians after they conquered Judah. As he is confessing and pleading with God, the angel Gabriel appears to him with the vision of the sixty-nine weeks.

There are over 300 Messianic prophecies about Christ that have either been fulfilled or are yet to be fulfilled. Daniel's prophecy about the sixty-nine week timeline for Jesus' coming, however, has been the most scrutinzed and studied. Sir Isaac Newton and other great thinkers are among those who attempted to decipher this timeline. In 1894, a British evangelical--and Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard!--named Sir Robert Anderson published a work called The Coming Prince which contains his conclusion about the dates and events that occur in Daniel 9. This groundbreaking work paved the way for many of the prophecy chronologies that exist today. Sir Robert Anderson's view is still accepted by many.

In short: The decree of Daniel 9:25 took place on March 4 of 444 B.C. when Nehemiah was ordered to rebuild Jerusalem. The 69 weeks of 7 years equals 483 years (173,880 days using the common prophetic calendar in which a month is always 30 days and a year equals 360 days).

This leads to March 29, A.D. 33, the date of the Triumphal Entry when Jesus comes into Jerusalem and allows Himself to be crucified. This is checked by noting that 444 B.C. to A.D. 33 is 476 years (Remember, there is no year "0"). 476 x 365.24219 days per year = 173,855 days. (Here we use our calendar to see if the dates in our time confirm the events as they happened on the Biblical prophetic calendar!) Count in the extra 25 days between March 4 and March 29 of the two dates and it EQUALS 173,880 days!!

Even in the calculation of these unquestionable dates, I am humbled by the fact that our Lord's life is not confirmed by the date of his birth, but by the date of that for which he was born: to die "but not for Himself".For a thorough reading on the prophecy of Daniel, please read Daniel's Prophecy of the 70 Weeks This contains Sir Robert Anderson's chronology.Daniel's Seventy Weeks Current thoughts on the prophecy of Daniel like that of Josh McDowell.Daniel's Prophecy (Studies in the Word)

Advent - The first days

Day 1:

Annie made the best craft this morning in Cornerstone, her SSunday school program: The Good Manger. It was a "nest" looking manger with a swaddled baby Jesus.

"As Advent begins, the manger is cold and empty... no straw for baby Jesus. Each day of Advent, as Pants begins to prepare her heart for the coming of the Christ child, she should be thinking of kindness toward others. then with each "good dded" done, each "good attitude" shown and each "good thought" said to someone else, she places one piece of straw in the manger. In this way we honor the coming Christ child by living as He taught us. On Christmas day, we'll place the swaddled baby Jesus in the manger filled with straw.

As Christmas approaches, our hearts become more and more ready to accept the Christ child. so, too, the manger will grow soft and warm with straw to be ready for the swaddled baby Jesus."

At dinner, as we lit the Prophesy candle, we shared some verses and talked about what the word "prophesy" meant:

Psalm 62:5-6

Isaiah 26:3

Isaiah 40:31

Day Two:

We talked about our favorite Christmas smell (Gingerbread) and our favorite Christmas sound (jingle bells) and then got out Handel's Messiah and had a bit of a sing along. Pants added some straw to her manger and we read these verses:

Isaiah 11:1-2

Jeremiah 23:5-6

Day 3:

This day we hung a ribbon sash for Christmas cards. We received our first card from my dad, surprisingly enough. Usually it's the Moss' - sorry Annie, dad beat you to it. (Or maybe you don't have my new address??) At any rate, verses for this day are:

Isaiah 42: 1, 5-6

Isaiah 60:1-3, 19-22

Stay tuned... 22 more days to come.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Put up some Christmas lights today. First time I've done this. Was a good way to kick off the holidays.

The advent calendars are up, the advent candles are ready to be lit. I am very excited to begin our advent journey tomorrow. It's going to be a new tradition
for our family and I hope to blog about it.

Run Up to Thanksgiving

I was told last night that my blog was boring (yeah, thanks SN). I suppose that means I need to update more. So here goes... running commentary on Thanksgiving prep:

11:05AM
Thanksgiving is always a big deal at the Beach House. We usually host, we have a big pre-planned meal including some stand-bys but always something new.

This year the new is a different turkey and some sausage stuffing and shiitake mushroom stuffing courtesy of Martha Stewart's November 2009 issue. Since my girl Martha dissed my BEST girl Sarah, calling her "boring" and "dangergous", this will be my last Martha Stewart Thanksgiving recipe. I have my political standards to uphold - even in the kitchen.

At any rate, I think it's an either/or kind of stuffing - either mushroom OR sausage, but I can't tell for sure, so what the hell - I'm going to make it a shiitake mushroom AND sausage stuffing. So far the base looks a little mushy and watery - I think I may have decimated the onions in my new Cuisinart Custom 14 (TM) 14-Cup Food Processor compliments of my dad. (For those of you who may not know this, my dad's love language is small appliances... another blog post for sure.) Back to the stuffing... stay tuned, it's going in the fridge watery and as-is. Will update on the success or failure tomorrow.

1:45PM

Onto the PIES! I can make these in advance. I have thrown over the traditional Drunken Punkin', which true to it's name has 4 or 5 different flavors of booze in it, in favor of the Cook's Illustrated version from last year's Oct/Nov issue. (I know it's not quite 2pm, but is it too early for a drink? It's much nicer to cook when one has an adult beverage in one's hand.) Okay, on to the pumpkin pie.

3:00PM

The pie crust that needed to be pre-cooked has shrunk to tart size! Looks like a mini-pie in there!! So I have enough pie filling for two pumpkin pies... the dilemma now: do I make an apple blackberry pie or do I just go with a mini and a regular pumpkin? If I do the apple blackberry, I'll need to make a homemade pate brisee for the top crust. Oh what would Mar... I mean Sarah do?? Okay, will over-achieve and go for the 3 pies. Lesson learned. Now I juggle the timing so that I can pick up Pants while the pies bake... Seriously? Has this taken me all day? Really??

11:45PM

Yes, really, I pulled the apple-blackberry pie out of the oven at midnight... it looks amazing and I'm glad I put in the effort to make it. It was a last minute decision as Pants and I went to a friend's house who was tending her 6-month old grandson. He's adorable and Pants has decided we should have a little brother. I'm all in... talk to daddy about that one. (Maybe? Just maybe...?)

My friend also gave me a couple of pie crusts - her grandmother's recipe- that she "just happened to have in the freezer"! Good grief! Saved my pie! I'm thankful for the generous spirit of women when it comes to kitchen staples.

Pants and I attended church for the Thanksgiving eve service and were blessed to sit in front of our old neighbors, the Olson's. I am so thankful for friends, old and new. They touched my evening in a way that is simply too big for words with a simple hug and kind words. I needed it. I was starting to feel a little disconnected - they grounded me and church, as always, makes me grateful for my little life.

Okay, the pie. We came home and put the pie together not realizing it had to freeze for 30 minutes and bake for 1hr and 45 minutes. When will I learn to not only READ the recipes, but to process them in my little brain. So. Midnight. Here it is - before and after and the magazine picture:

I was also told to take some pictures of my table. One of the more fancy Thanksgiving tables I've put together. Okay, I'm exhausted and have a big day of cooking and eating and drinking tomorrow (not necessarily in that order.)

Fall Fun

Miss Pants and I made some caramel apples this morning:

Bumpa came to visit...

Bumpa came to visit this weekend. We made a trip to the apple orchard, and stopped in to see my 90-something year old grandmother. Here are a few snaps of our weekend:

Mommy needs one too!

So guess what arrives in the mail for me? My very own American Girl Doll! And "Kirsten" no less. I had heard she was going to be retired this holiday season and considered purchasing her. But ... I didn't need one.

My mom is notorious for this kind of thing :) In a good way! I should have seen it coming, but I didn't so when this box arrived, I just had to have a little cry over it. Thoughtful, generous, and ... and... and... So, thanks mom.

SN I came over the other night to see Miss Pants and brought Samantha with her. We couldn't resist a picture of the three of us and our "Girls" ... I love this picture. SN I has to be one of the most thoughtful people I know as well. She bought Pants a book for her birthday about what it was like to be a child in Williamsburg. So now Pants has an even greater sense of Felicity and her life. Thoughtful and sweet and Pants is pretty much attached to all things Felicity and SN I.

The photos are a little cloudy because we were also taking the fog machine for a test drive. You'll have to wait until Halloween for the rest of those pictures. Here's Annie, though, standing in our front porch with the pumpkin lights behind her, deep in the fog:

Seven is the Magic Number

Miss Pants turned 7 today. I have a 7-year old. She's lovely, funny, and coming into her own. I read somewhere that this would be "the loveable sevens" and true enough... I'm more in love than ever.

At breakfast, she opened up a few family presents: a gorgeous coat from Memaw, Pollyanna the movie from Papa and a balloon launcher from daddy. She went off to school this morning with pencils and erasers for her class to hand out at snack time.

We celebrated after school with a trip to Bonfire, her favorite restaurant on Grand Avenue. She gets to make her own pizza and make her own ice cream sundae at this restaurant -supervised by the wait-staff, not a parent- so it's no surprise that it's her favorite. She opened up the remainder of presents there: a watch that helps tell time... Pinkalicious, a lovely little book... and the coup de grace: Felicity the American Girl doll. Felicity has been a favorite at the Beach House for a year. She lived in Colonial Williamsburg and Miss Pants relates to the Patriot in her. It's beyond cute.

So she opens the doll and is excited. Then she actually gets her hands on this lovely thing and FALLS IN LOVE... I mean, she is SMITTEN with this doll. I have to say they are wonderfully made and have a wonderful heft to them that inspires snuggling. And snuggle she did. She had to show her off to a couple of tables near to us and then proceeded to tell her daddy all about Felicity.

And I'm crying the entire time. My little creature that is my daughter is moving me to my core. She is gracious, grateful, polite, and loves the gift I bought her. Is there any better feeling than knowing that you made your child happy? Truly happy. Somewhere in between bites of her sundae, she looks at me and delivers the most heartfelt "Thanks, mom." I have ever heard. More waterworks. All I could do was watch her...

I overheard her telling her Bumpa about her doll and he said to me "I can tell by the tone of her voice she is smitten." He's such a "girl's dad" kind of guy. He'll be here Thursday and we are really exited to see him.

As of this moment, we are cuddled up on the sofa watching the Twins/Yankees game with popcorn and she is talking to Felicity as if she is her sister/daughter/friend. Felicity is all pj'd up like Miss Pants with her hair already out of the ponytail. The Type-A in me keeps repeating "she's meant to be played with...she's meant to be played with... she's meant to be played with..." It's amazing what this doll has brought out in my sweet girl. Delightful... simply delightful.

Tomorrow is the outdoor friends party at Afton Alps... forecast is for snow and low 40's. Will post more after the party.

First Grade

I have to start this with last night's humor. We've done Pants' room over the weekend (photos to follow). We have transformed the Tinkerbell green room of the other house into something more big-girl rather than baby girl. In doing so we have disappeared some Tinkerbell accessories. Here's last night's lament:

Pants: Mom. I miss my Tinkerbell 'what-time-it-is-inator'. (?!?)
Mom: You mean your Tinkerbell clock??
Pants: Yeah.

Good thing school started this morning. Seriously. What time it is-inator?? As we were reading our book last night a paragraph came up about the main character looking at his alarm clock. I substituted "what time it is-inator" for "clock" and got the funniest look from her. A bit sheepish and totally funny.


Little Miss Pants is back this year for her first grade year at Liberal Lakes Elementary. I cried again this year after dropping her off. She just looks so small to be left alone in that classroom. Her teacher is so sweet, softspoken and Pants missed the first few words she said as she was so busy getting to her desk (she has a desk!). It was all I could do to not sneak back into school after I left to peek at how she's doing.

I didn't go overboard this year with the pictures like last year. In retrospect I should have. Here's Miss Pants in our front yard. She picked out her outfit the night before (thanks Memaw for the new plaid skirt! Super cute with the Little Miss Sunshine shirt!)


(I love this picture and am thrilled I remembered to take it). And of course the love on her hand in case she misses me during the day. I'm sporting a matching heart on my hand to remind me of her in case I miss her. I think I'm in need of the reminder more than she at this point.

Little mommy-daughter bonding before heading for school.

Great Minnesota Get-Together

My birthday was spent at the Great Minnesota Get-Together, otherwise known as the State Fair. It's become a bit of a tradition to do birthday breakfast at the Fair. Fresh hot mini-donuts (although we had to find another donut booth this year once it was revealed that all the proceeds from our usual booth went to support candidates shall we say on the other side of the fence); coffee, coffee and more coffee, cheese curds, Pronto pups, and maybe a beer or two. Just 'cuz it's my birthday and all.
We have gone to the State Fair almost every year since bringing Pants home. I had never been in my years prior living in Minnesota, but once you have a child, apparently it's inevitable. Aside from the birthday breakfast tradition, others have emerged. For example: taking Pants' picture at the corn-cob statute to mark's her growth over the years. Some moms have baby books, I have pictures that mark height by corn kernels.







2005 - Almost 3 years old. 5 kernels high counting the antlers on her John Deere Visor.














2007 - Almost 5 years old. 7-kernels high.





She'll appreciate this in the future, right?








2009 - Almost 7 years old. 9 kernels high with her 'fro. Oh and let's talk about the 'fro or Fair Hair as it's called. They said it took a little shampoo and conditioner to get it out. Flat out lied to me. Two days, two hours and two buckets of tears later her hair is back to "normal".


More pictures of the fair:

Camp Memaw

A rather long blog if you want to see all the pictures. There's video too! Ooooooh!

On Thursday, Pants made her annual pilgrimage to Camp Memaw. By herself. I cried this year, too. She wore a green shirt because, "It's Memaw's favorite color." All together now: "Awwww...."

As we started through security, the TSA Agent said that due to her cast she was required to have a little extra "wanding". I thought "okay, of course, let's hassle the kid with the cast" but was resigned to making it O.K. The wanding was actually a swab of her cast with the explosives pad then fed the pad through the machine. It lit up RED!! and BLINKING!! "That's interesting," I said. TSA assured me that it could be "just about anything" that set it off. I'm not sure if that's any assurance or not. If it's "anything" then how accurate is it for detecting what it's supposed to detect. Just sayin'.

The kind TSA agend explained to me that she would have to be frisked, patted down, and wanded. She was really nice about explaining it to me and to Pants, but the sight of her with her feet so wide apart to match the feet-prints on the mat was too much. Several business travellers behind me witnessed this display and were thoroughly (and rightfully in my opinion) offended by the sight. One guy asked, "Who do I write to about this!?" It is odd to see a 6 year old being patted down. She took it in stride, as she does much everything, and we carried on. Here she is at gate E5 after a grueling trip through security.

I joined in on Sunday afternoon so as not to miss my turn at Camp Memaw. We've been hanging with my sister and her two kiddos Lil Red and Tutus and it's been a blast. Reminds me of how quiet my life is.

I made the comment the other day that despite the fact that we are in Denver, Colorado, we rarely avail ourselves of all there is to do here - true confessions: we mostly just hang out, eat and drink. A good time is had by all.

This trip, in an effort to remedy this, we decided to "do something" and that something was the Denver Botanic Gardens. If you are ever in Denver you MUST visit. It's amazing!! They had this dinosaur exhibit which kept Pants and Lil Red busy searching throughout the Gardens for dinosaurs. We found them all!!

This is my first try at linking the Picasa album. I'll comment more on the pictures, but suffice it to say that every time we came upon a body of water, Memaw, Sister, and I were placing bets on whether or not Lil Red would be in the drink. Surprisingly he stayed dry!

Sister is presently teaching our children how to slide down the basement stairs in a sleeping bag into pile of pillows. I'm so proud... we used to do this at our home growing up; the legacy lives on. Any bets on if/when we end up at the Urgent Care just up the road from Camp Memaw?

Crap. Did I really film these sideways??? Sorry. You get the point.

Okay, it's 8pm and my sister just yelled at me that our children haven't eaten dinner because I'm blogging. Got to go.

Southpaw

As if we didn't have enough health-related excitement this year, Pants broke her arm on National Night Out after a beautifully failed dismount off the monkey bars. So that makes the trifecta, the hat-trick...
-Stiches? Check
-Hospital stay? Check
-Broken bones? Check

I'm going to put her in a bubble.

But she's taking it like a champ. It hurt, clearly, but after a few days in the splint, she is in a pretty sky-blue cast -waterproof I might add- and much happier. She even went to her last week of Farm Camp. So, we should have it off in time for school, but unfortunately not in time for her annual "by myself" trip to Memaw,s house.

Her Farm Camp days have also come to an end. This was bitter sweet for the both of us. For the past three summers Pants has kicked it at Children's Country Day School. A lovely little hobby farm / preschool overlooking the Mississippi. They have ponies (Ginger, May and April) , llamas (Leo and ... oh, I forget the llama mama's name), chickens, ducks, reptiles (Fluffy, her classroom corn snake) and rodentia (Orville & Wilbur the guinea pigs of last year's classroom), not to mention a swimming pool, butterfly garden and vegetable garden. With a full time nature teacher, Pants came home with loads of fun facts and a green thumb. I'm going to have to put in a garden next spring. Dad? Help!

So it's officially the dog-days of summer. No camp. No plans. Vacation to Memaw's isn't for another 10 days. Busted paw. Weather is already cooling off and we are officially at a loss for things to do. Anyone?

Edinburgh Gang

It all started on a study abroad program. Anna, Ian, Cindy, Sharon, Jim and I became very good friends. Ian joked last weekend that we got together once in a while to elect new (or impeach old) officers. There are so many stories that accompany these pictures, but they are best left out of a family blog. We know the stories, recite them often and laugh until our sides hurt.

This is one of our first group pictures from Scotland. The Mylne's Court Ball. From left to right (and gang, help me fill in the blanks): Anna, Ian, Cindy, me, my Belgian roommate (oh and Jim crushed on her the entire year) Alexa , Sharon, Penny, Oooh what is his name, Anna, her English roommate Charlotte, Eeek another name I've forgotten, and Jim sporting a fabulous kilt. Walleye boxer shorts underneath :)

Cindy and Ian fell instantly in love on the trip to Scotland so it was no surprise that they were the first to get married. We all met in Newport, RI over the Thanksgiving weekend 1997 for their wedding. Anna, Jim, Sharon, Paul, Cindy, Ian and me out by the bridge. It was egg salad sandwiches in a bar for Thanksgiving dinner and plenty of food and beverages courtesy of Ian's parents for the UT / Texas A & M game the next day. A fun party before the wedding at the Red Parrot in Newport and the obligatory trip to IHOP on the way back to the hotel. It was a beautiful wedding although I think I'm still apologizing to Cindy's mom. The quotes and ribbing that still occur from events of this wedding weekend are epic.

And 11 years, 2 babies, 2 dogs later, these two kids are more in love than ever. It was inspiring to see them this weekend for Sharon's wedding; I even got to meet the kiddos - B and B - who are beautiful, smart, and engaging just like their parents.

I was married next several years later. Cindy, Sharon & Jim managed to make it to Sonoma, California for the event. Ian was somewhere in the Carribean on assignment. Anna was... Sharon commented several times how kind it was of me to wait the wedding a few minutes (!) until they showed up. They got lost. I assume because Jim was navigating. :) I want to know why everyone here has a drink but the bride??

Next was Anna who married her high school sweetheart, Jeff, in Minneapolis on a very snowy December night. The gang camped at the Beach House for the weekend. It was such a beautiful ceremony and reception. I think because of the weather we managed to behave ourselves this night. You'll have to ask Cindy about her first night in camp, however.

Jim was married next in Medford, Oregon to Colette - a gorgeous and talented woman whom we all liked very much. We were seated at the notorious Table #9... now a legend among wedding seating charts. Sharon was unable to attend and was sorely missed. I needed my wingman on this trip but something about Harvard... Masters Degree ... blah blah blah.

The wedding after-party is the stuff of legends and I was grateful to Ian for chaperoning. "Pretty girl, fist-full of one's... I'm pretty sure I know what's going on here." (Um... I was probably elected Treasurer on this trip.)

And as much as I'd love to post my photos from Sharon's wedding to the lovely Tom Castonguay, my husband deleted all of my Newport pictures from the camera disk. (Maybe there will be an opportunity for another wedding after all!) Thanks to Anna for coming through. Here we are!

We missed Jim & Colette desperately, but still managed to have one of our usual laugh-until-we-hurt weekends together. New officers were elected. I believe I was impeached... something about the Appalachian Trail. Sharon was calm, beautiful, extremely elegant and, in true form, threatened to give Ian the finger in church. It was a touching moment - one I'm sure he will cherish always.

It all starts with a "wiggly tooth" ... the next thing you know, one Sunday night, mom is flossing and snags it. Eeek! Many apologies abound but lo and behold that pesky super wiggly top tooth is now missing! How exciting! Why does the missing front teeth make kids look so much older?

We pack up the tooth in the Tooth Fairy Pillow and the Tooth Fairy leaves a dollar coin in her pillow. Lucky girl.

Then she wakes up the Monday morning and loses the OTHER front tooth. Now she really looks like a big girl. She was a little worried that the other kids would tease her, but we talked about how she is one of the older kids in her class. They look to her for how they should feel. Is it exciting? Tell them! Is it also a little scary? Tell them that too... She was so happy to show her class her new smile.

Okay, now it's getting a little out of hand! Today, she lost two more bottom teeth! Super exciting, except I think the tooth-fairy is running low on dollar coins... she may have to ask a neighbor tonight or depending on how long her cocktail hour goes this glorious summer Friday evening, hang it, she may just slip a Fiver in the pillow and call it a night. So, I give you - Pants' new smile:

I want to drivel on here about why do they grow up so fast? When did we become grownups? What's with my baby cousin already graduating from high school? What's with the kids I babysat for getting married & already having children of their own? But I'll spare you that....

Instead I'll dwell on how sweet this time with Pants is. How I LOVE to hear her read to me with that sweet innocent little lisp of having no front teeth ... I can't wait to hear how it sounds tonight. It's so cute to hear her read anyway- she is SO excited about all of it. She reads really loudly and with VIGOR, making sure to hit all the questions with an up-lilt to her voice and sentences with exclaimation points are read "excitedly!" She smells like bubble bath and hair conditioner, her long legs are cozied against mine and her head is tucked into my shoulder as we cuddle on her bed to read. It's my most favorite time of the night. I can't help but feel sometimes like I did when she was 18 months old and I would rock her and feed her a bottle and wonder, "Is this the last time she's going to want her bottle and rock with me?" My step-sister pointed out that for those of us with just one child, it's both the FIRST (exciting) and LAST (bittersweet) time we'll experience these milestones.

SN I and SN II doing the jump rope thing.

I just had to post this video and hope that my Super Nanny Sisters aren't too upset. It's the cutest thing. They came over for dinner and then, since Pants was SO excited to jump rope, we all went outside and gave it a go.

Donuts

We are visiting Memaw & Papa in Colorado this weekend. Sister and BIL are in town with their darling two kiddos. IM is nearly 4 and TuTu is nearly 2 and Pants is in heaven!!

Saturday morning tradition for the kiddos is to wake up and go get donuts with Papa in the jeep. IM's favorite donut is a "laser" donut. Translation: Glazed donut. So, here's how the conversation went down in the garage.

IM to Pants: What kind of donut are you going to have?

Pants: I dunno.

IM: I'm getting a lazer donut!

Pants at this point looks at me and shrugs. I explain, "It's a glazed donut, honey."

Pants promptly looks at her younger cousin and says in that bossy big sister tone of voice: "Guh- Guh- Guh- Glazer donut, not lazer.

So they have returned with the glazer/lazer donuts, my coffee is still hot and I'm not sure why I'm still blogging when there is a maple bar calling my name.

Beach House 4.0

I love the city. I love the city. I love the city.

Here she is. The new Beach House. A cute little "Craftsman Bungalow" in the Como Park neighborhood. It's just two miles away from Pants' Liberal Lakes Elementary to the West and a regional Park replete with Zoo to the East.

The search for a new Beach House has been a challenge and a good one at that. Due to my appointment, I have to live in the district I represent. That means older homes in the city with lots of, shall we say, "character." Our overriding criteria were as follows:

• No laundry dungeon. I refuse to do laundry in a damp limestone basement that hasn't seen the light of day since the 1920's any longer. I just won't do it. So, gorgeous laundry room? Check.
• Dishwasher. Seriously. For you suburbanites, it's a given. For the urban set with older homes it's a selling point. Apparently the previous owners recently installed a "mini dishwasher." It's cute. Check.
• Central Air. Muggy summers here and mom refuses to visit if we don't have central air (Wait... Boon? or Bane?) At any rate, central air conditioning? Check.
• A bathroom on each floor. And if one more realtor showed me a commode in the middle of an unfinished basement counting it as a bathroom, I was going to lose my mind. So, 3 baths? Check.
• Last but not least a 2-car heated insulated garage. No more cold starts for my sweet little car. She will live in luxury and start reliably when it's 20-below zero.

I'll post more pictures when we have them. We close sometime in late June.

I'm no Martha...

I aspire to be a Mary. Not a Martha.

Some of you know I have taken a 3-month hiatus from my day job to "volunteer more at home". So far so good. I wish I had talked more to you at home mom's before embarking on this adventure. I'm no less busy! What the hell?? Just when I get Pants up and dressed, hair combed, teeth brushed, violin practiced we are still dashing out the door to get to school on time. (True confessions, my first day of drop off required a trip to the Principal's office for a note we were that late. Uff.)

Then I dash off to the Y for a class or a run.

Meet a friend for lunch.

Shower somewhere in there.

Run an errand like drycleaning, grocery store, Target, or some other necessary trip.

Holy crap!! It's 3:30 and I have to pick up Pants in 2 minutes!!! Where did my day go? (And no, the lunch with a friend did not include alcohol!)

Which brings me to this nifty little project. Pants has a Spring Festival at her school Friday. I signed up for the Bake Sale donation part. I get a note that says, "Bring them in single servings so that people can buy them at the Fair and eat on the go." Oh ho ho! I have the perfect thing!! And since I'm not working full time anymore...

Cupcake Pops!

I found a lovely little blog courtesy of Budder my gorgeous friend who was blessed with talent, grace, Faith, interior design savvy, and superior culinary skills. She is the home ec yin to my yang. And she introduced me to Bakerella.

In my previous life, I would have baked a loaf of something, or chocolate chip cookies, or run to the bakery and bought something yummy. But somehow, with my new "volunteer" position at home, I feel compelled to do something a little more special. (Oh they're special alright!) How hard could it be to make a few dozen of these little cuties by Friday?

Weeeellllll..... 3 hours and two ahem F*words later, here they are...

... all three of them. Crap it's going to be a long night getting a couple dozen of these puppies going. Will post with the final product Friday if I don't throw them on the floor and jump on them out of frustration. (Kidding! That one was for you, Karna.)

Stay tuned... I may even let Pants help me decorate a few of them!