Eating on the deck (and the funny face)

Tonight the kiddos were out in the field picking buckets of dandelions.

Nate grilled dinner. We ate on our fab new picnic table.

Then it started to rain and rumble.

Svea wasn't convinced that eating in a sunshower was fun. Big drops were coming down on us.

She was also a little scared of the thunder, so I told Viggo to protect her.

During dinner I also delivered some special mail to Viggo - a postcard from his Uncle Mark in Taiwan.

Svea wanted her picture taken with the postcard too . . . then she got a little goofy.

People tell me she looks just like me, you know.

Elin had to make a funny face too.

Then we had one piece of hail fall. Just one.

The girls thought it was worthy of a close inspection.

Then we really had to go inside. It was raining more and more.

Bonus picture of Nate grilling on Mother's Day. Yes, he is wearing socks with sandals. I love him.

Afternoon DIY

We recently bought a naked picnic table and it was a very frugal purchase for deck furniture.
But it was totally boring.

Nate sanded and stained that baby in no time flat.

I blinked, and it was beautiful. End of story.

SO PRETTY! We love it. Thanks, honey!

The Snake Story: or, how I saved central Minnesota from a snake infestation

So today I was on the phone chatting with my friend Kristin while the girls and I were outside in the backyard. Svea rolled a little wheelbarrow out to the garden to do some digging and all of the sudden I heard her scream, "SNAKE! MOMMY, GET IT!" I looked over at her and there it was. Part of me was praying she was making it up but I knew there was no way she was.

The snake must die.

There was a time when I thought picking up snakes in the wilderness was fun. I have no idea why this was; I must confess I was probably showing off for boys. However, I have had the sense to never pick up a snake around Nate, successfully fooling him into thinking I am completely inept at snake removal.

Now, I am hardly the person to be with when there's a critter problem. I would generally rate myself as less than helpful (completely useless?) in situations like this. I looked around: no other adults in sight. Shucks. I had no ideas or techniques on how to kill a snake. All I can say is, I was relieved I was wearing clogs.

I was still on the phone with Kristin, who was being extremely helpful. "You can do this. You can kill it. Don't worry; I've been on the phone with people when they've found snakes in their backyard before." She suggested I aim for the head, which happens to be my least favorite part of a snake.

I ran over to the shed and opened it up, hoping to find a useful weapon in there to kill the snake, like a Smith & Wesson, or at the very least, a sawed-off shotgun. However, Nate and I don't keep firearms, something that I am now reconsidering. What was in the shed were some gardening implements, like shovels, a hoe, a spade, and a dethatcher. I considered using the dethatcher but didn't want to clean up the potential mess. That left the spade.

When I came back to the garden where the snake had been, it was gone. Then I saw it by our neighbor's garden. It was sneaking around the perimeter of it. I chased it around the garden to the edge of it. At this point I wanted to just leave it and hope it would stay away. But if I didn't kill it, Svea would never set her big toe in the backyard again.

That's when Elin decided to wander over to me and see what the excitement was about. I had to remove her from the garden and she started crying, Svea was on the deck screaming and I was panicking. Morale was low. After a few more minutes of listening to Kristin's encouragement, I ran up to the snake and started randomly whacking the spade at it, screaming with each whack (that seemed to help) hoping at some point, to just kill it. After a few tries I decapitated it and then. I. ran. away.

I called Nate later to let him know what I had done.

"Hey honey, guess what?"

"What?"

"I killed a snake."

"What?" For some reason he seemed to think that I had to have been making this up.

I told Nate it was laying dead in our Swedish neighbor's garden. "Well," said Nate, "Why don't you pick it up with a rake and throw it in the trash so Aulf doesn't have to deal with it?"

"Are you kidding me? I think I almost had a heart attack killing that thing. I was sweating, my heart was beating so fast it was going to explode, and I think I at least suffered from a minor panic attack. No way am I picking it up. They have me to thank for killing the stupid thing. If I go back to pick it up, I am going to die."

So, that was that. A little present for the neighbors with love, from me to them.

Svea is 4!

Maisy. Svea had been requesting a Maisy cake ever since . . . probably about this time last year. She wanted Maisy on her cake bad. I must say that without my sister Maren's help, and her Wilton cake decorating expertise, I would have not been able to execute Maisy. Thanks, Maren!

First time EVER we've had this much family present for one of Svea's birthdays. It was so wonderful!!

Family and gifts. Cake and ice cream. Lots of fun. Simple, easy, birthday party.

We gave Svea some playsilks.

Everybody had fun with her new presents :)

Svea is such a fun girl.

We can't believe she's four. We love her so very very much. She is such a gift.

Happy birthday, Svea :) You are such a blessing to our family!

Easter 2011

Easter was extra meaningful this year . . . not only was it a time to remember God's ultimate sacrifice for each and every one of us, but Svea also celebrated her 4th birthday.

She was more than happy to share her special day with Jesus.

We started out with an early breakfast at The Cracker Barrel, her favorite restaurant.

Then we went to First Covenant for church, where the best organist in town was playing.

We happen to be related to him. Viggo was in AWE of Seth's talent.

Then some of the kids were gathered for a picture. They were mostly sort of sitting still.

Aww . . . there were some extremely cute children at church that morning.

Then we headed over to Aunt Connie and Uncle Fred's for some fun.

There were tractor rides.

And happy campers.

Everybody who wanted a ride with Uncle Fred got one!

Svea was very excited to ride, but she is holding her hand up to her ear because it was loud.

Now there's a perfect way to celebrate being 4!

Have I mentioned lately that I love the midwest?

I love the midwest.

Little cousins in their Easter dresses. :)

My cute husband and the birthday girl.

And then we had a lesson on fire safety.

AND the kiddos got to hang out in the pickup truck.

AND there were Big Wheels.

AND a gigantic, curving driveway to ride the Big Wheels on.

Heaven on earth.

Back at Meme and Bo's house for an egg hunt.

Plastic eggs were picked up very delicately by Elin.

And then we had a little birthday party for Svea . . . pictures to come soon :)