Mid-November photo round-up

Here's some pics of what we've been up to lately.

Elin colors. She likes to sit on the pad of paper while she draws to fully experience art.

Svea likes to wash the windows. She must be working on a stubborn spot in this photo because she is making quite the face.

Viggo reads to the girls.

So I was at the grocery store the other night and spotted this.

Grapefruits need to be demonstrated?

Really?

Last weekend we had a meal shower for our expectant friend Lisa.

It was so fun to use our kitchen with a group of friends!

Lisa (moose apron) brought home 13 meals to freeze! How nice to be able to pull those out once the baby is born and have delicious meals with virtually no prep.

Little did we know that 7 hours after the shower ended, Kristi (strawberry apron, front row) unexpectedly had her baby a month early. That took us all by surprise, and I have to admit, I'm a little bummed all the excitement didn't happen here at the house . . . :)

Viggo and I enjoy hot-cocoa-and-chess dates at Caribou Coffee.

He beat me last Sunday - twice.

Last Monday I got up early like I do every weekday morning. Got dressed. Dressed the girls, got Viggo ready for school, and we were all eating breakfast at 7:20 a.m. when at that moment Viggo chose to tell me, "Mom, I don't think we have school today."

"Are you kidding me?"

Nope.

We pulled out the calendar. Teacher's In-Serivce day. No School.

After I briefly mourned the sleeping-in that could have been, we had no alternate but to make some plans to fill the day with. So, we went to Scheels.

Svea loved looking at the fish (both the taxidermy and the live bait in the back of the store).

Viggo peruses the thousands of jigs and bait components and dreams of endless lure possibilities.

Svea's favorite part (other than the free fudge samples in the cafe) is going to see the kayaks.

And where else do you get to see a moose and wolves?

Last of all, Elin's new favorite thing to do is access the lazy susan cabinet and make a colossal mess.

Happy November!

30!

It was my birthday last Friday and we had the perfect day.

Svea woke me up with a bouquet of flowers.


Nate surprised me and took the day off so Rose could take over the household duties for the day.

I didn't have to escort Viggo to the freezing cold and dark bus stop in the morning. I got to sleep in and stay in my pajamas.

I didn't have to do the dishes.
I didn't have to make any food.
I just got to do whatever I wanted to do.
I love it when Rose gets to be at home on a weekday.
I started to wonder why I didn't turn 30 a long time ago.

I ran some errands around town with my best girl (well, the bigger one). She and I went to Caribou and I got a free birthday coffee of my choice.

This is the Campfire Mocha. As you can see this was no health drink.

Svea fell asleep in the car. I, on the other hand, didn't fall asleep for days after drinking the mocha.

When Viggo came home from school it was time to party!

I cannot explain the four candles.

But the turtle ice cream cake was delicious! Thanks honey!

Then I got to open presents and had lots of helpers.

This gift from my sister was a big hit.

See? I totally qualify in the age range. Now I just need some quiet time to work on my Wee Enchanted Garden. Viggo and Svea were very excited that we will be growing grass inside the house. Personally I can't wait to paint all the wee little rocks and accessories . . . in all my wee spare time.

Viggo gave me this stamp :)

It got a little crowded opening presents - so fun though!

Elin loved this necklace Nate gave me. Even though it came in a tiny box, Svea was convinced that inside the box was another bouquet of flowers.

Nate and I went to Ciatti's for dinner. The best eggplant parmigiana ever. And it was FREE.

What a great birthday. Thank you to everyone for your thoughtful gifts and birthday wishes :)

Peanuts Gang

The kids were the Peanuts for Halloween.

Meet Charlie Brown, Woodstock, and Sally.

Some people knew who they were; sometimes we had to explain.

One woman though Elin was a Fraggle. Now there's an idea for next year . . .

I walked around the neighborhood with Woodstock and Sally in the wagon; Charlie Brown strolled along and my Sweet Babboo stayed at home and reluctantly passed out the Bit-O-Honey.

Happy Halloween!

Elin's favorite movie

Elin loves this little movie we took last night. She laughed at herself and played peek-a-boo right back!

Yay Your 33

It was Nate's birthday on Saturday. I woke up early to make a special breakfast.

Then the phone rang.
It was somebody at work.
He's sleeping and it's his birthday. Is this an emergency?
Umm . . . just have him call us when he wakes up.
Sigh.
I went and woke Nate up. He called back. Then I got the big kids dressed and Nate brought them to the bank with him while I made breakfast-that-turned-into-brunch.

Then the real celebration started!



In case you can't read the pencil, this is a sign Viggo made for Nate. It says, "Happy Birthday Yay Your 33"

I hope I get a sign like that. Of course I'm a lot younger than Nate so my numbers will be much different.

We ate brunch and it was so fun and relaxing.

We had Abuelita. Have you ever tried it? It's a Mexican chocolate drink; you put a big chocolate tablet in the blender with hot milk and mix it all up. We recieved some of this in a package Nate's aunt sent us quite some time ago; I had never heard of it before. It is SO good. I think it tastes like the foamy, creamy drink that the White Witch gave Edmund when he met her in the woods for the first time in Narnia. Nate just rolled his eyes at the reference to The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe but there's no denying with a little imagination this is definitely what Edmund drank.

But of course our Abuelita wasn't enchanted.

We had baked French toast and sausages.

And pretzel Jell-O.
While our dear friends on the eastern seaboard may say Jell-O is strictly for us midwesterners out in the sticks, well, you don't know what you're missing.

Then it was time for presents.

Viggo bought pop-flavored jellybeans for Nate. As you can see he and Svea are both blurry; they were jumping up and down so much, they were so full of excitement!

Elin was eager to sample the jellybeans, but we didn't let her. Poor starving baby.

More candy. Birthdays around here are celebrated with junk food.

Nate was very happy to get some new music and so many other wonderful gifts.

Elin noticed my camera and came over to me and started saying her version of "cheese" so I would take her picture.

After hearing Nate talk about this pan for years, I decided to take the plunge and surprise him with it. It's an edge pan . . . all the pieces have nice chewy edges. Nate traditionally takes all the corner pieces whenever I bake a pan of anything, so now he can have an entire batch of brownies that are all edges.

Then we had dessert later; really, a giant candy bar on a plate.

So fun. We love celebrating birthdays; especially Nate's!

Happy birthday, Nate! You always make us laugh . . . we are so thankful for you!