Wrapping up Christmas (part 1)...

Well... it seems once again that Christmas has come & gone in a flash.  I wonder if the kids would agree?  Is it like when we were kids & the countdown to Christmas seemed to move at a snail's pace or has it really sped up for all, young & old alike?  I'm hoping for their sake that the excitement & anticipation of it all still makes the time go slow... & it is only those of us who are busy with other things & trying to "create" the magic of it all that find it whizzing by. I can barely make Christmas happen with a month (or more) of preparation so I have a new found awe of being able to create a whole world in just 6 days!

Our kids are truly at a fun age for it all... Brandon (6) as a full grasp on all aspects of Christmas & is very eager to share this wealth of information with Melanie (3.5), who takes it all in & shares her own theories & facts on it all.  After a fun month of taking in all sorts of holiday fun & finally we were in the home stretch.  We got our pre-Christmas snow storm, to guarantee a white Christmas & some outdoor fun!

Snowshoes on... ready to go...

After the drive is done... Mike moved to the backyard to start on our snow hill

... & I had the cutest helper in the kitchen getting the lamb marinating, the Christmas Grasshopper pie made & the carmel rolls ready for Christmas morning!

Finally it was Christmas Eve... our tradition is to do our little family celebration that night where we open our gifts under the tree & have a special lamb dinner, then we head to the farm for a few days on Christmas morning after doing our Santa stuff & breakfast.  Even though the weather was going to delay our farm gathering (i.e. we would be spending Christmas Day at home), we decided kept with our normal tradition & then just get to enjoy our bonus Christmas day at home!

Christmas Eve

Mmmm... lamb chops

This year Brandon got lots of Star Wars stuff... legos, books, movies & Melanie was all about girl stuff... Strawberry Shortcake, pink legos & princess stuff...

Scooters from Nana & Papa...

oh what fun!

Finally it was time to get (new) jammies on & get the goodies ready for Santa (with a ziploc for Mrs. Claus, in case he wanted to take a few back for her).

Due to the winter storm, we ended up having Christmas day to ourselves at home...

... but first up was getting ready to see if Santa came!

Melanie was hoping for a baby with hair & Brandon wanted a bike with gears!  Good thing they are on the "good" list!

It was a beautiful Christmas morning. Snow had fallen overnight & big, white flakes were still falling... it was a Norman Rockwell kind of morning!

Thanks to our change of plans, we had a relaxing morning playing with toys, having homemade carmel rolls & enjoying being at home.

Melanie had fun feeding 'Honey' in her new high chair while Brandon worked on building his TIE fighter LEGO..

We even got outside for a while to play in all our snow...

The kids had fun on their snowhill... & I snowshoed around the yard...

... & even made a little snowman!

We had a wonderful prime rib Christmas dinner... & fantastic Christmas Day.

Next up... Christmas on the Farm!

More than a New Year!

Wow... 2010.  How did that happen?  Seems like Y2K wasn't that long ago & yet, numbers don't lie... 10 years & now we are into a new decade as well.  I wrote my first check & it was weird not writing 0-something, so much so that I almost wrote 010!  I've never been much of a New Year's resolutions person... but for some reason this year I feel like I really need to challenge myself to do more than 'try'.  We all have room for improvement on things so I'm sure most of us could easily make a list of MANY things that could use attention in the coming year.  I tend to eat fairly healthy, get exercise & get in good quality family time, so although I need to keep at those things, they really don't count as resolutions on my list.  I'm not sure if it is age getting to me or the fact that I look at my kids, who are now 6 & 3.5 but lately I feel the time with them just going in fast forward & I'm really struck with the fact that time is fleeting.  Maybe this year, that is why I'm feeling the need to do more than 'try'... but to really make a resolution about being the best mom to them that I can be.  I have to admit, most days I think I fall horribly short of that.  I'm a good mom & certainly I can find plenty of ways in which I do well, but I have found as they get older, it is has actually gotten harder.  As babies, I felt it was simple... they need food, sleep, a clean diaper, a little play time & to be cuddled... pretty easy!  It is harder the older they get as the needs become more subtle... & although they do so much for themselves they somehow manage to thoroughly exhaust me by the end of the day.  I still know that I am capable of so much more & that certainly they deserve all that I have to offer.  So for 2010, I am resolving to find ways to feel that I'm better than just good to them.  On the top of my list is patience, patience, PATIENCE... I need to find some reservoir of patience that dwells somewhere within me or figure out where I can beg, borrow or steal it!!   Generally it is more patience with myself that translates into more patience for them but it is also just outright patience with them.  I have to say that this is something that surprised me a bit as patience isn't something I thought I would struggle with, so I haven't quite figured out how to remedy this yet... but I'm a problem solver at heart, so the trial & error begins!  In the meantime, I'll focus on the little ways I can be a better mom that hopefully together will bridge some of that gap while I work on my patience problem!

My other big resolution this year is to try & find some ways to expand myself as a cook.  I have always enjoyed cooking & since having kids, I don't feel like I've been inspired to nurture that creative outlet... so hopefully if I can find more patience with my kids, I'll also find more energy for being creative in the kitchen!

I hope the year has started out well for all... and I've got a Christmas post in the works, so stay tuned for that.

Cheers & Happy New Year!!

Oh to be 6 again...

I'm sure most of us did not appreciate being 6 at the time, but it certainly seems to be a great age!  It is fun to see the excitement that a birthday & Christmas can bring to someone who is at an age who is old enough to understand what is going on, what comes next & is still entranced by the magic & wonder of it all.  To say Brandon has been eagerly awaiting his birthday would be quite the understatement!  Actually he just recently told me that his favorite holidays are Easter, Christmas & his birthday... I tried explaining that technically his birthday isn't a holiday, but I don't think that registered in the least!

First on the agenda was a party with his friends... he was excited to just have a kid party where they got to run around, play, have cake & get goodie bags, of course! 

This year's theme... 

STAR WARS!

We had a fun kid party... decorating gingerbread houses...

...playing "pin the nose on Frosty"...

...playing "freeze dance" & "SANTA says"...

... it was an ENERGETIC birthday Jedi bunch!

We ended the party with some cake & ice cream, of course!

After the kid party was a little family dinner party... tacos & enchiladas were on the menu.

Cousin Allison was there for both parties... & Gram, Grandpa, Aunt Natalie & Uncle Dave joined us too...

... & Uncle Chris flew in from Portland just for the event (... well maybe Christmas had something to do with it, but we are always happy that he is able to be here for Brandon's birthday)!

On his actual birthday, we had a little family celebration at the nearby bowling alley (since it was hit last year!).

They liked their shoes...

... & had a fun time bowling!

YEP, it is good to be 6...just ask Brandon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRANDON...

1 day old(above)... & a BIG 6-month old!

Holiday fun!

Seems like there are just too many fun things to do in December... and just not enough time to pack it all in! 

We always get our tree up right away... Snowman Day... the day the snowmen take over the house!

The kids always get their special ornament on Snowman Day... this year's ornaments were Snow White & Darth Vader (what they were for Halloween)...

& we always have a special meal with a special dessert too!

We get around to doing some baking & decorating too... this year we got Mike in on the cookie decorating. 

The kids are turning into pretty good decorators now... Mike didn't do too bad either!

Cookies, advent calendars, Christmas music, decorations... all under control... but we must not forget our visit to see Santa!  For the past 5 years, we've seen the same Santa with our friends Brenda, Lauren & Alexandra.

Our Santa resides at the Mall of America & is amazing...

It is going to be a white Christmas... surprisingly, not something that is guaranteed in MN.  Better chance than where I grew up in NM but still not 100%.  We had a big storm come through about a week ago & dumped about 5 inches on us but the farm got 16+, so we were anxious to head down our first free weekend to play in the snow!

We did a few warmup runs down by the barn before heading back into the valley & some larger hills. Melanie & I strapped on our snowshoes... we played in the snow, built snow forts & sledded... but our camera battery died, so there is nothing more to show for it all this time around!

Later Mike & I did some snowshoeing up & down some hills around the farm... something we've never managed to do before either due to lack of snow or temperatures that were far too cold for it.

Finally, we took in some caroling via horse drawn wagon in Minnesota City... a 2-horse open wagon, to be exact... not quite a 1-horse open sleigh but it'll do & it was fun!

I'd say we're almost ready for Christmas... house is decorated, cookies are baked, cards are done (finally), it's snowed, we've taken in festive activities including the Holidazzle parade downtown & the downtown Macy's 8th floor display of "A Day in the Life of an Elf"...

... yep... about ready Christmas... but first up, Brandon's 6th birthday on the 22nd!!

Camping in December...

Winter has finally hit Minnesota... cold weather has moved in, we've had a few rounds of snow & Christmas is around the corner, so it seems like a good time to revist summer for a moment & relive a bit of our summer camping adventures... 

We usually get a little bit of spring camping in on the farm, but our official camping opener generally starts with Melanie's birthday, which often coincides with Memorial Day weekend. This year we hit St. Croix State Park.

Melanie's 3rd birthday (w/her new headlamp)

What girl wouldn't want her very own purple sleeping bag & purple headlamp for her 3rd b-day? Melanie was thrilled!

Playing in the river

In July, we made our annual trek west to the Black Hills of South Dakota for 9 days of camping.

First site... somewhere south of the Deadwood/Lead area.  We found a great spot down by a stream & called it home for 3 days.

For our second site, we decided to camp in a remote canyon that we love to fish... only access is by hiking... or in this case, biking!  We fish here every year but have never tried camping here but always thought it looked like a good spot.

Mike used the bike trailer to haul our stuff in about 1/2 mile down a trail leading into the canyon.  The bike in was much easier since it was downhill!  It only took about 2 trips to get the essentials in there!

We spent the next 2 days in our secluded & scenic canyon just fishing & having fun.  We caught a lot of trout too!  We only saw 1 group of fishermen in our 2-day stay.

For our last spot in the Black Hills, we decided to scout out something in the pine forests outside of Custer...

We did the hike to Harney Peak one day... Brandon did a great job hiking all the way!  Melanie rode & napped most of the way up to the peak but woke up just as we reached the top & declared "We made it!"  Not sure what part of "we" she was referring too!  I was just happy to get her out of the pack for a bit!

At the beginning of August & then again over Labor Day weekend we headed up to Superior National Forest just on the edge of the BWCA to do a little camping.  The first time we took the bikes & did some mountain biking & geocaching. 

Geocaching around Gooseberry State Park (with Lake Superior behind us)

Biking up a steep ATV trail... Melanie wanted out of the trailer to walk for a bit... Mike didn't mind lightening his load!

 

Then (the next time) over Labor Day weekend, we made sure to bring the canoe & canoed in an hour or so to one of our favorite BWCA lakes that we've canoe camped on in the past.  We had such great fishing the first day that we made the same trek the next day... only to have even a better day of fishing.

Brandon's first walleye ever... & what a walleye it was!

Stringer from Day 2

We had 2 days of phenomenal fishing... Brandon may spend a good portion of his lifetime trying to have 2 days of fishing that even come close the what we experienced!

Those were the highlights of the camping summer... we had a few other outings here & there... and don't count us out for winter camping just yet either.  Stay tuned... there very well could be a winter camping post!