definitely getting old

I've been thinking this lately, how I am sooo getting old.  The extra weight hangs on longer than before :), it's sooo hard to wake up early, I can't sleep away from Ehren, forgetting things, and the list goes on and on and on.  But today it came out in a real way.  It's funny now and I wish I had a friend here right now so we could laugh about it.

Anyway, like every Friday I went to a friend's house for a play date.  There are 5 of us stay home moms who get together, chat, eat lunch and stuff.  It is a really nice distraction for me, even though I have to take 4 kids there.  Today, as we were leaving my friend's house I was rushing to get home because it was getting close to 2pm and the kids had to be put down for a nap.  Finally we got home, I open the garage door and as I'm herding my 4 kiddos inside I realize the door to the house is locked.  We never ever lock that door and so in my panic mode I completely forgot what we do in a situation like that.  I thought I had a house key on my key chain but when I tried it it didn't work.  The thought to check the main front door did enter my mind but I was too panicky, mainly because I left my phone inside and couldn't call Ehren to ask him.  So I loaded the kids in the van and went back to town.  Tried a friend's house that's pretty close but they were gone so then I drove to church.  I called Ehren but when I got his voicemail I remembered he's in meetings all afternoon.  I tried paging him but nothing.  Finally the receptionist asked who his boss was and I got her so I was able to give him a message to call me at church.  Phew!  At least there is a nursery that kept my tired kids occupied.  In a little bit Ehren showed up and just as my inside voice was trying to tell me before I panicked and drove back to town, I had the key that opens the front door of the house.  I felt really dumb.  And old. :)  But now it is pretty funny I did that.  That shows how we still don't use our front door because we always come in through the garage.  Well, the kids went to sleep really fast and are still sleeping.  They won't be much longer because the bus will be here in a few minutes and the 3 school aged kids are just wild when they get home.  They let loose of all the feelings and everything they've been holding back at school.  It's normal and they do need some free time like that, but sometimes they bounce off the walls a little too much. :)

Anyway, that is the story of how I'm getting old, slowly but surely and sometimes not so slowly, just surely. :)

blessed

I feel very blessed today.  A friend of mine asked me if I wanted to go to the Cities with her for a "Women of Faith" conference this past weekend.  She was going there with her mom and her mom's friend so it only made sense to have her own friend along.  It was a hoot!  It was so nice to visit with these ladies on our long drive there and back, it went a lot faster than when we go there with our kids. :)  I got my tank filled up for a while I think.  And the conference was amazing.  Of course, there were things here and there that weren't perfect, like the crowds of women during breaks (there were 11,000 women in one arena) and the music was so loud we had to cover our ears during most of the songs.  But all the speakers were so good, there was a lot of crying in the arena because each one of them had such heart breaking stories to tell.  It really encouraged my faith and made me feel so thankful for what I have in my life.  After some of those stories I just wanted to run home and hug my kids really tight. :)  There was also a Christian comedian Ken Davis and he was so funny we laughed really hard.  I wish he had a tour in our area so we could go see him.  I would be ok listening to him the whole conference. :) So, overall it was just a wonderful weekend away for me.  Ehren was taking care of our kids at home and a part of the Saturday he watched all 7 cousins at our house.  I'm so thankful for him and that he encourages me to get away and recharge.

It was pretty funny when I got home because Kade and Ani were just excited to see me but Kason came up to me with his arms crossed tightly and a very mad face.  It took him good 15-20 minutes to stop being mad and after talking a while he let me know that he was very mad because I left him at home and didn't take him with me.  Ehren had quite the time with him too, having an attitude and stuff while I was gone.  He processes feelings so differently but after a while he was back to himself and was my sweet boy again.  Funny how just me being home changed him and the next day he was really good everywhere he went.  I guess he's very much a mama's boy. :)  I was pretty wiped out physically when we got home because I didn't sleep much either night but emotionally and spiritually I am renewed.  Now it is back to school week, back to our busy schedules and running around.  I hope I can start my days always thanking God for all that He blessed us with and to keep my eyes on Him throughout the day.

family night

Our first family night was a success.  Every Fall when the business of school and extra curricular activities are upon us, we try to schedule one evening a week that is a family night.  It can't be on a weekend either, that doesn't count.  It took us a few weeks to start this year but finally this week we scheduled our first Thursday night.  That means from the time kids get home from school until they go to bed there is no tv, computers or anything like that, we have a special dinner in our dining room and spend time playing games, talking and stuff.  Tonight we played Uno, kids sequence and finished off by dancing to some good old 80s.  It was a great night with my family and just what I needed after an emotionally draining day.

First the school got cancelled because of a winter storm which would have been fine but it left me home with 8 children, one of them a 7 month old baby who won't sleep and clings to me the entire day.  The bad part was that we lost power right away and it didn't come back on until after we were done with lunch.  So no water, no heating up anything, just all the kids going crazy for a while. :)  It went fine though, I know the hardest part was that little baby because if she wasn't here it would have been fine and we would be able to play bunch of games etc., but since I have to carry her around with me or try to entertain her on the floor it didn't go as smoothly.  I did try to leave her to play by herself or even by her brother and other kids who are eager to play with her but as soon as she realizes I'm gone she starts her awful screaming and pretty soon all the kids run away from her just to get away from the noise.  So, today was one of those days I couldn't wait for the day to be done so I can have my house to just me and my family.  And it was peaceful, happy and perfect.  Just the way it's supposed to be.  One blessed evening, one blessed mom.

what we woke up to - our first snow

they had a lot of fun and came inside soaking wet

Ani turns 6

Our little Ani turned 6 this week and it was a few days of celebrations so I think she felt very special.  First, nana and papa couldn't make it to her birthday dinner so they took Ani out to a restaurant earlier this week.  Then on her actual birthday she got to bring cupcakes to school and have her first dance lesson.  A day later we had Kjell and Jess over with Emily and Aveah and had the real birthday cake for Ani.  But, the main birthday celebration happened today when me, Jessica and another friend took our 4 girls to Grand Forks so Anika could get her ears pierced, do a little shopping and eat at a special place.  The girls had so much fun and Anika was talking for months how she's going to get her ears pierced when she turns 6.  She was really brave and cried just a little bit after it was done.  Now she's excited to show them off and they are really cute on her.

This school year has been a hard adjustment for Ani.  To go from going 3 mornings a week to preschool to a long day every day in kindergarten is a bit too much for her and she's been getting a little overwhelmed.  She was so excited to start kindergarten but after just 2 weeks she was asking when is the last day of school and does she have to go tomorrow.  This last week it was tearful bedtime every night because she doesn't want to go to school the next day and in the morning she cries too which is so hard to see.  I've been talking to her teacher and she assures me that once Anika sits down at her desk in the morning, she stops crying and has a great day but I think by the afternoon she gets so tired and worn out she comes home just exhausted.  So I'm not sure what to do, if she just has to tough it out or what.  I hate how much they focus on the learning so early on.  A friend of mine just told me that when her daughter was in kindergarten they had her take every Friday off to just have a break and that really helped her.  It made me think how Anika would love a day of rest and would be ready for school better but I know the teacher is not going to like that.  So we'll have to see what happens.  She is such a hard worker and wants to do everything right in school and that is also stressing her out a little bit because she gets frustrated when she can't do something right.  But she has such a sweet personality and I just love how God made her so beautiful inside and out.  She is so selfless and cares about everyone around her more than herself.  Always trying to serve people around her and loves to help, just a big servant's heart.  I hope she keeps that as she grows older and that she knows what a special child of God she is.

her ladybug cake

cupcakes for school

Getting ready to get the ears pierced.  Don't look at my mouth, not sure what I'm doing but my gums still hurt from this week's surgery.  I have stitches all the way up to my nose under the lip.

    

North Shore trip

We try to go to the North Shore about once a year if we can.  It is my absolutely favorite place to be in MN.  I love the hiking trails, trees, ocean waves.  Well, it is lake Superior but it might as well be an ocean because it has the same feel to it.  And the rocky beaches remind me of our trips to Croatia with my family when I was little although it's on the other side of the planet.  Just a cool place to be and I just wish it was a bit closer so we could go there more often. I definitely want our kids to remember our special trips to the North Shore and I would never trade it for any trip like Disney World.  So many people think they have to take their kids to a "cool" place when we have this amazing place right here in MN.

We made a long weekend of it and it was perfect.  Kids had a blast exploring new places and when we were done for the day they still had enough energy to swim and enjoy the swimming pool for a couple hours.  They had a fun curvy slide at the pool but sadly Kason and Ani weren't tall enough and they didn't allow kids going down with their parents.  Kason was not happy about it but he got over it and enjoyed the rest of the pool.  I had to try it for myself and had a blast, who knew? :)  There were a few times I was going down just giggling and I couldn't stop laughing.  Partly, I think I was getting too tired at that point because giggling like that comes when I reach a certain point in over tiredness.  But it was a lot of fun and Kade did the hotel's challenge, he went down 40 some times to make one mile and they put his picture on the wall along with other one milers.  It was a much needed family time for us though and it was just nice to have that time just the 5 of us.  We took around 300 pictures too which is a huge amount for us because we loved every place we were at.  Sometimes the pictures don't give the places justice because it looked so much more amazing in person.

Ehren and I were also really excited when we discovered a couple new trails we've never been on because they came up to the most beautiful views we've seen around the North Shore.  This one trail we came across looked like nothing when we started and we thought this would be a cute little loop for the kids because it had educational information for kids to read along the path.  Little did we know it came out to the lake shore and the most amazing views of it with all kinds of rocks, caves and stuff.  This summer has been very dry so none of the waterfalls had much water but even so it was very beautiful.

The only place both Ehren and I didn't care for at all was the Gooseberry Falls because it was absolutely packed with weekenders, mostly from the Cities and you would not believe how many dogs people bring there.  It was way too crowded for our taste and so we were very happy that every other place we went to was free of people and it felt like we're the only ones there sometimes.  We would come across people, but nothing like the crowd at Gooseberry and I just cannot believe that all those people take their little trip to see that but have no idea about the gorgeous trails they are missing that are just a little bit more to the North of the Gooseberry Falls.  Well, I guess less people for us to worry about when we go there. :)

As I said before we took a ton of pictures so I apologize for throwing them all on here but I can't tell which ones to eliminate anymore.

the crowded place

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