Pen Pals

One of my kids' favorite "jobs" is to collect the mail and to put mail in the mailbox. 

Almost every day Landon asks if he got any mail.  Almost every day the answer is no.  Except for the one day a month when his Big Backyard magazine comes in the mail or around his birthday, there isn't much in the mailbox for a soon to be five year old.  

A few weeks ago Chrissie shared on her blog that her girls now had pen pals and I thought this would be a great idea for Landon. Not only because he would be excited to put his own mail in the mailbox and receive something in the mail, but it would be a great way to work on letter formation and letter sounds (getting in school work without him realizing it is "school").

As I was thinking about a pen pal for Landon one little boy came to my mind, Sarah's son, Jack . Over the past year or so as we have become blog friends, we have read and shared stories about these two energetic life lovin' boys.  We know that if they lived in the same city they would be great friends.

Last weekend, Landon worked diligently on a letter and picture for his new pen pal Jack.  

He was so proud as he put the stamp on the letter, 

walked it to the mailbox, 

and put the flag up on the mailbox.

I am looking forward to the day Landon receives his letter - I am sure his jubilant shout will be heard all the way to Jack's Midwestern hometown.  

I am excited to see these boys develop a long distance friendship through the almost forgotten art of the handwritten letter.

Breakfast: A Tutorial by Landon

First, you place some bread in the toaster.

Next, you get a huge serving of butter.

Spread the butter on the toast. Make sure you have enough butter to cover the entire piece of toast.
Then you take the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle, not shake, it onto the toast.
Sprinkle enough cinnamon and sugar to cover the entire piece of toast.
Serve the cinnamon and sugar toast . (one for me and one for my baby sister)
Enjoy the look on your sisters face covered with cinnamon and sugar - her favorite part!

For Boys Only

In one month my boy is going to turn 5 (sniff, sniff - I can't believe he is going to be 5 - it just seems so old and well I want to keep my boy little)

We have been discussing options for his birthday party this year.  His ideas for themes were firefighters, pirates, swimming party, Harley Davidson (thanks to his uncle), Lightning the Queen (as he states calls him) and football. 

He would look through catalogs and discuss the ideas for his party.  He thought about it and talked about his ideas for about three weeks before he finally decided on a theme.

He decided to have  a football party and we started planning. We searched for ideas for games, invitations, goodie bag trinkets (no critters this year), and cakes.  

The time came to make his guest list and there was one thing he was very adamant about: NO GIRLS! I was very surprised so I asked him "Why don't you want any girls?" He said, "Mama, girls don't know about football except maybe Amiah (our neighbor and his good friend) she likes football but I just want boys."

So there you have it.... a football party for BOYS ONLY!

Retired

We have finally retired our dinosaur of a video camera.

No more:

- 8 mm tapes.

- time getting the tape in the correct spot.

- accidently  taping over a previous event.

- transferring taped events to DVD (oh wait we weren't so good at that anyway)

- large camera and camera bag

This weekend we played with the new camera at Morgan's gymnastics meet.  The video isn't great as we were getting used to the camera but  it was so nice to come home and download the video right to the computer. It was so easy... easy to share with friends and family and easy to burn to a DVD to have for future viewing.

The video is of Morgan's routines on beam, floor, and vault.  Lance didn't get video of Morgan's bar routine. She had started her bar routine and slipped off the low bar and had to start her routine over. When she fell Lance got a little flustered and forgot to keep taping her routine.

Morgan had a great meet this weekend. She placed 2nd on floor and beam, 3rd on vault, 8th on bars, and 5th overall for her age group.

Hands Down The Shirts Ever!

About three years ago I was invited to an at home clothing party.  I was pregnant with Mauryn so I wasn't going to purchase any new cute clothes for my soon to gain 65 lb body. 

The consultant and I were visiting and she told me how she would wear the shirts when she was pregnant and they would hold  their shape so she could wear them after her pregnancy. I was a little skeptical but I did find a cute t- shirt and decided to buy it.

I wore that t-shirt throughout my entire pregnancy. As my belly got bigger, the shirt continued to stretch with my belly.  

When my pregnancy was over, I was able to wear the t-shirt and it had its original shape. It did not look like it had been stretched to its limits during my pregnancy.  Now that is some shirt!

I wear one of their wide strap cami's almost every day. They look great under a long sleeved t-shirt or sweater or on their own with a pair of capris or shorts.

 The cami's  are soft, comfortable, stretchy, LONG, and just plain wonderful.

Not only are the cami's amazing, but their dresses and shirts are wonderful as well.

From now until February 25, the Layers basics are on sale. Head on over and check out their website. You will not be disappointed!

First Born

I thought I would join in the fun with this Meme about my First Born. 

1. WAS YOUR PREGNANCY PLANNED?
No

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME?
Yes

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS?
Shocked, excited, nervous

4. HOW OLD WERE YOU?
I was 25 when I found out I was pregnant and 26 when I gave birth

5. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT?
I had a feeling I might be pregnant so I purchased two tests and took one right away and one the next morning.

6. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST?
I told Lance after I took the second test

7. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX?
No, I wanted to be surprised

8. DUE DATE?
November 3, 1999

9. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS?
I didn't really have any morning sickness. I usually felt yucky in the evenings.

10. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE?
I didn't have any particular cravings but I wasn't much of a sweets eater until this pregnancy

11. WHAT IRRITATED YOU?
Nothing really

12. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX?
Female

13. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING?
No, I was excited to be a mom and just wanted to have a healthy baby

14. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN DURING PREGNANCY?
80 pounds - I was a big girl!

15. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER?
Yes, I had two showers

16. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW?
I knew about both of them

17. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY?
At my first ultrasound they discovered that the placenta was covering my cervix, but thankfully the placenta moved and it wasn't an issue. I did have high blood pressure and retained quite a bit of water. I was put on bed rest at 38 weeks. After I gave birth, the placenta would not deliver so the doctor had to manually extract the placenta - OUCH! Way more painful than childbirth.

18. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Ridgeview Medical Center, Waconia MN

19. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR?
It was 17 hours from the time my water broke at home until she was born

20. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL?
Lance

21. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Lance, doctor, nurse

22. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION?
Natural

23. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN?
Yes, I had an epidural after quite a few hours of labor. My cervix would not dilate so they were starting to prep for a possible c section but once I got the epidural my labor progressed rapidly and I was able to deliver naturally.

24. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH?
8 lbs 4 oz

25. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN?
November 12, 1999

26. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER?
Morgan Elizabeth

27. DID YOU NAME THEM AFTER ANYONE?
We liked the names

28. How old is YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY?
9 years old

It is Handy to Have a Doctor in the House

For those five of you who read this blog on a regular basis, you know that our little Mauryn is tiny in stature but strong in her will.  Mauryn is a bitty ball of fire that is constantly in motion. One of her favorite things to do is climb - table top, counter top, etc...  

Last week one evening, she had climbed on the counter and was scurrying to get off the counter top (she heard me coming back into the kitchen) when she toppled over with the chair she had used to climb onto the counter.  I picked her up and checked for blood right away. I could tell she had bit her tongue but couldn't see any other signs of injury. She was very upset and it took a while to get her calmed down.  

Once she was calm, I noticed her shirt had quite a bit of blood on it. I knew she bit her tongue but it hadn't bled very much.   I had her lift her head and noticed a cut on her chin.  I placed her in my arms and carried her upstairs to our room for Lance to look at her. 

When I reached our room, I was pretty insistent that we get Mauryn to quick care. I knew she either needed stitches or skin glue for her cut.  Lance took a look at her chin and agreed she probably would need skin glue.

Instead of taking her into quick care, our resident vet went to his truck got out some skin glue and fixed our baby girl up.  Mauryn was a wonderful patient. She laid completely still while Lance applied the skin glue.

Mauryn proudly displays her "owie" on her chin that her daddy "fix up".

Sometimes, it is handy to have a doctor in the house, (even if he is a vet)  when it saves you a hundred dollar trip to quick care.

before

getting ready to apply to skin glue

all done

Wordless Wednesday: Rolling in the Snow

Not a Breakfast of Champions

Mauryn has been a very early riser lately.  

Since Mauryn and I have been up at o'crack of dawn, we have been doing some early morning baking.  One morning I decided to make a loaf of banana bread for breakfast and my sidekick was on her chair helping me.  While Mauryn and I were baking she spied so cupcakes left on the counter from our small group.  She pointed to the cupcake and said "I want one of those" I told her "You need to have breakfast first. You can have a cupcake later."

Obviously she didn't like my answer.  When I walked out of the kitchen a few minutes later I came back in to find Mauryn holding a cupcake.  She told me "I hungy. I want one of these."  

Since cupcakes are not a breakfast of champions,  I took the cupcake away from my sweet spunky toddler.  The alligator tears flowed from her eyes and a bit of screaming for the cupcake. 

My little spitfire was not done thinking about the cupcake. In the midst of her fit she tried to climb on the counter to get it.  So I had to move the cupcakes to the top of the refrigerator.  In hopes of still reaching the cupcakes, Mauryn pulled a chair over the the refrigerator and tried to climb up to the top to get the cupcakes.  Once she realized she wasn't going to make it her fit ended and she didn't ask about the cupcakes again. I guess out of sight out of mind really works sometimes.

I had to photograph this moment because she was so proud of getting that cupcake. The fit, well it was so pathetic and I was having a hard time not laughing at her.  I know these pictures will tell a good story someday... the day mom wouldn't let me have a cupcake for breakfast.

300th Post

I've been a little lacking in the blogging department lately but it isn't for lack of things to post.  I have a long list of posts to get on this  poor neglected blog.  I am hoping to get back into a routine with blogging. I just haven't quite hit my stride this year with balancing school, errands, housework, Morgan's gymnastics, evening commitments, and just being a wife and mommy.

I went to write a post today and noticed this would be my 300th post.  So I don't have anything exciting or creative, but I did see this little survey (for lack of a better word) on some other blogs a few months ago. I saw a few different versions so I combined them to make this one.

Things you've already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven't done and don't want to - leave in plain font

1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars
3. Changed a baby's diaper - just a few :o)
4. Watched a meteor shower
5. Given more than you can afford to charity
6. Swam with wild dolphins

7. Climbed a mountain
8. Said "I love you" and meant it
9. Bungee jumped - no thank you
10. Visited Paris
11. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
12. Seen the Northern Lights
13. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty - been there multiple times but never stood in line to walk the stairs
14. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
15. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
16. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment 
17. Had a pillow fight
18. Bet on a winning horse
19. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
20. Built a snow fort
21. Held a lamb - when i was younger we raised sheep. we held and bottle fed some lambs in our house if their mothers rejected them.
22. Gone skinny dipping
23. Taken an ice cold bath
24. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
25. Seen a total eclipse
26. Ridden a roller coaster - love them!
27. Hit a home run 
28. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
29. Adopted an accent for fun
30. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
31. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
32. Loved your job 90% of the time
33. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
34. Watched wild whales
35. Gone rock climbing
36. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
37. Gone sky diving - no thank you
38. Visited Ireland
39. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
40. Visited India
41. Bench-pressed your own weight
42. Milked a cow
43. Alphabetized your personal files
44. Ever worn a superhero costume
45. Sung karaoke - oh the memories...
46. Lounged around in bed all day 
47. Gone scuba diving 
48. Kissed in the rain
49. Played in the mud
50. Gone to a drive-in theater - it is on our to do list every summer
51. Done something you should regret, but don't
52. Visited the Great Wall of China
53. Started a business
54. Taken a martial arts class
55. Been in a movie
56. Gone without food for 3 days
57. Made cookies from scratch - weekly
58. Won first prize in a costume contest
59. Got flowers for no reason
60. Been in a combat zone
61. Spoken more than one language fluently
62. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
63. Bounced a check
64. Read - and understood - your credit report
65. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
66. Called or written your Congress person
67. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over 
68. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
69. Helped an animal give birth
70. Been fired or laid off from a job 
71. Won money
72. Broken a bone - it was broken for me when i had foot surgery
73. Ridden a motorcycle
74. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
75. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
76. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
77. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
78. Eaten sushi - ewww!
79. Had your picture in the newspaper
80. Read The Bible cover to cover
81. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
82. Gotten someone fired for their actions
83. Gone back to school - work on my master's degree
84. Changed your name - last name when i got married
85. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands - no but my husband can do it
86. Eaten fried green tomatoes
87. Read The Iliad
88. Taught yourself an art from scratch 
89. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
90. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
91. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
92. Been elected to public office
93. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream 
94. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
95. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
96. Had a booth at a street fair
97. Dyed your hair
98. Been a DJ
99. Rocked a baby to sleep
100. Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all four - so mean!
101. Raked your carpet
102. Worn a mood ring
103. Ridden a horse
104. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
105. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe.
106. Buried a child
107. Gone to a Broadway (or equivalent to your country) play
108. Been inside the pyramids
109. Shot a basketball into a basket
110. Danced at a disco
111. Shot a bird
112. Gone to an arboretum
113. Tutored someone
114. Ridden a train
115. Brought an old fad back into style 
116. Eaten caviar - eww! eww!
117. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need - i have learned to say NO!
118. Ridden a giraffe or elephant
119. Published a book
120. Pieced a quilt
121. Lived in a historic place
122. Acted in a play or performed on a stage - in elementary school
123. Asked for a raise
124. Made a hole-in-one
125. Gone deep sea fishing
126. Gone roller skating
127. Ran a marathon 
128. Learned to surf
129. Invented something
130. Flown first class 
131. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
132. Flown in a helicopter
133. Visited Africa
134. Sold Girl Scout Cookies - but i sure like to eat them
135. Gone spelunking
136. Learned how to take a compliment
137. Written a love-story
138. Seen Michelangelo’s David
139. Had your portrait painted
140. Written a fan letter - way back when
141. Spent the night in something haunted
142. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
143. Ran away
144. Learned to juggle
145. Been a boss
146. Sat on a jury
147. Lied about your weight 
148. Gone on a diet
149. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
150. Written a poem
151. Carried your lunch in a lunch box
152. Gotten food poisoning
153. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
154. Hiked the Grand Canyon
155. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
156. Gone to the opera
157. Gotten a letter from someone famous
158. Worn knickers
159. Ridden in a limousine
160. Attended the Olympics
161. Can hula or waltz
162. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
163. Been stuck in an elevator
164. Had a revelatory dream
165. Thought you might crash in an airplane
166. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
167. Saved someone’s life
168. Eaten raw whale - gross!
169. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
170. Laughed till your side hurt
171. Straddled the equator
172. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
173. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival - on our to do list each summer
174. Sent a message in a bottle
175. Spent the night in a hostel
176. Been a cashier
177. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
178. Joined a union - i was a teacher and in MN joining the union is not really an option
179. Donated blood or plasma 
180. Built a camp fire - love sitting by them but haven't ever built one on my own
181. Kept a blog
182. Had hives
183. Worn custom made shoes or boots
184. Made a PowerPoint presentation
185. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
186. Served at a soup kitchen
187. Conquered the Rubik’s cube - if peeling the stickers off so that it was "correct" then yes!
188. Know CPR
189. Ridden in or owned a convertible
190. Found a long lost friend - thank you face.book
191. Helped solve a crime
192. Played in a band - not musically talented, never will be
193. Visited hawaii
194. Been to disneyland/world
195. Climbed a mountain
196. Held a praying mantis 
196. Sang a solo - see #192
197. Visited paris
198. Adopted a child - i would love to do this someday
199. Seen the mona lisa in france
200. Hitch hiked
201. Ridden a gondola in venice
202. Seen a total eclipse
203. Been on a cruise
204. Seen niagara falls in person
205. Seen an amish community
206. Seen the alamo in person
207. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant 
208. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
209. Been in a combat zone
210. Saved a favorite childhood toy - i am not a saver but my mom probably has one
211. Visited the lincoln memorial 
212. Stood in times square
213. Seen the changing of the guard in london
214. Visited the white house
215. Had chickenpox
216. Sat on a jury - a very interesting experience
217. Met someone famous
218. Joined a book club 
219. Lost a loved one
220. Had a baby x3

Mauryn - Future American Idol

Mauryn spends most of her days running, jumping, galloping, writing and coloring (sometimes on paper), and always, always singing. Sometimes it is a song she just makes up and sometimes it is a song she has learned at church or from listening to one of our "kiddie" CD's.  The only thing missing is her loud music making microphone which seems to disappear for a few days every week - just long enough to get the music out of our heads.

Untitled from Kristen Cheney on Vimeo.