honey and hot water

Our discovery of honey and hot water as a throat soothing device has been pretty incredible. Our little 11 year old just requested a cup of this wonderful throat reliever and I'm headed to the kitchen to get the tea pot to boil.

oh what a beautiful day!

the thermometer may have been reaching toward 60 degrees...the sun and the warm weather has made the world so cheery and bright!

jon bon jovi

On Monday, my friends, Michelle, Sarah, Gretchen and I got to attend the Jon Bon Jovi concert at the XCel Energy Center. His energy and show have left a great impression on me! We went to dinner at Cosettas and then enjoyed a 2 1/2 hour concert by a fun band. The show was sold out and we danced almost the entire time!

whirly ball

Last night a group of friends met in Maple Grove to place some Whirly Ball. Super fun game and very fast paced. I am not awesome, but I sure had a fun time! Thanks Gretchen S. for coordinating a fun evening.

Angie, John, Gretchen, Sam, Julie, me, Sharyl, Jesse, Garth and Jenny

foshay

We really enjoyed our views of the Foshay tower while staying downtown Minneapolis. It was our guide as A and I walked back to the hotel from the Art Institute.

triple a

Our Liana Marie was the region 2a Representative for the MN AAA award. She didn't receive the overall award, but I am so proud of all she has done to deserve the recognition of being the rep from 2A.

Love you Li Li

her family at the event today

an ear worm called Seagulls, Stop it Now.

[Yoda:]
Penny for your thoughts.

[Luke Skywalker:]
I hate Brenda, and a bad guy hit me in the shin, and I peed all my pants

[Yoda:]
Rockin'
Rockin' and rollin'
Down to the beach I'm strolling
But the seagulls poke at my head
Not fun!
I said "Seagulls... mmgh! Stop it now!"

[Yoda banging]

Everyone told me
Not to stroll on that beach
Said seagulls gonna come
Poke me in the coconut
And they did
And they did
Had me goin' like
Nothing I could do but yell
When these birds attacked me
When I tried to run I fell
And then these kids start laughing
And then
Got hit in the neck with a hacky sack
Where'd it come from?
Now run, run, run, jump!
I can be a backpack while you run
Run, run, run, jump!
And stop
Put me down
I love to groove and boogie
Yeah

[Luke Skywalker:]
Great

[Yoda:]
Show you some dance moves

[Luke Skywalker:]
No, I don't want you to

[Yoda:]
If I had your giant feet
Out there on the beach
Could have outrun those birds

[Luke Skywalker:]
You're a psycho wiener!

[Yoda:]
Let me grab my beater

[Yoda banging]

[R2D2:]
Stop it please!

[Yoda banging]

[R2D2:]
Don't hit me
Please
Don't hit me

[Luke Skywalker:]
Hey, come on man! Quit that banging

[Yoda:]
Hey, what's that stank?

[Luke Skywalker:]
You put a fish in our basket!

[Yoda:]
Oh, yeah!
I forgot I did that

[Luke Skywalker:]
You owe me an apology

[Yoda:]
Just hold your breath and see
When the time is right
Birds will bite your face
Now run, run, run, jump!
I can be a backpack while you run
Swing from a hairy vine
I can be your backpack while you climb
Stand on one hand and lift
Rocks with your special gift
Run, run, run, jump!
Now breathe
That's good
Like that
Like that

One day I was walking and I found this big log
Then I rolled the log over
And underneath was a tiny little stick
And I was like, "That log had a child!"

Listen, boy
Someday when you are older
You could get hit by a boulder
While you're lying there
Screaming, "Come help me please!"
The seagulls poke your knees

[Yoda banging]

Stop it now!

[Yoda banging]

[Luke Skywalker:]
Whatever, you're sorta pitchy

[Yoda:]
Didn't like it?

[Luke Skywalker:]
Listen, man, I'm not your friend

[Yoda:]
Don't fall asleep
Don't fall asleep

happy 21st birthday Anna Gracious!

This is an old photo from her confirmation day, but wishing my beautiful and interesting niece Anna Gracious the most incredible birthday and year ever. This photo is of Anna's two sponsors ;) or as I like to say fairy Godmothers

waning daylight

It's 7:40 pm and the sun is still out...just a tiny bit. LOVE daylight saving time now that I'm getting used to waking earlier.

happy Spring!

Today is a GLORIOUS day. As Brad and I were working out early this morning, spring dawned in River Falls. It was a fun day at school talking about the new season and discussing all the plans we have for the months to come. The current temperature is 52 and projected to drop to 27 during the night hours. Happy birthday to my dear friend Ivy Langeberg and Happy Spring to all!

buddy Coulter

O has a buddy over again today and I just love listening to them play out scenes from Star Wars...they are so adorable!

washer and gas dryer

It has been a little over 15 years since we got a new washer and we had been using Mom and Dad's dryer. The dryer finally dried its last load of clothing and we have decided to put in a gas dryer so went to a place that sells refurbished units. We still don't have gas in for the dryer, but the newer washer seems to do a nice job and we will put it to the ultimate test when the dryer is also hooked up.

last day in the woods

We cut, split and stacked about a cord of wood during our spring break 2017. The kids got a little weary, but our 15 year old did a great job of keeping his siblings motivated. It felt good to get home, take a shower and sleep in our own beds ;)

beauty and the beast

 on the 16th, our family went to the Siren theater to see the new version of Beauty and the Beast. I thought it was really pretty amazing watching the special effects and hearing the beautiful music.

bright sunshiny day

It's going to be a bright sunshiny day today. We are headed north to the hunting shack this morning after getting cleaned up and ready for two days of roughing it ;). O is eager to check his bear trap and K is looking forward to visiting the public library and playing some Battleship.

yummy cookies and picking up after the winds

There have been some relatively strong winds here in the effort to inch towards spring. We spent some time today picking up downed sticks and branches at Bud and Betty's and then spent some time at my friend Beth's in-laws place just down the road as they had a huge limb come down in their driveway. Baked some cookies and now we are watching some television.

icing recipe:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1tsp. milk
mix together really well
1 tsp. corn syrup
1/8 tsp. almond extract

sugar cookie recipe (from bon appetit.com)
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 1/4 cups chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

whisk salt, baking powder and flour in a small bowl. Using an electric mixer, on high, beat butter and sugar until well combined (about 3 minutes). Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla; beat just to combine. Reduce speed to low and gradually add dry ingredients. Mix just to combine.

Form dough into two 3/4" inch thickness disks, wrap in plastic. Chill at least 2 hours.

Place racks in lower and upper thirds of oven, preheat to 325. Let 1 disk of dough sit at room temperature until softened slightly (about 5 minutes). Roll out on a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper until about 1/4" thick, dusting with flour as needed. Cut out shapes with floured cookie cutters, transfer onto baking sheets.

Bake cookies, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until edges are golden 12 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool. Then ice with above icing recipe.

home and away again

Today we woke and had another delicious breakfast, another dip in the pool and then our 15 1/5 year old drove us home. We had a chance to wash a load of clothes, go to the dentist and Brad had an exam on his newly operated upon knee that was glowing.

We then repacked, took a nap, called my parents and headed to north country to cut wood and spend some time in the wilderness at the hunting shack.

spring break sunday

We woke up and had a super delicious breakfast here at the hotel. Then we walked to the Foshay Tower, went to the observation deck and then had lunch at Manny's. From there we drove to the Science Museum and found no movies to watch. Then A and I went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art and explored the exhibits. Then we walked back to the hotel in a beautiful snowstorm.

After a few minutes in the room, the two youngers and I went to the Vikings Stadium. Back to the room and for some swimming (and some hot chocolate in the lobby). More swimming and now in the room watching Hidden Figures.

Super fun Sunday!

cool views

We have some really cool views from our beautiful room including seeing the Vikings Stadium!

spring break 2017 style!

Our family started our spring break by heading to Minneapolis to the downtown Hyatt. We left on Saturday. We checked in, went to the pool and then went to dinner at the Smack Shack and then went to the Minnesota Opera Center to see the play Fiddler on the Roof. We LOVED the food and most of us LOVED the play. Our youngest two wanted to leave the play at intermission, but we persevered. Winter has returned to Minneapolis...the walk was very chilly and we were thankful for warmth and comfort of our hotel. 

happy 41st Brent Anthony!

Happy Happy birthday to a fun and interesting uncle Brent!

light table

Montessori curriculum has some pretty heavy concepts included. Really encouraging children to see the connections between our natural world and the Fundamental Human needs. Here are two boys working on tracing a poster of things that are needed from the plant, animal and mineral world to help with our Fundamental Need of Defense. This light table was recovered from the outdated portion of our building. It's so great to see it being used by two curious learners.

5th grade concert

On Wednesday, our sweet KGO performed in her final Greenwood concert. Her favorite song from her concert "I don't know my name". Sounded great!

chili cook off

Our school has a chili cook off every March. Our class entered a pot and some artwork for the event.

the Olson hair salon

Our 6 3/4 year old spent the morning before school on Monday at the Olson hair salon. He wasn't excited, but did walk away with a nice and tight cut.

swim banquet

Our 15 year old's swim season wrapped up at a really nice swimming banquet. Brad's cousin Jill Wurdell made this really fun swimming cupcake display.  A had a fun season. I found out that he has the 10th fastest 100 breast stroke time in RFHS history. Way to go ACO!

pre spring break spring break

Molly and Ike enjoying the kiddie pool

Ibby, Brent, Brad and families agreed to have a shared water park experience in early March way back during the 2016 Holiday Season. This was part of our family Christmas gifts. It was super fun hanging out together at the Chaos Water Park and Action City in Eau Claire. 

K and Siri enjoying the Lily pads

cousins at breakfast 

dinner at the Mexican Restaurant

Dehlia and I enjoying dinner together 

2006 cousins

happy birthday Ryan Edward

I am so proud to be your auntie and sponsor Ryan Edward. You are as handsome as you are thoughtful, intelligent, entrepreneurial, and athletic. You have been such a good friend to our ACO.

We love you.

beautiful snow

When I went to work out early on March 1, the snow was so gently falling...winter holds on!