Look at those adorable children. How could they have been neglected for so long?

BLOG POSTING ON THE WAY!

And the Winner is…

                                  

I was working out of town this week, but my girl sent me a text to let me know that both she and her brother had won their respective spelling bees that day.  I was so excited, and so very sorry I had missed that.  Now they will compete against each other on January 27th.  And wouldn’t you know, I have to work.  I am desperately seeking substitute.  Is anyone available?

 

And in other happenings:

 

 

Ethan is not the only member of our family that LOVES biscuits and gravy.

Over the Christmas break John and I took the kids to Des Moines to visit some friends.  We had a great time together catching up.  Our friend Brian is half-nude only because he was the only parent devoted enough to get into the pool with the kids.

 

And Gertie learns to swim.  Well, we’ll call it swimming.

 

I’m just throwing these in because I think they’re cute.

 

And don’t you just love when big sisters spend a little quality time with their little sisters?

Gertie is all dressed up for church.  The sweater lasted on her body a total of 13 minutes.  Apparently, she doesn’t need to keep her torso warm.

Whoa. Back Up a Minute.

Its been a while for me.  I really offer no excuses.  I’ve been out here.  I’ve been watching you too closely to make my own news.  The problem is, there’s been plenty going on around here.  Now I offer this humble posting and hope I haven’t lost my already sparse readership.  (Actually, most of you are family, so really, you are stuck with me.  And I know that.)

Here is one picture of my boy playing football this year.  His first year in pads.  This is one of about 300 pictures I took, and this is the best one.  That may or may not tell you something about my photography skills.  I just absolutely loved watching him play football. 

 

 And while we’re on the subject of Ethan, this is the speech that rocked the world Neveln Middle School and got my son elected treasurer of the student body. 

  This is what happens when you pile your kids into a van loaded with face paint and drive for 4 hours.  It was supposed to be for some football-player black-eye the next day, but I think they went a little overboard a little early.

 

  And then came Halloween.  We had been to a wedding out of town that day, and I really wasn’t sure when we’d be home, so I hadn’t stressed the whole Halloween thing that much.  But as we were driving home, the girls started talking.  We had this cute little ladybug outfit for Gertie, and Grace decided to go as a bug catcher.  It was actually a lot of fun.

Ethan protested the whole Halloween thing on religious grounds, but when we came home from trick-or-treating, this is where we found him, happy as a clam.  Those were some serious convictions  until the candy showed up.  He rolled right over and started begging.

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And then he turned 11 on me.  Isn’t he cute?  They do that, you know; they turn 11 someday.  Some of you know just what I’m talking about.

 

And this is Grace as Annie.  This was such an exciting experience for her, and she just did a great job.  I was so excited to see this performance, and we had a great time.  Gertie was crying while watching this production of awkward pre-teens play out the story of an orphan that finds a loving family.  She’s cried every time she’s watched the dvd of Grace as Annie.  And that’s a lot of times.

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I snuck away to see my sister and her family in Arizona.  This is the one picture I took, which is ridiculous, considering the main attraction for the visit was my brand spanking new baby niece Amelia.  Do I have a picture of her?  No, I do not.  But the little cutie next to my my sister’s look-alike there is my cousin Katy’s girl, Amy.  I had so much fun spending days with my sister doing just average day-in-the-life things.  I really miss her and think she should consider the cooler temperatures of Minnesota when she’s suffering in the Arizona heat. 

  And now Christmas.  Guess what Grace got?  She really shot big on her Christmas list, and Santa obliged.  How could you not get that sweet girl just what her heart desires?

And EJ has such a grateful heart for whatever comes his way.  In his case, this year, it was a Welker jersey.  Unfortunately, Welker just got hurt and won’t be finishing out the season, or maybe even be able to play next year.  We shall see.  We’ll have to have a picture of him in that jersey to follow soon.

 And this?  Need I say anything about this?

 

  Love the disaster photo after all the fun.

Here we are having a bit of sledding fun.  We’ve sure had plenty of snow to play around in, and this was a beautiful day before the temperatures dropped to Arctic levels.

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So this brings me almost to today.  Hope you’re all snuggled in and staying warm. 

I’ll try harder.  I promise.

My long lost bloggers are starting to resurface. It is inspiring to me. I am trying again as well.

My little sister had her baby number 2 on the 21st. Her name is Amelia.As in Amelia Bedelia. Remember her?


I just got lost on Youtube viewing some good old Amelia Bedelia pairing the vegetables and drawing the drapes and dressing the turkey. I love it. This is going to be fun!

I am crazy in love with my kiddos these days. Grace is growing up so fast I just can't stand it. She's off to orchestra camp this weekend. Her legs are really getting long.

Ethan is reading up a storm. He loves those Alex Rider books. He's doing great in school, and he's been an all-around honest, hardworking boy as of late. Well, mostly. Yesterday morning I took him to school, and he was rambling on about some sort of poop joke or something as he got out of the car laughing. I knew I wasn't supposed to think it was funny (and I didn't), but I really did love it that he was so happy, even with his cheesy boy humor. I love that kid.

Gertrude has been doing so much better, really. She's getting nicer by the day. Except today, really. Today she was whiny and wanted to be carried all the time. She is three, you know. I don't think I should have to carry her around. And she seems to be very good at breaking dishes. Do you think this could be an inherited quality? I wouldn't have thought so, but I know I broke a few dishes in my day as well. I think we are on the third glass in two weeks or something.

Now I'm going to spend some time with my husband. I like that guy too.

I have to be up early for work tomorrow. Good night. Sleep tight.

A Minnesota Scrapbook

These are a few pics of the kids and I that I had taken while we were on a walk. I thought we got some cute ones.
















And these are just a few miscellaneous shots that I liked throughout the whole week.























And then these are a bunch from a walk. It was a beautiful day and it was just a great time. Again, a few favorites.



















And this last one is an ode to my oldest. She loves the camera. I know Julie took one and I took a couple, I think, but the rest are hers. She got some good shots.

Boating on Portage Lake

Well, I've given much thought to how to do this. There are too many pictures, but I want to share so many of them with my family that I'm posting a ton. I didn't think the slideshow worked all that well, so I've spent a lot of time loading them up one by one. I've limited this set just to boating. There are many more to come of this week with family. I'm going to be brief. Just enjoy the pictures.

Verena, Gertie and my Dad on the boat.


My stepmom Judy and my Aunt Jean. Two good-looking chicks.

Ethan and Dad and Judy's new pup, Becky.

My Aunt Jean even got out on the tube with Grace. I insisted she wear that ridiculous life jacket. She thanked me later. Trust me.

Becky.

I stole this one from Judy. Me and my little girl.

I think Chad looks like a true captain with his crew of boys.

Gertie and me again. She loved tubing.

This was Grace's favorite place on the boat. You could find her here.

Enjoying the ride.

No words necessary. (Except that is Hunter, for those that don't know.)

I just like back shots of cousins. What can I say?

Foxy lady.

Verena and Bethie. I miss them already.

Baby V. What will I do when she grows up?

Aawww.


Becky getting a little lovin'.


Gracie and Gertie.

Abandon ship!


Gertie.

When you pull three kids behind a pontoon boat, the kids quickly discover they've got a pretty stable ride. So they start on the tricks. Here they are:







Julie and John enjoying the sun.


Chad and Tate made it out for a bit too.