My scheduled night to post

With the addition of school coming on, plus new responsibilities with job, I have decided that I need a nightly routine. So, Tuesday nights (and hopefully Thursday nights) will be my blogging nights along with various other things to get done. Homework will be Monday when kids go to bed, an hour on Wednesday (after Tim and the kids help me clean), during nap time on Friday and Sunday nap time and evening also. Saturday is open for now, but I am sure will quickly be filled with errands, cleaning, homework and misc. crap I have to do :-) Everthing is subject to change and I am sure, will change :-) I am sure I will be fine.. however with new job duties comes nervousness and with one statistics class comes nervousness. I have recently been told that I may have a potential Europe trip coming up for work in October and can be assured that more travel will come also. So, wish me luck!

I just got back from my St. Thomas orientation for the MBA evening program. Yes, I am excited for class to start, but that just brought on the whole uneasiness of my new schedule. Anyway, the cool thing about the orientation was that I ran into a person from Durand that works at St. Thomas! We talked for awhile, swapped business cards and plan to meet up again soon.

The kids are doing okay through all of this change. Emma has been a tad on the whiny side, but I am still wondering if daycare is the culprit of that as I feel she is somewhat bored there. I am in a bit of a quandary about daycare as of late as I would really like to get Emma in more of a preschool atmosphere but really think Evan is good in a more nurturing environment. All of the preschools in Stillwater are 3 days per week, so that won't work either. Our current daycare provider really loves the kids and does a great job, but I am wondering how the next week year will go as Emma's best friend Breezy will be in kindergarten. Emma is the oldest child there, then Evan, that a 1 year old girl and a 3 month old boy. We were told that Emma will start a preschool like program once school starts there, so I am hoping so! I am sure I will have more to post on this one later.

We were at the cabin this past weekend and were delighted to have some friends up! My friend Heidi, her husband Scot, and her children came up for the day. We didn't tell Emma until the day they were arriving as to avoid the "Mom! When will they be here?" questions. But, she was SO VERY excited when she heard her friend Ava was coming to play. And.. play they did! Right when the family arrived, the girls rushed to Emma's room to play Barbies, then rushed to the basement to play Weebles, then rushed to get suits on and go outside. It was great! They both played well together and pushed each other to do more things in the water, which was good for Emma! She was jumping in deeper water than normal and getting her face wet!

Heidi and Scot have another daughter Reese who is a few months younger than Evan. Evan adores Reese! He was sharing his food with her, sharing (sometimes too forcefully) his toys with her and even leaned over to her and gave her a little kiss on the cheek when the evening was done. It was so sweet! He wasn't shy at all, just leaned in and planted one on her! All the adults saw it and of course Tim was all "That's my boy!" and I just laughed and thought he was a bit too young for his first kiss!

We are getting ready here to celebrate a few birthdays! My sweet little boy turns 2 in a week and I took the day off from work to spend it with him. My birthday is coming up soon also - yea! Maybe Tim will let me sleep in a bit :-) Here's hoping! We are having a Car's themed birthday party for Evan, as we loves his cars... any cars really. I went to a garage sale this past week and they had a whole bucket of matchbox cars for sale, 5 for $1. So, we picked out 5 and Evan was in heaven! So much so, that when we went to Culvers later that day, he didn't know where he was going to put his cars. He had one in each hand and was trying to juggle 3 on his arms pressed to his chest. However, they kept falling out. So, Evan tried to have 2 in each hand and have one pressed to his side. But, alas, they kept falling also. The solution?? He decided that 2 in each hand was manageable and stuck the other in his mouth and wanted to carry his last precious car that way. Hilarious! He doesn't want to give them to anyone to help out, but he sure is a problem solver trying to figure it out!

Good news to post also!! I just got my car back! That's right, it only took 9 weeks after the accident to straighten out the insurance and get it done. I have to admit, it took a LOT of phone calls on my end, some not-so-kind words on my end and the filing of a claim with the State of Minnesota Commerce Department against that insurance company to get it done. I have no good things to say about the insurance company of the car that hit me, they lied to me, were rude to me, and were a huge pain in the ass to deal with! But, finally - they paid and I now have my car. It is like I have a new car again! I forgot how to drive it I feel like- but the kids and I were very happy to see it. (also, side note on the way to get the car, Evan started singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star - so cute!)

That's all for now. I hope everyone has great plans for Labor Day Weekend!

A little frog goes a long way

Well, we had a bit of excitement in our house tonight. I got home from work, changed out of my work clothes, then let the dog out like normal. Evan came out with me and grabbed a bucket on the way out as our raspberries are coming in like crazy! We were picking some raspberries, feeding them to Sage who LOVES them, and eating some ourselves. All of a sudden, I noticed a small little tree frog on our raspberry bush. One would have thought that the sky opened up and rained candy- the kids were SO excited! So, we got the poor little tree frog in a bucket and brought it up by the house. Emma declared that it's name was Suzie and instantly started putting dirt, plants, dead bugs in the bucket for little Suzie. Evan, one to always copy his big sister, started to do the same thing. However, he wasn't nearly as careful as the girl and I was scared many times that he was going to smother poor Suzie. Yes, she did try to escape a few times, but whenever Suzie would slowly make the trek up the sides of the bucket, Evan would go all dragon on her and let out a big "ROAR" to scare her back down. (Well, that was the intent. It didn't work, but I got a good laugh out of it.) Emma, eventually, got the nerve to pick her up and then, would not put her down. "Mama! I picked her up! I cannot believe this is the first time I picked one up!" Finally, it was all done when Emma wanted to see if Suzie could swim. Alas, she could not. We saved her before she drowned and then we sent her back home. Emma exclaimed "Ah Mom, she will be happy now with her family again." I am not so sure that Suzie found her family again, but I am sure the poor frog was happy to be away from the crazy kids.


Yesterday, it was a soccer match between the Heuer Hurricanes and the Kellogg Cougars (yeah, they did change their name. Last year, if you remember, it was the Kellogg Sparkles; which, I think had a better ring to it than the Kellogg Cougars, but whatever.) The game always starts out with the proper stretching and then some laps around the trees. Then, the game started... and ended about 5 minutes later. My Emma is a bit more aggressive than the neighbor girls and they did not care for the competition. She did try to steal the ball from them and they were not happy about that. They went home soon after that. I must say though, Emma does okay for a 4 year old. She has to be reminded not to use her hands at times, but she does kick and follow the ball okay. Evan was in on the action also and had fun playing "soyker". He had his own ball and would kick it up and down the yard. He loved it!

Here are some pics:










Emma running along the field. Yes, those are potted trees that are serving as goals. We are really not that advanced yet in our game.





Evan saying cheese! I get out the camera now and he automatically says cheese.

The kids are happy because they scored a goal:

Emma is tired from all the exercise.


The kids together and I have to mention that Emma is wearing her new favorite outfit: her workout clothes. I have some that match closely (no, mine do not say Love Cheer on them) and when I workout, she has to put her workout clothes on as well so we match. The kids now like to run with me, even Evan exclaims "Run! Run!" when we are in the yard.

And Evan in his favorite jammies - his ball jammies. His old ball jammies were getting too snug, so I bought him a new pair. This was taken last night and he was totally distraught because I did not get him his bedtime snack right away when he wanted it. Funny story.... last night the kids had chocolate gold fish crackers and milk for snack. Emma gobbled hers up quickly and started whining because she did not have any left.

She asks Evan: "Evan, can I have some of your goldfish crackers, PLEASE?"

Evan, smiles slyly, squints his eyes and looks over at her, "Nope!"

Emma: "Come on Evan! You have a lot left and I am hungry!"

He, with the same sly expression on his face: "Nope. Mine"

She, exasperated, looks at me "MOM! Evan is NOT sharing!" So, I explain that she does not always share her things with him and that he doesn't have to share his snack with her. Emma tries one more time. "Please, Evan?!"

He, once again with the cat that got the canary expression, smiles and says, "Nope!"

Priceless... it really was. I wish I could capture the inflection in his voice because it was so funny to watch. In the end, I did give Emma a few more crackers and she did share them with her brother.

The many hats we wear

So, I went to my Women's Leadership Conference last week and it was awesome! Not so awesome for Tim since he was playing single Dad for the most part with the drop off & pick up with daycare, supper, dishes, bath, bedtime duties all being done by him. I have to admit that it was hard to be away from them for the week, as I got home late some nights, but it was worth it! Part of the session was talking about the many hats that women wear and I was just thinking about that tonight as I am trying to be story-teller and keep up the blog for the kid's sake, student while studying Marketing so I can test out of that general, housekeeper as I sit around and look at my cluttered house, wife as I wish I could spend more quality time with Tim, Mother as Emma just fell asleep and Evan sometimes cries for his Nuk, Co-worker, daugher, friend, etc, etc, etc... I think we all average 10 - 14 hats that we wear at times. Sounds exhausting doesn't it?! The good thing is that I gained a lot of perspective from the conference and found it a very valuable use of my time. I learned to have no regrets, let go of my guilt, and enjoy all that comes at me. Hell, I am going to take over the world! Haha!

So, after a week of not being around a lot, I was really looking forward to spending the weekend at the cabin. We had beautiful weather and swam a lot, spent time with family, ate yummy food, and just relaxed. Emma continued to make large strides swimming in the water, Evan really enjoyed his "ishing" and Tim and I relaxed. We did go deep swimming again so both kids could swim under the pontoon tunnel and Emma and I swam from the red ball buoy to the family cabin. I even did that without a life jacket as I hope to overcome my fear of swimming in a lake without a flotation device :-) I have to do it for my kids' sake, right?

Emma had her kindergarten screening today and did awesome. She told me all about it as Tim and her had a special Dad & Daughter morning. First, they went to McDonald's for pancakes and she proudly told me that she ate her pancake without sryup because she doesn't like it. Then, the testing. She did awesome and passed with flying colors, but honestly, I wasn't overly worried about that. She had a little trouble hopping on one leg, but other than that, no learning concerns. She did have an eye test and was found to have 20/30 vision. The nurses said not to worry about that, as she is young and her eyes are still developing. However, I may do a follow up visit with our eye doctor and have her checked out also. She was so proud of herself and promptly came home to do homework and get ready for school. I have been trying to do homework some nights also, so I think she feels it is cool when her and I do our homework together. This was her synopsis of the day:

"First, Daddy and I went to McDonald's because we had a special morning without Evan. Then I went to school testing and I had to be really quiet and couldn't talk while looking at cards. I got to build blocks too. Then, we went to another building and I got to listen for birds that got louder and softer. Then, I went to another building and I played. It was fun." Tim told me that Emma made a pretty big deal about it with Evan also that HE still had to go to Theresa's and SHE was getting school tested. She is 40# and 41 inches and normal, so that is good!

Evan is good too - or awesome as I was saying tonight and "offome" in Evan speak. He would get right up in my face, tilt his head and say "OFFOME!" He has been turning more into a little boy as of late. Growling and roaring a lot, using a deep "scary" voice when talking and just being a little terror. He was pretending his dresser in his bedroom was a rock climbing wall tonight and decided to climb up it. We are getting ready for Evan's 2nd birthday party, which I am sure will be a Lightning McQueen party theme. He loves the little cars and always has to be carrying 1 in each hand at all times. Of course, Emma has taken more interest in Cars lately too, so he and Emma are constantly fighting over the cars.

Here are a few pics tonight of the action:

Outside with the sweetcorn. We had BLT's and sweetcorn for supper. A nice summer meal!

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And a common picture in our household now, the kids being attacked by the dog. Sage is pretty good at taking advantage of the kids when they fall over or play. He likes to jump on them and "attack".

Emma was helping out as well and telling me all about her day.

The Dog - much loved by the family, but cause of much frustration. I cannot wait for the puppy stage to be over.

And a picture from about 2 weeks ago. Evan was helping me in the kitchen. He has really enjoyed being a kitchen helper lately and always asks for a chair so he can stand up by me.

Now, to take off the narrator hat, but away the Marketing books, make my breakfast/lunch for tomorrow and head to bed! 5:15 comes around too damn early :-)

A medium shower

The past two days were a meteor shower... leonids? ... peonids? something like that. So, we decided to invite the Kellogg's over for a barbecue and a late night watching the meteor shower. And yes, a late night for our kids is like 9pm. However, I was excited about it. My Mom and I stayed up late one night to watch a meteor shower and it was so neat! Some of the stars would be so bright they would light up the entire sky and their path (tail??) would show for a few seconds after they were gone. So cool!. I had hopes of seeing a few, even with it being early. So, after a supper of bbq chicken, creamed potatoes and green beans, and watermelon, we headed outside for smores and some stars. The kids were so excited for the smores and the "medium shower" as Emma put it and were running around having a happy ole' time. I bought the BIG marshmallows, so that added to some of the excitement also. After a few smores each, running around, screaming a bit, the sky got somewhat dark so we could see a star. Emma had to make a wish on it and Kyra exclaimed "Wow, I have never seen the first star before!" Then... we waited and stared at the sky. We waited some more and listened to the kids getting increasing goofy as they got tired. Then we all went in to the house to change into pants and shoes (to avoid the bugs) and went back out. Nothing... not one shooting star did we see. I was pretty disappointed, but really, we were outside until maybe 9:30. Evan didn't really get into the whole star thing like everyone else. He really liked the moon and the smores. "Roast!" he would exclaim as he tried to put "Marsh" on the poles to roast a marshmallow. Here are some pics:

Here he is concentrating intensely on putting the "Marsh" on the stick.

Actually roasting the marshmallow. And yes, those are snow boots he is wearing. He loves wearing boots. Even in the hot days of summer you can normally see him wearing rain boots or snow boots.


Emma getting in on the smores action.

A family pic:

Otherwise all is good here. We are around this weekend and enjoying seeing friends, having barbecues and just being home. Here is Evan trying to help out and get his shirt on all by himself. He was getting pretty frustrated by this point and wasn't very happy with me that I went to get the camera first instead of helping him out. He would prefer to be clothesless if we let him. It is not uncommon for people to come over and he is either without a shirt or shorts. (always a diaper though, we just cannot trust that kid without a diaper)

And then, on Friday, it was our clean-up day. I decluttered the mess from the week and Emma had to put her clothes away and clean her room. I love the way she cleans lately. I had her pick up our living room the other day and she stacked all the pillows by each other on the couch, laid 3 blankets on top of each other and then used them to cover a shelf and then stacked all the little people buildings along one wall. I would love to be inside her head when she is decided how to put things away. Here are some pics of her room and the good job she did. She is so proud of herself when she is done and I like it that she has started to help out a bit.

All of her Barbies in the party corner:

And here is the top of her dresser (my favorite part). I love how she stacked her polly pocket box on top of her jewelry box and three figurines on top of that. Then, (on the left) she has all of her bracelets lined up on the top. Anyway, not that exciting, but cute I thought.

Some kid-isms:

Emma:
We were reading one of her favorite muppet stories before bedtime one day and it was the "I go to Preschool" book where Kermit goes to preschool. There is a section of the story where Kermit and Miss Piggy sit on a mat for quiet time and listen to stories. Emma looks at me and says, "Wow Mom, that would be really hard being quiet for so long. I don't think I could do it because I like to talk too much." And yes, whenever I am reading stories, she is constantly interrupting me to ask questions.

Evan:

We are still trying to wean him from his pacifiers or Nuk-ers as we call them. Many times, we keep his Nuk's in a little box on top of his dresser and we take them away when he wakes up and give them to him before bed or nap. Well, he LOVES that little box and can be found many times trying to climb up to that little box to steal a Nuk. Well, we had Nuk's in our kitchen one day and before nap, I was helping him climb up the stairs with the two Nuk's in my hand. He stops on one stair, looks at me and demands "Mama, NUK!" I laugh and say, "No, Evan, not until you are in your bed." He looks at me again and instantly his eyes fill up with tears and he loudly proclaims "NUK!" So, being the horrible, I-can't-stand-the-tears-so-here-is-your-Nuk- Mother that I am (especially because we were heading up to his bed anyway) I hand him a Nuk. He instantly pops it into his mouth and proclaims again and holds out his little hand "Nuk - two." Yup, he wanted to me to give him the other Nuk so he could have two. And yes, I gave into him again. . . but come-on! Have you seen how cute he is?

Otherwise, I think that is it for now. Have a great Sunday!

A family reunion

This past weekend we were up at the cabin for a family reunion... of sorts. My family came in from Montana, my family came up from Durand, and my family came up from Milwaukee to spend some time at the cabin. In the end, it all turned out awesome! Emma had a great time playing with all the cousins and they all went deep swimming together. At one point, Emma was about 50-60 feet from the end of the dock and it was so amazing to see it! She has been making such strides with her swimming the past 3 or 4 weeks and it was been cool. The adults had fun catching up, playing games, and telling stories (and getting thrown off the jet-ski!) We all get along so well and just have fun together. It is very nice.

Other than that, all is well in our house. Busy, as normal. I am getting ready for school that starts in about a month and Evan's 2nd birthday party! AHH - how could that be?! Next week I am at the Leadership conference and I am very much looking forward to that! However, they are long days; I start around 7:30 in the morning and end around 8 or so in the evening. Most of the evenings include a working dinner though, so that should be nice!

We decided to eat out last night as I had no desire to make supper. I was pretty much avoiding the weekend "just got home from the cabin mess" and didn't feel like finding something to eat in the freezer, so, my kitchen was closed. We went to a local favorite, Ray J's in Woodbury, and while we were waiting for our food, we were coloring with the kids and visiting. The radio was on and "Poker Face" came on by Lady Gaga. Emma looks up at me and says "Huh... Lady Gaga is playing" and then goes back coloring. I, confused, look at Tim and then back at Emma. "Uh, Emma - how did you know this is Lady Gaga?" "Umm.. I don't know Mom, I just knew" like any 4 year old would know Lady Gaga. Now, I am a constant radio switcher; always trying to find a better song that is playing. Primarily, though, I listen to country music. So, it is not likely that Emma has heard this song repeatedly from me - or from Tim. He is not a Gaga enthusiast. So, I am still not sure where that one came from.

Evan is still enjoying his Lightning McQueen balls. He and Tim play catch now. Evan always says "Ball fun! Ball.. fun!" It seems as though right now we have an ambidextrous son. He typically always throws with his left arm, but eats with his right. I know a certain Occupational Therapist that sames hand dominance isn't decided until around 3 years old or so, but I am betting he is going to be a lefty.

We will be home this weekend, which is always nice. We have a lot of plans, seeing friends, errands, so I am sure it will be jam-packed.

I received my blog books last week in the mail and they look so good! Better than I pictured actually. It is so neat to read all the stories, the happenings of the kids, see the pictures, etc that I captured for them. I have 2 volumes so far and printed out 2 copies of each so I can give one to both Emma and Evan as they get older. I am hoping to blog more, post more pictures, capture all the moments so they will know the funny stories, funny sayings and expressions they had. It is pretty cool.

The fair is a wonderful smorgasbord

That song from Charlotte's web was in my mind all evening as we visited the Washington County Fair. (remember Templeton, the rat, who stowed away in Wilber's crate to ride to the fair?)

Anyway, Emma was beyond excited for the fair. She kept talking about the rides she wanted to ride on and was a little disappointed when we got the fair food first. Evan, however, not so excited about anything. He was having a rough night. He didn't want to sit, he didn't want to eat, he didn't really want to do anything we asked of him. I think he is getting some 2 year molars in, which are affecting his normally happy disposition. I do think he is starting the terrible two's also... yea me.

At the fair, we met up with the Kellogg's, so that always adds more excitement to trips! Starting with food, we bought: cheese curds (2), french fries, corn dogs (3), sweet corn (4), gyro's, nachos, pizza, chicken fries, strawberry lemonade, mini donuts, and a Chicago Style hot dog. Wow, makes us sound like pigs... But -there were 8 of us in tow and we all shared. Does that make it sound better?

After the food, we were off to the 4-H barns. I hope my kids get involved in 4-H some day. Very cool organization. The kids loved seeing all the animals and petting the ones in the children barn. Emma laughed a lot about seeing the animal's butts and Evan was pretty certain that a pig was trying to eat his foot. (Hopefully we can talk Papa and Nana into getting them a pet on the farm!) Then, the much beloved rides. I think each of the kids went on 4 rides apiece, which was definitely NOT enough for Emma and Evan. Evan had a total melt down about the time we left as he was certain he should be able to go on more "wides". He did the little cars, motorcycles, jet-ski rides that just go around in the a circle. He did join Emma and myself on a little kiddie roller coaster. He was pretty expressionless for that one, but Emma and the Kellogg girls loved it. Emma did a spinny strawberry ride, some of the little ones with Evan, and a big climby, slide thing. After the rides, a quick stop at the 4-H tent again for malts and then the trip home.

The fair is a good time, I enjoy the food and seeing the kids have fun on the rides. I wish we could spend a little more time there, but we had to get home to the dog and the kids were pretty tired. I am sure as they get older, we will stay longer.

I didn't think to grab my camera, but here is a quick pic of Evan on a "wide". I took this one with my phone.

Yesterday, the kids and I took a trip to Target for some necessities and I spent the best $3 ever I think. There were good sales and I was buying Emma a lot of clothes for next year, plus a little work-out outfit for now, and I needed something to keep Evan occupied in the cart. He, being the terrible two year old, was constantly trying to climb out of the cart, pulling clothes off of racks, and just being difficult. So, I quickly grabbed a 2 pack of Lightning McQueen soft balls off a rack for him to play with. Man, you would have thought I bought this kid a new puppy, all the ice cream he could eat or something because he is in heaven. Those 2 balls never leave his side. He promptly asked me to get them out of the wrapping "Out! Out Mama!" so he could play. He took them outside, threw them to me, ran around with them, and quickly started crying and screaming when Sage took one away from him. He had to have them in his crib with him last night to sleep and took them to daycare today also. They basically never leave his side. Except when Emma wants to annoy him and takes one away from him. They are a good investment I think.

We have a busy weekend coming up with family in town and a wedding shower (yeah Meghan!) so it will go by quickly I am sure.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Wanting to be a mermaid

Emma won't give up on the fact that she is going to be a mermaid someday. She loves mermaid dolls, mermaid books, and mermaid movies. Her recent favorite: Barbie, A Mermaid Tale. I bought her the book the other day at the bookstore, since she received 2 of these Barbies for her birthday. Then, after we read it for a few weeks, we got the movie from Netflix. So, today, our conversation in the car goes something like this:

Emma: "Mama, why aren't you like Erris?" (who I think is the Mermaid Mom in the book)

Me: "What do you mean?"

Emma: " Well, why don't you turn me into a mermaid?"

Me: "Well, because I am not a mermaid, so you cannot be a mermaid. Mermaids are pretend Emma."

Emma: "No, when I get bigger, I am going to be a good surfer and my hair is blond so I will get pink streaks in it. Then, I will wear swimming shorts and a swimming top and will be a good surfer and will dance in the water. Then, I will turn into a mermaid and be like Merliah."

I, of course, just sigh after this conversation as I try to tell her that she will not become a mermaid, but she doesn't believe me. It just leads to more questions about why we are NOT mermaids and how she can become one. Interesting conversation to have with a 4 year old....

Pictures!! Here are some pictures of our past weekend:

The big event - Deep Swimming! Basically, taking out a boat (or pontoon in our case) and going swimming. We went out on Saturday with Emma's Aunt & Uncle and cousins. The first time we stopped the pontoon to swim, it was in a spot that Emma could touch so she could get used to it. She loved that! Evan did also - both kids were wearing life jackets and were kicking/floating and having a great time. The second time was in a deep spot - water about 8 feet deep, so everyone was wearing a life jacket. The highlight of the event was swimming through the tunnel - or going under the pontoon. Emma was a little leary at first, but after the first time, couldn't get enough of it. Evan, having to do everything that his sister does, went full throttle right away. Here is a picture of Evan in the "tunnel" under the "toon" Now, he keeps saying "tunnel! Tunnel Mama!"

And Emma, now she keeps asking when we can go deep swimming again.

And Emma driving the pontoon. Sometimes she is lucky and Uncle Dave lets her drive. She does a pretty good job as she knows her left & right.

The next big event?? Emma swimming to the red ball at her Aunt & Uncle's house. It was her goal all year to swim there and she made it! It is about 100 feet away from their beach and after she got her confidence up after deep swimming, swimming to the red ball was nothing! The picture is of me (far right) Emma (middle) and cousin Jordyn (on the left).

Then, just random pictures swimming:

Emma jumping!

Evan saying "Cheese!" and taking a break from swimming.

How Evan swims (or "pim! Pimin!")


Emma still isn't so good at putting her face in the water, but we are working on it.

My bundles! (I made up this little song for them that I sing when they are all wrapped up in their towels. Now, they can sing along with me and request me to sing it. Evan says "Bunnel!"

One more cute one of the two together:

Then, I think I mentioned that Emma has learned how to put in her own ponytails. Here is a picture of them:

Otherwise, all is good. We have introduced the potty to Evan the past two weeks or so. He is really excited about trying it "Potty!" but not so good at the actual event. He tells me to take off his diaper (by just pointing at it and saying "Diper") and then attempts to go, but then nothing. The hard thing is he insists on doing this for about 5-10 minutes. Emma was potty trained at this age, but I am not so sure that Evan is ready. Although he can tell me when he has a messy diaper, so we will see. I bought the "Pirate Potty" book to read to him, so he knows that even pirates have to go potty. Now, the interesting thing will be if I have a conversation with him 2 years from now asking me when he turns into a pirate.

Done, done, and done

It feels so good to get some projects accomplished!

Emma's dresses - done

Blog book #1 - done

Blog book #2 - done!

Now, to reprint pictures from the last year, shorten some pants maybe (or spend the money and have someone do it for me) and my list is almost done. Remember in a past blog post how I mentioned I thrive on deadlines? Well, I got it - September 14, I start school.

This past weekend, once again, we were at the cabin. I actually brought my camera down to the beach so I could take some pics of the kids. I am not always good with doing that. The kids and I had an extra long weekend at the cabin, as we went up with the Kellogg's on Wednesday night. My cousin and her two little kiddos were at the cabin also (along with my Aunt and Mom), so we had a little of littles running around! Tim met us on Friday night after work.

One quick story:
On Friday, we went visiting. Well, we attempted, but Tim's two sisters were not home. So, we were walking back to our cabin, rather quickly, as the mosquitoes were pretty heavy and we were getting bit. So, Evan and I were up ahead of Emma most of the time on our walk. She dawdles and with me pushing Evan, we can be quick. So, Emma is maybe 20-30 feet behind us on the gravel lake road, picking up rocks, picking up flowers, whatever. A few times she would tell me to slow down and I would for a bit, but I really wanted to get back to the cabin to get out of bug territory. Well, finally Emma yells " You know what Mom? You stay right there and I will catch up to you and you stay there and I will keep walking. Then we will see how you like being far behind!" She did too - I laughed as she huffed past me and went about 10 feet in front of us. Then, of course, we passed her.

Some highlights - Emma can now do her own pony tails. She tries anyway and while they are not perfect ( of course) she can do them and a bun.

Emma doing some "deep swimming"

Evan, well, just being Evan. He has no fear of the water. He will walk to where he is neck high or will "swim" in water up to his mouth.

Evan really enjoys pushing people off the dock and man, does he feel like the man doing so!

No pictures tonight. I meant too, but I have to get ready for work tomorrow. Have a nice week!

weekend adventures

We were at home this weekend and that is always a nice. Not that I don't like going to our cabin, because I do, but it is nice to be home and well, just be.

We had a work outing to the zoo on Saturday, which was thoroghly enjoyed. Well, it sort of was. I am not 100% sure that Tim wanted to be there and Emma was asking after being there for a half/hour when we were going home. Evan and I thought it was pretty cool though. Especially the fish, oh sweet Martha, the ISH! Evan LOVED the fish... and did Emma. The Minnesota Zoo has some pretty cool aquariums, a nice shark tank, and a touch & feel area with little sharks. So, Evan really loved watching the fish and Emma thought it was neat to see Dory, from Finding Nemo. Emma did think it was odd that Dory and Nemo were not in the same tank, but then she concluded that Nemo must have been at school, that is why they were apart. All-in-all a good day. We were there for about 4 hours and that was enough with two small children.

Here are some pictures:

Emma trying to pose with Evan:

Emma pretending to be in the zoo ( I actually took this picture to show everyone what her favorite outfit has been lately. Her crazy capri pants and her tie-dye shirt. I wish she knew how to match clothes OR let me pick them out for her.)

Other than the zoo, we ran some errands and got stuff done around the house. I cleaned, Tim cleaned up some stuff outside and just bummed. Tim did trim some tree branches and of course, Evan was Daddy's little helper. Evan found a wire cutter in Tim's toolbench and insisted that it was his and he had to help. So, while Tim was trimming branches, Evan was trimming all that pesky bark that is on the trees. He even worked on it today while Tim was outside with Sage, just to get the stuff he missed yesterday!

Notice the bald places on the tree? That is his handywork. Mostly, though, he was trimming away the stuff that was already coming off - so no real harm done. And yes, he insisted on wearing his rain boots.

Here is a closeup of his handiwork. He is wearing his favorite shirt also - his Nemo shirt. He wants to wear this everyday now also.

Yes, Emma was there too working alongside them. She was pulling weeds and transplanting trees. We saw some really cool green & black caterpillars in our herb garden that Emma was very excited about. I was tempted to put them in a jar and see if they would form a coccoon, but I didn't want to take the chance of them dying either.


Now, a few random stories:

I decided to make Emma some dresses. Why, I am really not sure, I like sewing and thought she would think it was cool if her Mom made her a dress. Her dance class was right next to a fabric store and we went in to browse one day. So, I made her a Tinkerbell Dress and a sparkly butterfly dress. My conclusion?? Much cheaper and easier to buy them, but, I digress... So, I get done with her Tinkerbell dress and ask her to try it on and make sure it fits. She refuses... So, I start asking her if she likes it "Yes, Mama, I like it" but why won't you try it on, etc? She finally puts her hand on my arm and seriously says "You know Mom, even if I don't wear it, it doesn't mean I don't like it."

So, I am thinking a lot of work for nothing.

I was cleaning the house on Friday with the kids helping. I was in my room putting away laundry. Emma was in her room picking up the toys and clothes on the floor and Evan was in his room playing with the door closed. That always makes me nervous, especially when it is quiet. So, I go in there and he is sitting in the top drawer in his dresser playing. Evan sees me walk in and just turns and smiles. I do the "What the ??" and proceed to rush over there to get him out before the drawer tips back and he falls to the ground. He looks at my like I am a crazy person for ruining is new, cool hideout. The only way I can figure he got up there was by climbing up the lower dresser drawers as I did see one of them was open. No good... it freaked me out actually. Although, I do know he is a climber - he did climb into his crib this past week to get one of his Nuk's out. He is only allowed to have his Nuk's now in his crib, so he decided to take matters into his own hands and get one for himself.

Emma was playing in the pool this morning with Sage, Tim and Evan, while I was out for a run with a friend. When I get home, she decides to change clothes, so I go in to make sure that goes okay. She comes down wearing a bathrobe. When I ask her why she is wearing her bathrobe she says, "Well Mom, I just got out of the pool and Damn, I was cold!"

And finally - my little Evan... Tim has this ritual of sorts that when someone passes gas in our house loudly, he looks up and says "Hey, was that a duck?" Well, Evan was having some issues with that tonight, so we were laughing a little bit as his expense. He lets one go pretty loudly at the dinner table and we were laughing. I say "Ahh.. Evan Michael!" and groan. Evan looks up and says "Duck?? Duck??" What can I say, he is his Dad's son, that is for sure.

Oh yeah, I saw him chewing on one of Sage's dog bones today. It was a flavored one and maybe that is why he was attracted to it, not sure, but really gross.

Just Another Day in Paradise

Ah yes, aren't they all just little days in paradise? Haha! We are now just bumming around - not too much going on. Every night after work, we let Sage out right away and play. Hopefully, I get to Sage before the kids do. They know how to open up her kennel and if I am not around, it is not unusual to see the little pup sniffing around the house. She will be a partial indoor dog, she is just not ready or trained for that yet!

Some stories to share:

A few weeks ago we were over at our neighbors, the Petersen's. The kids LOVE going over there as they have a very friendly dog, Henry, a little outdoor pond that is stocked with goldfish, and 2 cats. Evan is constantly going from the "ish" to the "Meow's"s. The hard part about this is that the cats do not appreciate a little tow-headed boy chasing after them with his arms wide open, yelling "MEOW!" So, unfortunately, most of the time the cats are hiding under the deck. He keeps an eye on the cats, bends way over to get a look at them under the deck, stretches as far as he can to pet them, normally with nothing to show for it. So, finally with much coaxing, the cats came closer to Evan. What does he do when they get close?? He puts his arms out like claws and goes "ROAR!" - yes, our little dragon showing his head. Those cats ran away from him as fast as they could. Sadly, I say to Evan "Evan, cats do NOT like dragons. Dragons scare kitties" He looked pretty sad, but seriously - did he really think the cats would appreciate a dragon's roar??

Emma has been acting better - which is great! I love riding in the car with her now as she loves the radio. She can sing along to many of the songs and many times says "Mom - turn it up, I LOVE this song!" Her favorites?? "Take me down to the little white church" "God is Great, Beer is Good, People are crazy" and "Rain" or something like that. (lyrics: Rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey, whisky makes my baby feel a little frisky) It is so hilarious to hear her sing as she gets some words right, is a little pitchy, but goes at it with gusto!

One other thing I thought was particularly funny was a comment from Sunday. We were leaving the cabin on Sunday later than normal. She thought we were going to be leaving in the dark and it took me a few times to convince her that no, we were leaving while it was still daylight. She looks at me and says, "Well Mom, who made that decision?" No lying...

So, we are on like week 4 with Sage. Sage is pretty good. Still nips, jumps, bites hair and clothes, but all-in-all is a very loved dog. She attended her first night of "Puppy Kindergarten" with Tim today (yes, I wish I was kidding about that) and per Tim, she did okay. The problem I am finding with having a dog is that now Evan sometimes thinks he is a dog. (when he is not being a dragon of course and scaring cats) He laps up drinks from cups, hops around on his hands and knees, and likes to put toys in his mouth now and holds them like Sage does. Somehow I need to convince this kid that no, he is not a dog, no, he is not a dragon, but my sweet little boy. He has been needing to be rocked at night and sometimes in the morning again, but I am not complaining! I love it. He grasps my hand and falls asleep instantly.

I registered for my first class today. Statistics starting on September 14. Luckily I will be at the St. Paul campus, and not Minneapolis, and I believe my work schedule is changing so Tuesday will be the day I work from home. That means I can see the kids in the morning AND pick them up before class!

Off to bed. "ROAR!"

Good news

Two good things!

1) I was offered the Project Management Job on Monday and I accepted on Tuesday. YEA! Official start date is August 1, however real time transition is unknown. That is the hard thing with switching to a new role in the same department; it is pretty much dictated to you when you start.

2) I was nominated to attend the Animal Nutrition Woman's Forum! This is a pretty nice honor as it is a 3 day event in Minneapolis and only a few woman in our division are nominated to attend. Meetings will be held with the senior leadership team and smaller groups will be broken out to discuss work topics, work/life balance, women empowerment, etc. then I will be assigned to a mentor group. I am still a bit shocked that I was nominated, but it came with a wonderful letter from our Division President about how he feels this will be a wonderful experience for me and my growth with the company. I know - I still can't believe it!! It is wonderful that my hard work is being recognized.

So with all that, how can my week be going bad? Even though Sage is up barking a lot, even though Emma has been crabby while trying to get back on a schedule, and even though Evan has been extra feisty with everything.... grrrr...

Sage is adjusting very well - AND - I should mention that she is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever Pup! She loves going outside to play, loves tipping over her water, chasing after the kids and sitting right in the middle of our flower bushes to keep cool. However, she is still adjusting to night time. She will sleep well for one part of the night, then may bark for the other. I just wish she wouldn't nip at the kids. Evan, many times, gets annoyed with Sage and has no problem telling her "NO". He can say Sage, although it comes out more "Shage" He likes throwing the ball to her and likes to mimic Tim and I and say "Pom" (or come) "Pom Shage" Emma still enjoys chasing after her, but the novelty has worn off a bit I think, especially since Sage likes to bite her hair and clamp down on her shirts and not let go, even while she is running away! All -in-all everyone is adjusting to life with a dog and all is good.

Emma has been having a rough week. I think she is still a bit behind on her sleep as she has been more argumentative and difficult to be around. She either wants to be held or sit on my lap and she never takes no for an answer. Emma always has to argue - EVERYTHING. That is getting old, very quickly. Tim and I have been firm with her, but it still gets tiring. On a good note though, she is doing so well with her letters and writing words! She wrote out all the names of the people in our family the other day and all were very legible. It is so neat! I am slowly working with her on reading and recognizing words.

Evan is saying more and more words every day. Many things I say, he repeats. Tonight, it was cloud or "Clow". Over and over and over. He points up to the sky "Clow! Clow!! Clow!!" He knows how to let Sage out of her kennel, which isn't good and really enjoys pulling her tail, poking her, or bothering her while she is in his kennel. Tonight Evan was outside on the deck with Sage for quite a while. Evan would follow her around, pet her, lay his head on her, try to give Sage kisses. It was very, very sweet. Actually, it was exactly what I hoped for our family with the puppy.

That's all for tonight. I need to get some zzz's while the puppy is sleeping. Sad, I know :-)

The new addition

And... we are back.

The hardest thing about vacation?? - coming back. I get so excited before hand. Two weeks before or a week before and I am bouncing off the walls ... and then vacation comes and goes so quickly. We had a wonderful time with our 9 days at the cabin. They were all busy days with the holiday and family time. The most busy thing???

Meet Sage - our new puppy. We got her last Friday, July 2. Tim and I left the children at my parents on the farm so we could drive the 3.5 hour trip to go and pick her out. We had pick of the females - so after a few tests by Tim, we picked out this little one. She is quickly settling in as a member of the family.

The kids adore her and Tim and I are pretty happy with her also. She is a very good mannered puppy and likes to stick close to us, which is good. The kids want to play with her constantly, but because she is not house- broken yet, that doesn't work out so well. Sage got a lot of attention this past weekend as my sisters and their families were at the cabin along with Eric & Gaeb and many other family members. Sage was constantly being held or petted or sleeping under a tree or available lawn chair. It will be quite a change for her this week when Tim and I head to work and Sage is in her kennel. The nice thing is that it will only be for 3 days a week. Tim will be coming home for lunches the next few weeks to check in and let her out. Plus we have a neighbor who is a huge dog lover who promised to come by and help out as well. Here is a picture of Evan doing something that Tim hates - picking up the dog. He doesn't mind when people pick up the dog... just not our two little ones. (unfortunately, they want to pick up Sage a lot!)

The whole week was great. As previously mentioned, we had a bunch of family up for the 4th of July holiday. So, for the whole weekend we were outside splashing around, swimming, jet-skiing, and having a great time. The favorite for the kids was the "water assault" where we would splash them repeatedly with water.

The 4th of July we made some homemade ice cream, had a camp fire, lit off little kid fireworks and then sat around on the mosquito infested beach for the fireworks across the lake. (Man, the bugs were horrible up at the lake!)

Then, family retreated to their homes on Monday and Tim, I and children were able to settle in (clean!) and relax. Tim always started his days very early as Sage (being only 7 weeks old) had to get up about every 4 hours to go outside. That was much better than the first few days with us as she cried and whined every few hours... just like having a newborn! However, the nice thing with Sage, as I told Tim. " I got up with the children every few hours to feed them, this dog is YOURS!" So, I luckily did not need to help out there!

We had more guests up on Wednesday as our daycare provider and her children came up to visit. Emma was beyond excited that her best friend Breezy was coming over and we were fortunate to have nice days so they could splash outside. The dog was also a huge hit with them, as was the jet-ski and lake. We had a great day with their family and took advantage of all the summer days had to offer.

The next few days were spent splashing, swimming, jet-skiing, reading, going to bed early and just having fun. We saw Tim's sisters and husbands a lot as they have cabins right by ours as well. We would meet for suppers, appetizers on the pontoons, swimming, anything really. It was great. Highlights from the week??

1) Evan has started picking up fish - he gets so excited when he can catch one that he has to run to Dada quickly to show him

2) Emma is swimming a lot more - she loves splashing and playing in the water, we just need to work with her getting a little deeper than knee deep for her

One morning, Tim went golfing, so I was left with the children and pup. We had donuts and coffee (glorified hot chocolate really for the kids) but they felt pretty important with their mugs. Here is Evan saying "CHEESE!" and smiling for the camera. If you look closely, you will see chunks in his coffee. The chunks are donut pieces and frosting pieces that he had to dunk in his drink. I always laugh at that kid because whenever he has a cookie, cake, or other sweet treat, he has to dunk it. The donut was no exception. He had pick up the smallest flake of frosting and try to dunk it in the coffee.

And here is Emma with her apple. She wasn't so cooperative with the donuts :-)

After that, it was the same old thing really. We really lucked out and had beautiful weather the whole time we were there. Thank goodness for air conditioning as well - we needed it!

The next pics are from Friday... cleaning day! Unfortunately, we still need to do some of that up there. So, the kids were my big helpers mopping the floor. Here is Evan after he fell on the floor. He didn't quite grasp the concept of ringing out his rag, so the floor was pretty wet... and he fell... which he was not so happy about. His shirt says POW!

And Emma (actually cooperating for the camera) smiling because I actually let her use the mop.

And now, we are back. It is good to be home. The kids were getting cranky as they were off their schedule and Tim was cranky because he has been up a lot with the dog and I am cranky as I have to deal with all of them :-) Sometimes, work is good!

One last picture - the kids home today with an ice cream cone.


I am sure I will have more stories as the week goes on. I seem to remember them when I am not typing up the blog!

More talking

From Emma:

"Mama, I am just getting so frustrated right now with my colors"
"Mom, I just need to focus more on this now."
"Daddy - Mommy HEARD you two times. You don't need to keep repeating yourself!"

From Evan:

His first sentence was spoken the other night when Tim was mowing the lawn. Like always, Evan follows him from window to window trying to catch a glimpse of him. "Wide? Wide?" (or ride in Evan speak) Anyway, it was time for bed and Evan takes one more look out the window:
"Nigh Nigh Dada" and then turns and walks away.

"Woom" "Woom!" as we are outside playing and Evan sees a bucket. Typically when it rains, we go outside right after, grab a bucket and collect worms.

On to happier things!

My post accident funk is now basically over. I was not that sore the days after, so that is good. I am still dealing with all the insurance agencies, which really stinks, but overall I am doing okay. The really crappy thing is that my car is still not getting worked on. There is a bit of a discrepancy as to how the rear end of my car was bumped. The guy behind me (that hit me) is claiming that he was pushed into me as a result of being rear-ended himself. It is totally bogus as it is pretty obvious based on the extent of my car's damage that he was going pretty fast when he hit me. But the insurance company will not claim liability until all the stories are sorted out. Hopefully, my car will be done in a few weeks.

However, I have received some happier news this week! There is a very good likelihood that I will be moving on to a new job in a month or so. Same company, same division, different group. I will be a project manager overseeing projects that try to take one groups waste and make it useful for another group. (example, working with our food grade flavorings division and taking their by-products or waste and using it in feed grade applications. Pretty cool, eh?)I am very excited to start something new and venture into a different career path. It is not 100% certain yet, but pretty certain. The nice thing is that my managers approached me about as they thought it would be a good fit. I will still be 4 days a week with one day from home. Very nice!

The other good news I received is that I have been accepted into the St. Thomas Evening MBA program! YEA! All that hard work studying as paid off! Off course, I am a bit apprehensive about it, but I still think it will work out fine. If not, I can always put it off a bit. Now I am hoping to test out of some required classes and get everything lined up there for fall semester. My hope is to start in September.

Tim and I had the weekend off as the kids were at Mom & Dad's for a small vacation and Tim and I were at the cabin for a small vacation. It was so nice - kind of our 6th Anniversary celebration! The sad thing is that I was probably most excited about getting an opportunity to sleep in for 3 days in a row (along with spending quality time with Tim of course)! We are so thankful that Mom & Dad are always up for the adventure of watching our children and that Emma and Evan love going there - and do well also. Tim and I headed up Thursday night, stopping at a restaurant along the way. Friday was filled with fishing, reading my book, golfing, watching a movie, plus a small date night for Tim and I with wine, good crusty bread w/ cheese, and lobster tails! Saturday was more fishing, pontoon rides, drinking margarita's and enjoying the company of our other family that was up at their cabin also. All-in-all it was fabulous just being on our own and not having to stress about the kids falling off the dock, getting a hook in fingers from fishing, falling off the pontoon, etc.

The kids had a great time at the farm also. They visited the barn, went out to eat, visited family, splashed in their little pool, and played with all the different toys that Nana & Papa have. We check in often and Emma gets to share the highlights of spending the time with her Nana and Papa. Even Evan gave me a call on Sunday morning to "talk" and tell me what was going on.

So, a nice change this past week after the bad start :-)

A really draining day

I know that I have said I have had draining days in the past. And, yes, I have. However, it only takes a higher level of a draining day to make one appreciative of what we had before.

This morning at 6:24 I was in a car accident. And when I say "I was" I mean we.... which is me (no kids thankfully) along with 6 other cars. BANG*BANG*BANG*BANG*BANG*BANG... I was the 4th bang damnit.... I am not sure how the succession started, but it ended with all of us standing along I-94 in morning rush-hour talking to the cops in the rain. Of course, it had to rain. I mean, why not really.... All of us were looking at each other, shaking our heads thinking "can it get any freaking worse??"

So, after an hour or so waiting for cops to get data and file reports, an hour at the wrecker waiting for Tim, over 2 hours talking to various insurance agencies, autobody shops, and an hour at the doctor I am very tired, sore, and ready for bed.

For all of it, I cannot say how the aforementioned accident happened. The first car messed up somehow and the following 5 cars were sucked into the mistake. My car has an estimated $9000 worth of damage and I have a sore back and neck with the basic promise from my doctor that I will feel worse tomorrow and the nex day.

Yes, I am so thankful the kids were not there. Yes, I realize it could have been much worse.... but it still sucks. This leaves me with 2 thoughts:
1) I should be driving a bigger vehicle. That way, it if happens again and the kids are with me, I have a better chance they will not get hurt. And yes, even a mini-van crossed my mind. But that was roughly 2 hours post accident where I was still shaky, still pretty worked up, and in post-accident shock. I think I have wisened up since then :-)
2) I should find a job closer to home. While I know this isn't in the cards for a few years maybe, it is something I definitely do want.

Now, on to happier subjects! We were at the cabin this past weekend and had a wonderful time. Sunday was one of the nicest days this year and we took full advantage of it. Emma is doing well swimming with a life jacket on and jumping off the dock. She is so much fun to play with in the water now and really enjoys splashing. Evan of course, still loves to fish (he loves petting the fish after they are caught and always says "Nice ... Nice" really drawing out the word.) and will try anything Emma does. He had to try jumping off the dock (yes, I was there to help) and when he say Emma riding along on the knee-board after my pushes, he had to be the next one to do it. Both of them really enjoyed that. I would be out waist-high in the water and would push that back in towards the beach.

We had a very fun play date with a friend on Friday. We were at a park, had a picnic lunch, and enjoyed the beautiful day.

That's all. I am going to go ice my back and relax.

Garage Sale-ing

It is no secret that I go garage sale-ing (or saling?? that just doesn't look right) and on most of my trips, I have my children along with me. So, Emma has decided she likes to play garage sale. Now, every night when we play outside she lines up all of her treasured outside toys (chalk, jump rope, rocks, picked flowers, and the occasional dried bugs) on our steps and declares this her garage sale.

I have to play the hopeful garage sale customer and look through all of her items and buy something. This is how it goes:

Customer "Gee what lovely stuff you are selling! How much are the rocks?
Emma "99 bucks"
Customer "Wow, that's a lot. How much are the flowers?"
Emma "99 bucks!"
Customer "okay" as little boy Evan trikes up "How much is this cute little boy?
Emma "Um, 66 cents"

seriously... she will sell her rocks, flowers, and dried bugs for 99 bucks, but her brother is cheap... 66 cents.

My Little Ferocious Dragon

I now have a husband, a daughter, and a ferocious little dragon. We can be sitting at the table eating supper, and Evan will glare at you, put up his hands in a claw-like gesture, and ROAR. Or we are reading books before bed and snuggling and he will squint his eyes, do his hand motion, and ROAR! It is hilarious. Of course, because Evan does that and gets a reaction, Emma has to roar also and louder.

This past weekend was bookclub and the cabin. The weather wasn't the best up there, but we still had a good time. We went visiting to Tim's sisters houses, watched movies, took naps, it was very nice.

Here are some pictures of the kids recently:
At the cabin, memorial weekend:

Evan heading down to go fishing. That is all he wants to do now. "ISH!!"



Emma getting ready for a boat ride.



Evan actually fishing. He is starting to learn how to reel it in, but mostly, he likes to dip the pole up and down.



Emma riding her bike. Every night we play outside and she is constantly doing circles on the driveway.



Evan's new favorite past-time. Riding down the hill on his bike.




Emma at her last night of dance/gymnastics class. They had an informal recital that night. All the kids were giddy with excitement at all the parents (and Nana's) there to watch. They were all introduced and they could do a little dance across the dance floor. They then did 2 dances, one ballet and one tap, and then went into the gym for gymnastics. Emma did a great job and liked performing!

Here is a pic of her at the class.