Don't eat your peas! {Aug. 25}

Ahhh, that classic line to get a kid to eat whatever is on their plate. For tonight's dinner, it was "Don't eat your peas!" Worked like a charm! Try it yourself! {Disclaimer: Does not work on spouses.}

Goodbye, Carpet {Aug. 23}

So, we lost all the carpet in our basement today from the sump pump breaking. The carpet guys said it was delaminating, so the laminate was pulling away from the carpet, leaving it unsalvageable. We're pretty crabby about it. So, they are drying out the floors and will be replacing the carpet, hopefully this week. I figure if I don't go into the basement until the new carpet is in, I'll never know it happened! I'd certainly be happier if the carpet had been old and ratty, but it was fairly new.

The extra bedroom. Mom and Dad will be staying here during Labor Day weekend. Have fun, Mom and Dad!
Our entertaining room. Who wants to come over now?
Mira had her friend Kelly over today. At least they look happy!
And here is Amelia, listening to "The Lion King" on Mira's iPod:
Hope you are all having a better weekend!

Two rooms become one . . . and splish splash! {Aug. 22}

Well, last night we discovered our sump pump broke sometime in the last two days. The carpet in most of our basement is squishy wet. So today, we've been dealing with this mess, working with our insurance and waiting around for the carpet people to come and pull up all the water and dry out the mess. We have several industrial fans, ready to go once the water is sucked up. Not a great day.
So, I decided that since we need to move all the toys out of the basement and upstairs to make things easier for the carpet people, I'd combine the girls' bedrooms into one room and make the other bedroom a dedicated playroom. Getting Amelia's crib out wasn't easy, but other than that, it worked out great! Mira and Amelia are happily playing in their new playroom right now. They are seeing toys they haven't seen in a long while, and my living room is looking cleaner and less cluttered! There is still some organization that needs to be done. I think I need a bin system or something, but we love the playroom, and I think the girls will enjoy sharing a room.

My sweet, sweet babies {Aug. 20}

It's been a quiet week, but I wanted to post a couple of photos of Mira and Amelia, and let you all know about Chris.

Chris came home on Tuesday and it is so wonderful to have him back home. He still has quite a bit of recovering to do and still has a bit of pain, but we are hoping the next few days of healing help with that. I think Chris is just happy to be home instead of in that dreary hospital. We hope this last surgery will be the last for a long, long while!

Oh, my beauty queen!
The girls are doing well! They've been playing together quite a lot lately. Amelia seems to really be interested in playing dress-up with Mira, and they play with Mira's dollhouse quite a lot. We think that this winter, when Amelia is ready for a big-girl bed, that we will move the girls into the same bedroom and turn the other bedroom into a playroom. It will be so nice to get all the toys out of the rest of the house and into one area! Plus, I remember sharing a room with Kelly when we were in Elementary school, and I really liked that. I think it will be a good experience for them.

Playing dress-up:
Little Miss Funny Face:

Swimming in Shakopee {Aug. 16}

Today, Mira, Amelia, and I went to Shakopee to visit Aunt Bonnie. She was in the hotel there while Jim and another couple went to the PGA Tour. She invited us down so the kids could swim in the pool. They had a blast! And I loved some alone time with my Godmother. It was a lovely morning with her. Then Bonnie took us out to lunch. Thanks so much, Bonnie! We had a great time.
Two things I learned about Bonnie today:
{1} She's a very generous tipper.
{2} She loves Key Lime Pie (just like me!)

Kissing cousins {Aug. 16}

Tonight, Mira said to me, "Me and Sam and Isaac are in love. But I can't decide which one to marry!"

A few minutes later, Mira said, "Mom, I think I'll marry Logan." (Logan is my sister's son.)

I said, "No. You can't marry your cousin."

What a look of disappointment I got from her!

Update on Chris {Aug. 15}

Hello! Sorry to leave you all hanging about Chris. He's doing pretty well. He's still in the hospital and will probably be there until Tuesday. It's a day-by-day thing. He's up and walking around, and they removed his nose tube and catheter today. So while he's not exactly a happy camper, he's at least a better-than-he-was-but-still-a-little-crabby camper. We're looking forward to having him home in the next few days!

Thanks so much to everyone for the cards, flowers, and calls. They've been wonderful for Chris to receive. He said to say thank you to all of you for the thoughts and prayers. We hear Grandma Adeline prays for Chris every night!

Love you all!
Michelle

Just hanging around {Aug. 11}

Instead of an update on Chris, I thought I'd post a couple recent photos of Mira and Amelia. They are doing really well! Mira is super excited for kindergarten to start. I still can't believe she is already old enough for school. Where did the time go? We've been school shopping for clothes a little bit. And she needs new shoes. Mira is the pickiest kid when it comes to buying shoes. Nothing "feels right" to her. We have gone to 5 different shoe stores to look for shoes. I finally bought her the exact same pair she already has in a larger size. Now we need to find some loafers or Mary Janes or something. I remember when I was a kid and no shoes ever felt right to me either! I think I drove Mom nuts when she took me shoe shopping.
Amelia is a little firecracker (like Aunt Margene!). She's stubborn and sassy and very willful. But sweet and so talkative. She's got a real aptitude for music and can pick up a tune and remember it later. It's fun to see her singing along to my CDs in the backseat of the car.

I visited Chris in the hospital tonight. He was pretty tired and slept through most of it. He's really looking forward to the tube to be taken out of his nose. Pray for Thursday on that! I think as more of his tubes get pulled (IV, catheter, nose tube), he'll feel better and better. We are really hoping he can be released on Saturday or Sunday. Say a prayer and think happy thoughts for him!

Chris's contact info {Aug. 10}

After a 5-hour surgery and a 3-hour recovery, I was only able to see Chris for about 3 minutes before I had to leave to pick up Mira and Amelia. So frustrating and sad! I'll certainly be visiting tomorrow after work for some quality time.

Chris's contact info: North Memorial Medical Center, 3300 Oakdale Avenue North, Robbinsdale, MN 55422. He's in room 422. His room phone number is 763-257-8273. He'd love a call, email, card, or visit. I think he'll be in the hospital at least until Saturday, maybe even into next Monday.

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. They mean a lot to me and my family.

Chris's surgery is over! {Aug. 10}

Chris's surgery is over. 5-hours! Whew. The doctor found a couple more diseased areas to remove, but said he should be fine once he recovers. He'll be in recovery for 2 more hours, when he will be assigned a room. He'll probably be in the hospital for 5-7 days. Feel free to visit or call! I'll post later with his room number and phone number, but he's at North Memorial.

Chris's surgery tomorrow {Aug. 9}

Hello! I just wanted to let you all know that Chris will be going into the hospital early tomorrow morning for his second surgery. We've known about this for a few weeks, and tomorrow is the day. We need to be at the hospital at 5:15 am for a 7:15 am surgery. Chris's dad helped us out by taking the girls overnight tonight and will bring them to daycare for us tomorrow morning. This surgery is to remove the colostomy bag and reattach his colon again. Chris has been looking forward to getting rid of the bag, so this will be a welcome change. I'll be sure to update as soon as I'm able.

Say prayers for Chris during the surgery and recovery. He will hopefully be home on Friday.

My little guppy {Aug. 6}

Mira has been taking swimming lessons for most of this year, off and on. She used to go to the Community Center on Saturdays for her lessons, but they gave the lessons in the pool where people were swimming recreationally. It was a bit distracting and Mira wasn't learning as much as she should have been.

So this session, we switched the location to one of the junior high pools. What a difference! Mira's really taken off in her swimming! It's really fun to watch her swimming unassisted in the pool. Her teacher Kendra is fantastic too.

Mira is really loving the lessons and wants to be signed up again right away. Maybe she'll be on the swim team at school. But for now, just call her Guppy.

Buffalo Bill Days! {Aug. 2}

We had a fabulous weekend in Lanesboro for Buffalo Bill Days. Thanks so much for having us all over, Mom and Dad! You are great hosts!

Mandy started the weekend off right:
There was lots of bean bag tossing. Jeff and Dad even joined a tournament downtown.
Mandy and her sweet baby Anna:
Amelia at the park on Saturday:
Amelia and Nick at the park:
Mira and Abby enjoyed the petting zoo:
The men, just lounging around:
We had a birthday party for Abby. Happy 6th birthday, Abby!
We brought our bounce house for the kids. It tired them out and kept them busy for a long while!
Aunt Bonnie came to visit. It was great to see you, Bonnie!
We made s'mores on Saturday night. Then at 10:00, we pulled all our lawn chairs across the road and had a wonderful view of the fireworks! It was a great evening.
And the parade was on Sunday. We had great seats on the first block of the route. Why is Dad in the parade? He's one of the Grand Marshall's (retired firemen)! (And we got extra candy, of course!)
Family photo at the parade:
Jeff, Sara, Abby, and Nick at the parade:
Justin, Mandy, and Anna:
My sweet baby watching the parade. Her first time with braids!
Mom and Amelia:
Mira showing her candy stash (and this was only halfway through!)
We had a wonderful weekend. We hope next year, Kelly, Duey, Chesney, and Logan can join us. It's been way too long since we've all been together!