Florida! (But can't prove it)

Chris and I had a great time in Florida last weekend! Of course, I took a couple of photos of the hotel room . . . and the camera battery died. But we had a wonderful long weekend in Ft. Meyers Beach. It was chilly for Florida, but still around 70 degrees (a good 90 degrees warmer than it was at our house that morning), so we thought it was great! We laid on the beach every afternoon. Drove around and did some shopping and saw the sights. I got my butt kicked in mini-golf, as I do every time Chris and I play. I called home 4 times a day to see how the girls were. I missed them so! And we had wonderful dinners out. I think I ate my fair share of crab cakes and key lime pie!

The girls had a great time. The logistics of leaving 2 children for 5 days and 4 nights is astounding! On Thursday night, my mom, my sister, and her two children came to stay at our house. They watched the girls until Sunday afternoon, when Chris's dad and his wife came to stay at our house Sunday night. They drove the girls to daycare on Monday morning. Then Chris's mom picked them up form daycare and drove them to her house where they stayed until we arrived home on Tuesday. I kept calling to make sure I knew where Mira and Amelia were! But we arrived home refreshed and relaxed to two very happy and healthy little girls. A good time was had by all!

Thanks to everyone who watched Mira and Amelia for us. We really loved the time away!

A few photos of them at home while we were away:





Oh, and this is so funny! Depending on what kind of house you have in our neighborhood, you have the chance of a phallic-shaped ice sculpture forming. This is what we "get" to look at from our kitchen door. Hilarious!

Happy 2009!

Hello and happy 2009 to everyone! I'm finally getting my first post of the year up. We've been a little busy with a full week of work! Uggh. It's hard to go back with so many half weeks and days off since Thanksgiving. Chris and I had a nice New Year's Eve without the girls. They get to stay with Grandma Diane and Grandpa Wayne every year, so Chris and I saw a movie and had dinner at Benihana. It was delicious! We made it to midnight . . . a rarity for me who likes to turn in fairly early!

Then we had a Christmas at Grandma Lindell's house. Her house was filled to the brim with relatives! It's such a fun day for all of us. Santa even paid us a visit:


The next day was my sister-in-law Mandy's baby shower. She is due to have a girl in just 5 weeks! We can't wait to meet our new niece. Her is Mandy with her mom, sister, and mother-in-law:

And here is Mandy showing a quilt my sister Kelly had made for the baby. Beautiful!


Mira giving Daddy the love:

Amelia baking for Mom:

And finally a big shout-out to my friend Hope's mom! She's a secret reader of my blog (and I know there are lots more of you! Come on out of the closet!). It was nice to meet you at Hailey's birthday party!

Merry Christmas!

I'm a bit behind on my blogging and we have had a very busy week! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas this year. We had a very nice time, visiting family and taking part in all our favorite traditions. We headed to Chris's dad's house for Christmas Eve. It was really nice to see everyone again, and Mira and Amelia loved their presents! Here are they are at Grandpa Randy's and Grandma Terrie's house. This is a painting Mira did on canvas with acrylics for her grandparents:
Amelia received a Cabbage Patch doll named Berry. And Mira got a baking hat, apron, and cupcake set. Here she is wearing it (along with her Little Mermaid costume). She's been "baking" me cupcakes all night!
On Christmas Day we had our immediate family Christmas with just me, Chris, and the girls. We had put out cookies and milk the night before and Santa uses a special key that we leave on the door.
Mira found Santa's footprints at the door the next morning:
Okay, they were probably from the FedEx man, but who knows? Maybe they were from Santa. Mira got a Leapster 2, which she loves playing, and lots of assorted Little Mermaid items:
Later that day we went to Aunt Debbie's house. I forgot my camera in the car but can tell you that there were all sorts of sweets and wonderful relatives there. It was so fun to see you all! Then we headed down to Mom and Dad's for the weekend. All my other siblings, wives, and kids came on Friday, including my sister and her family fresh into town from Australia. It was sooooo great to see them again, as it's been nearly 10 months. We had a wonderful weekend, filled with excellent food, presents, a Santa visit, movies, games, talking, sledding, and a surprise sleigh ride from Mom and Dad. It was so fun and an especially nice day for a sleigh ride. We all enjoyed it so much we are thinking it might be a yearly tradition. The 16 of us were about all the sleigh could handle, and next year there will be 17 of us! Here are a few photos from the weekend.

All the stockings, including one for our forthcoming Baby Girl Norstad:
A visit from Santa! Chesney and Abby thought he sounded curiously like Uncle Justin. I think the magic of Santa is ending soon.
Sleigh ride! It was a beautiful near 30 degrees. And there was plenty of beer to keep the adults warm!



And here is Mira finishing a mosiac she received from Grandpa Bob and Grandma Martha. It's magnetic squares that go on a color-coded board. She loves it!
Happy holidays to all our friends and family, and a special thanks to Mom and Dad for the wonderful weekend! We love you!

mission one: Disney on Ice

Mira and I accomplished our first mission last weekend: Disney on Ice! It was a great show and Mira loved it! It was a fun "Mommy and Mira" afternoon. I wish I had better photos, but they just wouldn't stop moving long enough to get a clear photo!




Next week: The Nutcracker Fantasy Ballet!

The year of theater

Mira and I have a grand year of theater in front of us! Some of the things I'll be seeing, and a few I'm taking Mira with me!

Breakfast with Santa

Today we went to the community center for a breakfast with Santa event. The girls really enjoyed it. They got to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus, and Mira got her face painted and made a reindeer hat! Even the day was snowy . . . even though Chris and I are not ready for that yet!

{heirloom}

Mira was looking in my jewelry box tonight and saw a pink, heart-shaped ring I had bought. I said, "Maybe someday I'll give that ring to you."

Mira said, "You mean, like, when you're 101 and old enough to die and I'm, like, 15?"

Yes, Mira. That's exactly what I meant.

Balloon to God

We went out to dinner last week at a restaurant that gives away balloons to the kids. Mira chose a red balloon. We made it safely home with the balloon, but when we got out of the car, Mira let the balloon go, not realizing it would float away.

She started crying when she saw her balloon heading skyward. I told her there was no way I could get it and that the balloon would just keep rising. Mira looked at me and said, "Will my balloon go up to God?" I said I was sure it could reach him if it kept rising. Mira stopped crying and said she was really happy God was going to get her balloon to play with.

Ever since she started church school this year, she's really embraced the idea of God. I even came clean and told her one day that Quincy wasn't really "on a farm" like we'd told her when he had been put to sleep (hey, she was only 3!). But that Quincy was actually with God in heaven. I think she understands and is okay with knowing this. That makes me happy too.

Watercolor class and last swim lesson

Mira has had a busy day today! I signed her up for a one-time watercolor technique class. She really enjoyed learning about this painting technique. They even matted her art for her!


In Mira's words, her picture is "a green bridge with yellow water under it and an orange lobster in the water. In the sky is an orange dragon and a mean red witch with blue clouds."


And Mira had her last swim lesson today for this session. Overall she did really well and enjoyed it a lot. We'll sign her up again as soon as the new schedule comes out. We really want her to know the basics by summer when we are at the lake a lot.


And a random photo of Amelia and Mira coloring today. I bought these things Crayola makes called "Slick Sticks." They are hard to describe; sort of like a very soft crayon. They are pretty cool!


Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

{feeling the spirit}

Mira and Amelia are {feeling the spirit} this season! They have already received an invitation from Santa to go watch him read bedtime stories in their pajamas in a couple of weeks. They get milk, cookies, and a private meet and greet so I can take pictures. Perhaps one will make its way onto our Christmas card! Then they have a date to have breakfast with Santa in a couple weeks. It's going to be a Santa-filled Christmas! All the more reason to be {nice}.

Cookie dude and a good deed

We've been lying low lately, resting until Thanksgiving and the season that is so busy I can hardly keep up! Looking forward to Christmas this year, since my sister and her family will be in town from their home in Sydney, Australia! It's been 9 long months since we've seen them.

Amelia tried her first oreo the other day, and boy did she love it! Proof positive:


And Mira did a very good deed this past week. She had the opportunity through her church school to help a child in need. We needed to find a shoe box and fill it with items for a 4-year-old girl. I took Mira to Target and she helped pick out items for a girl she didn't know, but who she wanted to make Christmas better for. We filled the box with: socks, Little Mermaid underwear, a Dora toothbrush and toothpaste, soap, crayons, a color book, a shirt, barrettes, and a mini Care Bear. Mira was so proud to help out! It made me feel good too!

Hope you all find the time to relax and take a breath in the coming month. We hope to see many of you, or at least exchange some holiday cards with those of you we don't get to see very often. Happy holidays!

Ho ho ho.

Amelia's 18 month stats!

We had Amelia's 18-month wellness check today. She is doing just wonderfully! Growing great and her motor and verbal skills are right where they should be. Amelia is 22 pounds, 3 ounces, which puts her a little light (10-25 percentile), and her height (33 inches) puts her at the 90-95 percentile. So Amelia is tall and thin.

I've been wondering why the pants she's been wearing that fit Mira keep falling off her! Little waist, I guess. Here is a photo of Amelia today!

Thank you, Chesney!

Today, Mira received in the mail a letter from Chesney, promising us that she will come back. It was handwritten by her, and Kelly said she knew how to spell all the words herself. It came with a great drawing of two animals doing it. (What IS that a picture of?)

Thanks, Chesney! We love and miss you!

Darling down under

Kelly sent me this darling photo of my niece Chesney (right) and her friend.
It was too cute not to post!