Minnesota Twins

The Twins are getting a new baseball stadium in Minneapolis. Currently, they share the Metrodome with the Vikings, but come 2010 they will have their own place to play. John is doing some work on the site for his company and took some recent pictures of the progress. I'll let him explain...

West elevation showing what the outside of ballpark will look like - note the street bridge right next to the bldg. - underneath the bridge will be the loading dock & player/employee entrances,

View down the main concourse showing some of Olympic's work - the ceiling framing and the yellow walls, which will be covered with an acrylic plaster product....

View from concourse level facing West across the field - on the upper left is the start of the terrace level seating.

View from the other end looking East - the red sign w/ 2010 (bottom right) is where home plate will be. No games today, it was about zero degrees when I took these.

Looking towards downtown to the Southeast. On the left are some of the outfield bleacher seats.

Does this make sense to anyone?

I just spent the last 45 minutes on the phone arguing with a dental insurance representative. Gee, that makes for an afternoon of rainbows. :)

Ok - here's the situation...remember about a month back, John and I were concerned about a 'spot' on Katie's tooth. I called the dentist and they suggested to bring her in and they would take a quick look to see what it was. Turned out to be a small surface cavity just beginning, so they fixed it. They also found another 'spot' that was just beginning to decay so you couldn't see it just yet, but they suggested we get that fixed as well. And then they would apply a sealant to the tooth to make sure it was protected even further. The whole process took 2 visits - about 15-20 minutes each. And because we had caught them so early, they didn't even have to use Novocaine.

Fast forward to now - we get the bill. The total the dentist charged was $517. Let me say that again....$517. That's 2 filings, an x-ray, and a sealant. Our insurance paid a whopping $123.00. Our balance is $358.00. (The difference of $36 was reduced because we used an in network provider - whatever.) There was an office visit of $60 - insurance company wouldn't pay that because she had just been in a month ago for a checkup, and they only allow for 2 visits a year, no emergency visits.

"Ok, if she was just in a month ago - why the HELL didn't the dentist see the cavity?"

"I don't know ma'am."

Then there were the x-rays....the insurance covered those....thankfully. The sealant? Nope, insurance says no way, Jose. We didn't need Novocaine...but Katie did use the nitrous oxide. Insurance doesn't pay for that at all. When I used the 'gas' 2 years ago, it was $25. This dentist charged me $50 for Katie....each time. You can't tell me that a 35 pound little girl uses more gas than I do.

The filings - the dentist charged $274.00 for those tiny teeth. Insurance is supposed to pay 50%...did they? No. They paid $87. Leaving us with $187. The insurance company claimed that they will only pay 50% on mercury fillings...these were amalgam fillings - they cost more. Here in Minnesota, it's very difficult to find a dentist that will do mercury fillings on a child. Our dentist is no different, we didn't have a choice in material.

Because we were concerned for Katie's teeth - we took her to the Dr. I asked the insurance rep if it would have been better off for us to wait 5 months to bring Katie to the dentist - wait for her 6 month checkup. That way the tooth would have decayed even MORE to the point where they would have had to use Novocaine. The Novocaine would have been covered and the office visit would have been covered. And perhaps Katie would have been in pain and not as excited about the dentist anymore. The rep apologized saying that she realized the system isn't perfect, but this is the coverage that is contracted, blah, blah, blah.

This sure didn't make any sense to me. And I don't think there's any quick fix to correct it either.

A book report...

I just finished a book the other day that I thought I would take time to tell you about. It's called My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. If you are in the mood for a gut wrenching, tear jerker - gee, are you in luck.

Some of my college friends recommended the book a few weekends ago. I got it from the library and was hooked by page 3...crying by page 60.

It's about this typical, everyday family. Their discovered their daughter had a very serious form of leukemia at age 2. Their other son wasn't a good enough match for donating things like bone marrow so they decided to have another baby - but this time they would genetically match her so that she would be able to donate cord blood, bone marrow, etc. for their other daughter.

Fast forward 13 years - the sick daughter is in kidney failure and needs a transplant. The younger daughter files a lawsuit for medical emancipation, claiming she doesn't want to be picked apart anymore and harvested. If she wins the case, she will lose her sister. If she loses the case, she loses her independence

It's certainly a heart breaking book - especially if you happen to have sisters (like I do).....and have children (like I do)........and happen to have a daughter named Kate (the daughter with leukemia is named Kate...gee, I have that too.) Do I have to explain to you why I was bawling by page 60?

They are in the process of making a movie out of this book as well. Unfortunately, it's being directed by the same guy that directed The Notebook. I haven't seen the whole movie, but in my opinion it was too sappy and fluffy...the book was much better - as is in most cases. Anyway they have a pretty good cast set.....Alec Baldwin will be the prosecuting attorney (great choice)....Cameron Diaz will be the mother (hmmm - not sure about this one)....Abigail Breslin will be the daughter suing her parents (GREAT CHOICE! I LOVE HER!). Anyway - keep your eye out for that this summer - June, I think. It'll probably be one of those cases where the book is much better - has there ever been a case where the movie is better?

Next, I am opting for something a little lighter. I am on the waiting list at the library for Twilight. (I hope I reserved the right one.) I am told the movie is good - who has time to go to a movie??? - I'll read the book.

Birthdays and more birthdays

Today, a birthday wish goes out to John's brother, Jim Pladsen. Katie hopes that you get cake. :) Maybe all the farm animals will get together and sing for you. Although Katie tells me that won't happen. Not many people know this, but when Katie was younger she took to calling Jim "Butch." Not sure where that came from, but no matter how much we tried to get her to say "Jim" she always said "Butch." So....Happy Birthday Butch!

Another happy birthday for our friend, Joe Margolis. While he and his wife, Jamie and all their families are out celebrating his 30th birthday (yeah, that's right - I said it) we get to babysit their son Noah! I figured I would let your age out of the bag because you're younger than me and I figure you can't hurt me too much - you need me to watch Noah. :)

Boy - you guys sure picked cold days to have your birthday on.

6 years....

I want to take a moment to say Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband, John. 6 years ago today we were married on a sunny beach in Key West, Florida. I'm glad we aren't there right now because they are having a cold streak and it's only going to be in the 50's there today.

Although none of you could be there with us...because, well, we didn't really invite you... :) It was one of the happiest days of my life. The love I have for you, John, is a thousand times more powerful today and I am thankful for every day we have together. You're stuck with me now.

So to celebrate, we are having a nice dinner at home. I am going to get some crab legs at the store today and cook those up. (Yummy) And I spose I'll try to make or find some type of Key Lime desert...our tradition. I told Katie we were going to eat crab for dinner and she informed me that she will be dining on peanut butter and jelly. Great - more for me....I mean us. :)

I also wanted to update you on Katie's skating progress. She had her third lesson on Tuesday. It was a big day - she was able to stand up all by herself. She fell like 4-5 times and each time got right back up with no problem - slowly, but she did it. Then towards the end of the half hour, she started moving her feet and was able to actually gain some forward motion. And once - by accident - she even went backwards. (She thought that was extremely funny.) If you would have told me 3 weeks ago that she would be able to do this, I would have laughed. The most important thing is that it's giving her a new confidence in herself and strengthening her balance skills.

Happy Birthday Denise!!

Today is my sister Denise's birthday. Should I say the number? I DO live 3 1/2 hours away so it's not like she could kill me IMMEDIATELY. :). All I'll say (if I have the number right) is that there is a 5 at the end. Happy Birthday Denise!

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow. You're only a day away...

It's almost here. Do you sense the excitement and anticipation? Tomorrow is Inauguration Day. We will have a new president and a place in history. I've been trying to explain it to Katie because she doesn't really understand WHY he isn't the real president yet. Good grief - the election was over 2 months ago! I also haven't explained that he is the first African American president. She doesn't really SEE differences like that - and I think I'd like to keep it that way for the time being. She has a great mix of cultures in her preschool class, and it's no big deal to her. So, if she isn't making a big deal about people's differences, why should I point them out to her and MAKE them an issue.

The bigger issue here is remembering who will NOT be president tomorrow. After approximately 2,922 days Bushie will finally be gone. Did you hear my sigh of relief? I don't agree with his policies, I don't approve of most of the people he surrounded himself with, and I don't think history will look back positively on his legacy.

I've heard over the last few years that people liked him because he was someone you could go have a beer with. Ugh. I never understood this thought process. I don't want MY president to have a beer with me. I don't want him to be some average Joe off the street. I don't want him to be my bar buddy. Our president should be the smartest, most eloquent guy in the room. I want him to be more intelligent about things than I am, and to be WAY too busy to have a beer with me. Here's the twist - he has to have compassion for other people and a sense of service to the people that elected him....or her as the case may be. :)

On another note - I haven't come across her birth certificate yet. I'm trying to think if we were even issued one. We got the certificate from the hospital, but it says right on there that it isn't an official document. When Will was born, I remember them asking me if I wanted the birth certificate. Is it possible that I didn't get one for Katie? In any case I'll have to call the government center tomorrow and see if I can get one. I never had to have proof of birth date for Katie's preschool - they just took my word for it.

The Fam

Back in December we had our family picture taken at our church here in town. I got our free 8x10 last weekend and thought I would share that with you. So here's your one glance at the whole family together. Doesn't happen very often. :) Will was SO giggly. Every time the flash went off he laughed and laughed....and I'm talking BELLY laughs. :)

It's finally above zero here today. They never called off school for Katie this week. They rarely do - not a lot of buses having to travel off road I guess. I am in the process of filling out her paperwork for kindergarten. I need one last item....now if YOU were Katie's birth certificate....where would you likely be? I can find Will's, but can't seem to locate Katie's...yet. It's not in her baby book, but that's the only place I have checked.

A note from Katie

Today after breakfast, Katie wanted to do her usual drawing activity. Most mornings her and Will belly up to the table after breakfast and after we are dressed, and use crayons and paper to create their masterpiece. Today this was what Katie's said:

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
KATIE RO DET

:) Do you get it? I asked her to read it to me. She said her alphabet and then "Katie wrote it." I asked her how she knew to write that sentence and she said that she just sounded out the letters. To say the least, I was pretty proud of that. :)

Yesterday we went to Will's 18 month check up. He checked out fine. He weighs just over 25 pounds (our home scale says 28) and is just over 33 inches tall. He still has a big head. :)

The only thing we are keeping an eye on is his speech. "They" say he should have between 10-15 words now - which he doesn't. I would say he has 3...at times. I told the doctor that we can never get him to say any words - but he'll say them on his own. She said this showed independence. (Yeah, right.) She also said that slow speech is a sign of early intelligence. What ever works I guess. :) So we decided that we would check in again in 3 months to see if there is any progress....maybe do a hearing check just to rule that out.

In the meantime, I hope everyone is staying warm. It's very cold up here, although bright and sunny. I have 2 loads of laundry to get folded before I start supper. We are having No Name steaks tonight...with some kind of vegetable(s) on the side. Should I set a place for you? :)

Katie's not cold...she's kickin' back on a beach.

Olympics...here we come!

Katie had her second ice skating lesson today. If she keeps improving at the rate she's going, she'll be competing in an upcoming Olympics. :) Ok, probably not, BUT she did stand vertical on her skates today which was a VAST improvement from last week!

So this was last week. And here, you can see Katie trying to stand up...this was as close as she ever got.

She has lessons for 30 minutes ever Tuesday afternoon. The session only goes for 7 weeks. I figure that's enough of a taste for now. Thank goodness she is skating indoors. I don't think we could be outside very long today. It's -11 right now, and that's the warmest it's been all day.

Will had no interest in watching his sister learn to skate. (I know - big surprise!) This week though, I brought snacks for him so he was much easier to handle. We got there early so that Katie could practice walking in her skates on the floor, and practice getting up from a sitting position. She still has trouble getting up by herself on the ice, but once she is up - she stands up. She doesn't MOVE, she just stands there, but heck - one thing at a time, right?

Wah-Hoo! And we're up! Look, no hands! Note the poor little girl off to the side grasping onto the teacher's hand for dear life. :) Her name happens to be 'Katie' too.

It also helped that there were 5 kids there this week with 2 teachers...versus 10 last week with 2 teachers. Last week out of Katie's 30 minute lesson I think she was either on her butt or her knees for 25 of the 30 minutes. (I'm not exaggerating.) This week, it was easily the other way around. And next week - maybe she'll start some forward motion.

There is Katie and the other Katie standing alone. Neither one dares to make a move or shift their weight...God forbid they start to glide. (Note the Plexiglas cleaner in the background. They said that they clean that weekly!)

Wow! Look at that determination....look at that braveness...look at that DIRTY coat! Geez..note to self...'wash your kid's coat!'

At least she hasn't broken anything...that's the biggest accomplishment of all.

Our Slumber Party

This weekend we had company at our house. Some friends of mine from college came to town and visited. Julie and her husband traveled from Holmen, WI. Laurel, Casey, and their two kids, Karlie and Cameron came up from McGregor, IA. And we also got together with Jamie, Joe, and their son, Noah in St. Louis Park, MN. For those of you keeping score that's a 4 year old, a 3 year old, a 2 year old, a 1 year old, and a 6 month old. (Including our kids)

We all met for lunch at Jamie's on Saturday and then a few of us brave souls ventured out to an indoor park nearby. Whew! Was that a mistake! There were SOO many people it was crazy. Of course the kids (all except baby Cameron went) had a blast and weren't phased by the massive numbers. Us adults though...that's a different story and we left after not too long.

For supper, everyone came over to our house. The kids ate a played SO well - it was a lot of fun. Katie and Karlie had a great time with each other. Katie also took a liking to baby Cameron whom she decided she wanted to babysit.

When it was time for bedtime, Julie and Russ went with Jamie and Joe to stay at their house. Laurel and Casey stayed at our place. That meant that the girls were going to be able to have a sleep over in Katie's room. We laid out sleeping mats on the floor, got blankets and pillows ready, and after hearing a story - the girls passed out. I wanted to get a picture of them on the floor, but didn't get in there before they fell asleep. And there was NO WAY I was going to take a chance waking them up. :) Poor Cameron was teething and had a rough time settling down. But the kids had SO much fun - I'd love to do it again.

We all met again for lunch at Jamie and Joe's today. The kids played together for a few hours after lunch and for having 2 days with no naps...they were GREAT! They really do get along so well and have a good time together. It's a shame we are all so far apart. Hopefully we'll all see each other again when the weather warms up.

Be ready - I'm trying to get a post up about Katie's ice skating lessons...haven't had time lately, but keep checking back...it's coming!

Happy Birthday Jeff!

A Happy Birthday goes to my brother-in-law, Jeff Mezera. Hope you have a great day! Janet told me your age, but I'll be nice and just say you're over 20. Heck, you have a 19 year old son so I guess you would have to be. :)

Cold, but sunny

We got some fresh snow last night - not too much, but enough to probably warrant some shoveling. Katie starts back to school tomorrow. (Yipee!) It will be nice for her to get back on a schedule again. Will slept through the night on Friday night, but awoke this morning at 6:30 am...luckily he went back to sleep after a few minutes of rocking and nursing. I guess I can't complain about that.

The kids are getting much better at playing together. Katie likes to be the teacher, and gets very angry at Will when he doesn't listen to her. I don't think that's ever going to change. Right now they are both playing in Katie's room and we haven't seen either one for about 20 minutes. (I get to blog and John is reading the paper!) Katie always alerts us when something is wrong by screaming at the top of her lungs "Mom, Dad come quick! This is a catastrophe!" Which means that Will has grabbed her doll or toothbrush and is about to put one of them in the toilet.

We had ice cream cones last night. Gone are the days when Will was satisfied just having bites of my cone. This time, HE had the cone and I had to be happy with bites and licks every once in a while.

On Saturday the four of us went to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. There was an exhibit there on Eero Saarinen that John wanted to see. He was an architect that designed such things at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and the IBM plant in Rochester, MN. It's an amazing museum! The admission is free and Katie really got into looking at things like the Egyptian artifacts and some of the Indian displays. She also thought it was funny that she could see the rear end on some the statues. That's a four year old for you. Both kids were amazingly well behaved. And even though Katie spilled her milk at lunch time, I considered it a successful trip.

Then we drove by the new Twins stadium so John could show us the progress they have made. They sure SQUEEZED that thing in there. It's going to be very nice, and hopefully I will be able to post pictures from there soon. And no, we don't get free tickets. :)

Katie starts ice skating lessons this week too. Let's hope we don't have to make any mad dashes to the emergency room...

A very Merry Christmas...

Being the last day of the year and all, I thought I better get a post done while it's still 2008. We had a great trip to Iowa to celebrate Christmas with the Hanson's and Pladsen's. Once we got home it was clear to us that some old toys had to be put down in the basement to make room for the new presents the kids brought home.

Katie made a Pixos picture...after spilling about 300 beads. :)

The Christmas cards that we got this year were just too pretty not to take a picture of. Katie got excited every day to open them and tape them to the wall.

Katie got some Legos from Grandma Mary and Jim. They were a prehistoric set with a dinosaur....Dick the Dinosaur, if I remember right. I don't think Will is ever going to let that dinosaur go. He has claimed it as his own. :) He uses the dinosaur to play with a demolition toy that Sarah got him. It's an odd combination, but it seems to work for him.

Katie got some games from her cousin Joey, who had her name. So far we have played checkers, memory, rummy, Hi-Ho Cherry-O, and dominoes. We are trying not to let her win every time.

John is working at home today - God help him. He is working on the new Twins Stadium now and can do most of it on his computer, especially now that we have wireless Internet at home.

I hope everyone has a Happy New Year, and plays it safe tonight. As for us, we are planning a fancy party with popcorn and apple juice out of champagne glasses. :) There is a special Hannah Montana/Miley Cirus New Year's Eve show on that we will try to watch too. Aren't you jealous??

Happy Birthday Wally!!

Before the day gets away from me I better take some time to send some birthday wishes out to my brother-in-law, Wally

Happy Birthday Wally!!

Our family Christmas

We celebrated our family Christmas on Sunday here at home. Since we'll be traveling on Christmas day, we wanted the kids to have a nice, easy going day here at home with their presents. Well - maybe not always nice and easy going. :)

Katie and Will picked out cookies for Santa on Saturday night and left them by the tree. Will couldn't really understand why we were leaving perfectly good cookies sitting out by the tree - he much rather would have just ate them.

Sunday morning we skipped church due to the cold weather and snow. I'm not sure how much we got over the last 2 days, but the blowing created drifts at least 7 inches deep. Once the kids got up they opened their Santa gifts right away.

Katie got "Computer Cool School." It's an interactive keyboard for kids that connects to the computer.

Will got a tool bench and a couple tools.

Then we ate breakfast, and took our time opening the rest of the gifts. John got the movie "The Dark Knight" and a pair of slippers. I got a beautiful pair of earrings, and new pan. We also got an Ipod Touch for the family to use...although John says I get to be in charge of it. :)

Will got a little train, some books, a ball, and a dinosaur. Katie got some Pixos (it's an art thingie), a spelling game, slippers, and a mailbox toy.

They played pretty well the rest of the day, although each were pretty territorial over their new toys. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Staying Warm

Brrrr! Who left the freezer door open? It's a chilly day here in Minnesota - as is in much of the Midwest. It's not going to get above zero here today...currently it's -4. The past few days have been good days to stay home and make cookies. :) So that's what we have done. Last week Katie helped me make Melting Moments, a signature cookie of my aunt Carol. It was my first attempt at making them and I think they turned out great. I had help with the frosting - Katie managed to frost every single cookie...and we had over 150!

Over the weekend Katie helped me make Christmas cut-out cookies. She did a beautiful job of rolling out the dough, and was a big help with the cookie cutting. Shhh....don't tell her, but I think I am going to frost most of them during her nap today.

Ok - I frosted them all. Instead of doing each individually, I kind of drizzled them. I put frosting that I made into ziplock baggies and snipped the end off the corner. It worked beautifully, and will certainly be my method of choice for future cookies

This morning while Katie was in school, Will helped make some regular old chocolate chip cookies. He poured some sugar in and helped hold the mixer. But while the fridge door was open, he helped himself to some cookies of his own.

This past weekend marked Katie's last basketball practice and game. She was happy to be done with it - basketball doesn't seem to be her cup of tea. But she was extra glad to be done because she got a medal for participation.

Sunday was Katie's Sunday School Christmas program. It was very cute, like it's supposed to be. She did a great job of singing, and was very excited to be in it.

Today we were back to school - Katie is the STAR OF THE WEEK this week in her class. She gets to bring in the snack every day, bring things for show-and-tell, be the 'line leader,' and basically just rule the roost, so to speak. Obviously, she had a good time.

Say 'Cheeeeese!'

Last night we had our family picture taken for our local church's directory. It had been about 3 years since we had our family picture taken. Will obviously wasn't in the last one and I thought it was time we went through it again. We get a complimentary 8x10 as well.

Our photographer was a bit odd, but they all seem to be. :) He tried a few different family poses, but said we were limited to our choices because we had 2 small kids. (Thank God!) Then he did a couple of just the kids, and one of John and I together. Will really liked the flashes...he would just giggle whenever the camera went off. We did get a good family picture, and resisted the urge to purchase anything more. It was certainly not a hard sell. All in all we were out of there in about 30 minutes. Nice.

Right before the pictures, the kids and I had to attend an information meeting about kindergarten. Basically, I just wanted to know how the busing worked. I didn't get all my questions answered, but couldn't stick around to ask them because the kids were not cooperating. We were all stuck in a room sitting shoulder to shoulder with about 100 parents. It was hot, loud and the kids did not want to be there. I did learn that kindergartners ride a kindergarten only bus, and it's free.

On Wednesday night Katie went to yet another birthday party for a classmate of hers. Cole was turning 5 and a week earlier his mother had called me to ask if Katie could come. They were only inviting 4-5 kids from class, and there was going to be about 12 kids total, so it was going to be kinda small. (I thought that was pretty good sized....) Anyway, because it's winter in Minnesota, they opted to have the party at a place called Pump-It-Up. It's a party place that has rooms filled with HUGE inflatables. There are slides that go from ceiling to floor, giant jumping castles, and obstacle courses that they raced through. After play time, they went into the other room and they played with a bunch of blow up balls. Then it was time for pizza and cake and presents. I returned to pick up Katie 2 hours after I had dropped her off. (No, I didn't get to stay...Katie said I had to go home. )

She got a 'goody bag' and was full of ideas for HER birthday party. She keeps insisting that we have her party there as well, but I think I got through to her that it will be better to have her party outside instead....after all it IS in June. She does have the guest list started though. She's taking longer planning her birthday party than I did in planning my wedding.

Santa Claus - Part 2

Ok - let's try this again.

Today I took the kids to the Mall of America to see the REAL Santa. Don't worry - despite the 4 inches of snow we got last night, the roads were really good. Will would NOT go anywhere near the 'lap,' but we did manage to get him to sit on a stool by Santa's feet.

"If that guy in red makes a move....I am OUT of here!"

And another picture from the mall...Katie wanted me to take her picture in front of EVERYTHING! Talk about feeling like a tourist!

Santa Claus - Part 1

After church today, the community rec center had a "Breakfast With Santa" event. It was a fundraiser for local charities with unlimited pancakes and sausages. After we had all had our fill of pancakes we went to visit Santa. As you can imagine, Katie was very excited. She'd been rehearsing her 'list' for a while now, but was suddenly drawing blanks.

Obviously, Will was not as excited. He was fine until he got up close to Santa - then not so much.

We have plans to go see Santa again on Tuesday at the Mall of America. Hopefully this 'trial run' has prepared Will for the next encounter. On second thought, it's probably scarred him more than even and he'll scream louder next time.

As we were putting on our coats, Katie informed me "You know Mom - that's not the real Santa." Quickly, I came up with an explanation - "You're right, Katie, I don't think that one is...Santa has helpers that help him talk to all the children, and then they tell Santa what you said." She was quite satisfied with that answer - I hope the next Santa is up to her 'standards.'

Also, on Saturday we had Katie's basketball practice/game. This was her 5th time participating on her Tiger team and we are HAPPY to say that she finally got a rebound!! It was so precious - she literally was in the right place at the right time. The shot went up - it bounced down right into her hands. She happened to be paying attention at that moment (which usually isn't the case) and caught the ball! Immediately John and I start yelling "YAY KATIE!!!" And then I realize that every other parent there was cheering for her too. They, too, knew that this was the first time she got the ball without it being given to her. It was a sudden uproar of cheers which put a HUGE smile on her face. She came close to another rebound later in the game as well. And by 'close' I mean she took a few steps toward the ball. :) She was so proud of herself after the game, you would have thought she just dunked the ball!

Will's First Haircut

So today was the day...Katie and Will got their holiday haircut. We went to Kids' Hair, which is great with little kids...and I really didn't know how Will would behave. He did SUPER! With the exception of moving his head around alot....he was awesome. He got a very 'shaped' boy haircut. Katie had about 3 inches taken off, and a sweet little braid put in.

This isn't a very good 'after' shot, but he was just sick of the camera.

I found 'em (Will is vindicated!)

So...a few weeks ago...maybe more - I lost my keys and asked for suggestions on where to look for them. You all had wonderful ideas...but they didn't help. Today as I was wrapping Christmas presents, I found them! Gee, no one suggested I look in that random bag that I brought home from the store and then crammed it WAYYY back in the porch closet so that no one would find it. :) Today as I was collecting presents I had tucked away in different nooks and crannies of the house, there they were...in the last bag.

I also discovered that over the last 3 months as I have been collecting stocking stuffers and odds and ends for the kids, I have FAR too many for Katie.... I need to even out the distribution a bit. :)

Home, Home on the Range...

Ok, we aren't exactly on a 'range,' but it was all that came to mind when I was trying to title this post.

We got home yesterday from our 'vacation' in IA. We spent Thanksgiving with family in Waukon. It was a nice trip - good weather, and now it's nice to be home again and getting back into our routine.

Katie was back to school today, which improved her behavior by a factor of 10. She really excels when we have a structured schedule. While she was in school, Will and I went to Target to pick up a small humidifier for Katie's room and some other odds and ends. I also had to get a gift for a little boy whose name I got from church. Our church is sponsoring some children that were removed from abusive homes this past year, so I found a 5 year old boy to buy for. We got him a shirt for school, a toy race car and some other grab bag things from the $1 bin. I've wanted to do that other years too, but have never gotten around to it.

Last night when we were getting ready to have supper, I found I really didn't have much to make. Correction: I didn't have much to make that we felt like eating. So we decided to order a pizza. I always order pizzas online now because I accumulate points that can go toward free future pizzas. This time I marked delivery and sent the order in. I then get an e-mail confirmation telling me the approximate delivery time. Thanks to the Bears/Vikings game it was going to be over an hour for delivery. So I called the restaurant and changed it to a pick-up.

"No problem" they said, "just bring in your credit card with you to pay because I will have to void the payment online." Easy schmeezy. About 20 minutes later I am there to pickup the pizza, which they tell me they don't have because the whole order was deleted, but if I would be willing to wait they would make me another one at no charge. Fine.

I wait another 15 minutes, grab my free pizza and head home. Meanwhile, a second pizza (or technically, the first pizza) was delivered to the house. The delivery guy told John it was all paid for. Hmmm...

I did check today - we were charged for one pizza, but got 2. Anyone hungry?

I am sneaky

So today Katie was supposed to go to her friend, Ben's house. Unfortunately, Ben's mom called this morning and said that Ben's younger brother was up all night sick. We agreed that it would be best to wait til next week for the kids to play. So after Katie stopped crying, I realized that I was supposed to pick up Will's Christmas present this morning that I had gotten off Craigslist. No big deal, right? It's for Will, not Katie. Well, yes, but in this case I was helping Santa Claus out...and well...I didn't want Katie to see Will's Santa gift.

So I fed Katie a line about going to pick up a kitchen appliance for my brother and she bought it. I took a sheet along to drape over the....ok, it's a little workbench with tools. I draped the sheet over and carried it past Katie's window, stuck it in the trunk, and she hasn't mentioned it since.

We returned home, happy to have that errand done with. Then I discovered that the 3 postings I had put on Craigslist last night had 3 interested responses, which in turn will pay for what I just picked up today. It may take a bit more time and effort than just running to the store, but so far I'm doing fairly well with the Christmas budget. And hey - I've never started shopping this early before!

Preschool Conferences

It's that time of year again...tonight we had a parent/teacher conference with Katie's teacher, Ms Laurie. No big surprises - they said she is a wonderful little girl, very kind to the other students, friendly, and independent in the classroom. We were happy to hear that she is asserting herself more and asking questions. Her teacher said that she is in the top tier of her class when it comes to things like handwriting, asking questions, and being able to express how she feels and why. Katie is off from school all this week. When she goes back next Monday she will have a different teacher - Ms. Erin, who is back from maternity leave.

We also had a checkup at the dentist today. A few weeks ago I noticed a spot on Katie's tooth that I didn't like. We were pretty sure it was a cavity, but wanted to get it checked out. So I took her in today and sure enough - it was a cavity. While examining her, the dentist found two other spots that she didn't like - the VERY beginnings of a cavity...so they are going to put some sealants on there to make sure it doesn't turn into a cavity.

Luckily we caught her cavity early and they didn't need to use Novocaine to numb her. She did get the nitrous oxide, however. They sent Will and I out into the waiting room because they were going to do x-rays, and then they went ahead and filled the one tooth. I was told she was being pretty silly back there. She was out within 20 minutes and the nurses raved about how great she did. And she's excited to go back so no scarring done yet. :) But geez...it sure is hard for a mom to sit out in the darn waiting room!!!! So we are going to be a bit more aggressive in our flossing and brushing. She doesn't really eat many sweets, but they will REALLY be few and far between now.

Katie's Screening

We had a busy weekend up here - trying to get things done before Thanksgiving. It's hard to believe December is almost here! (And soon the warm weather, right?!?!??!)

On Saturday morning Katie had basketball practice for 30 minutes, and then a 30 minute game. I think it's safe to say that this isn't her favorite activity. She was excited to go this time though, because it was her turn to bring the snack. She brought Fig Newtons and juice boxes. And although we got 2 "I don't liiiiiike thooooose!" comments, I thought it was a success. She also didn't get hit in the face today, which is a vast improvement. No tears at all. :)

After basketball, John took the multitude of leaf bags to our local environmental center. He came back to watch Will while Katie and I went to an Early Childhood Screening sponsored by the Dept of Education for Minnesota. Every child between the ages of 3 1/2 and 5 is required to go through this screening before kindergarten. It isn't a "readiness" program, but more of an opportunity to identify the children that will need more help or assistance in the coming school years.

Katie played some 'games' with the screener which included building with blocks, drawing pictures and symbols, some memory exercises, and some jumping and hopping. Katie was a chatterbox during the whole thing, telling this woman ALL about her day at basketball, the snacks, etc. It was very amusing. Of course I had to sit in the corner, and not say a WORD. I couldn't make any gestures to Katie or anything like that. And I tell you - it was not easy. They came to one question...."A table is made out of wood....a window is made out of_______" Katie had to fill in the blank. I was telepathically sending her the answer, but it didn't do any good - she didn't have an answer. :) That was the only one she 'missed' though and wound up with a score of 30. If she had scored lower than 21 it would have indicated that she needs some extra help, but that isn't the case.

Then she had her vision and hearing checked, which was also funny to watch. Everything checked out great, and she could read letters on the eye chart that I wasn't even CLOSE to seeing. :)

On Sunday all four of us headed to church with plans to eat brunch at a restaurant afterwards. I don't know what they do to Katie in Sunday school, but it seems that she is just a BEAR after they are done. Maybe it's me....maybe they don't run around enough. We signed up to make 6 dozen Christmas cookies for a party at church in December. Was that dumb???? We'll see..... :)

We are heading to IA for Thanksgiving. Right now it looks like we will be leaving here Wednesday morning. Katie has a dentist appointment tomorrow as well as her parent/teacher conferences. I'll let you know how both of those go....

Flu shots

Today the kids and I are getting our flu shots. Correction...Will is getting his flu shot, Katie and I are getting the nose squirts. They are supposed to be more effective, and Katie is all for a vaccination that doesn't involve getting poked.

Besides our visit to the doctor, today is our "hangin' out" Thursday...nothing scheduled. An outsider would think that this makes for a great day. HA! Little do you know that a day of nothing scheduled can mean chaos and screams. We'll see how it goes, but my expectations are usually set pretty low: finish laundry, clean 2 bathrooms, and have a supper on the table. Anything else that gets done is gravy.

We are getting excited for Thanksgiving. (Geez, can you believe it's Thanksgiving time already?) Part of me says "Yay! It's Thanksgiving time already...Christmas is right around the corner...and then it's only a matter of time til it's spring again." But now that I have kids, time going faster is more of a punishment. So as much as I hate winter and being cold, I'm really trying to find happiness in the single digits. In keeping with this thought, I've posted a new poll question on the side of the blog...maybe you can give me some ideas on how to enjoy the season more.

Here is Katie rocking her warm gear when she was Will's age. She doesn't look real pleased about if either.

Monday, Monday

Today was another work day, another school day. We had great big snow flurries, but nothing that really amounted to too much.

Yesterday afternoon, John watched the kids as I headed out for a get together with my friend Shelley that lives in Rochester. Shelley is getting married in April, and Katie is the flower girl. So we discussed all things wedding and girly. We sat for a few hours at a Chinese Buffet and I really think we got our 8 bucks worth. :) Thanks to John for wrangling the kids for an evening!

Shelley and I met in Northfield, and earlier in the week I had made plans to pick up a pair of used snow boots for Katie. Much to my disgust, there was no one home when I stopped to pick them up at our agreed upon time. I knocked, pounded, called their phone...nothing. I peeked in the window and SAW the boots sitting on a shelf...hmmm....should I just try to open the door, take the boots and leave them their $5? No, I decided not to - but left a very assertive message for them. I haven't heard from the woman yet....and probably won't. Now I have to find another pair of boots on Craigslist. :)

After we dropped Katie off at school, Will and I headed to the grocery store. I had intentions of going to Cub - the discount grocery store. But at the last minute decided that because it was so cold out I would rather go to the upscale grocer who offers drive-up pick ups, but doesn't stock generics. I was still very happy to see that our weekly trip to the store resulted in a total under $90.

"And just what do you think YOU are looking at?"

5 letter word for smart little girl...

Tonight John suggested we break out the Scrabble board and play a 'real' game with Katie. Usually we just let her put the tiles in any order any where on the board, but as she's getting older and wants to spell more words we thought that we should teach her the rules. It was rocky at first, and her attention span got tested towards the end, but she played a wonderful game.

She even beat the pants off John and I. Of course we were both helping her spell words and find spaces on the board...that's why our own scores suffered. (At least that's my story.) Katie added a new element to the game too - she was like a timer...you had 45 seconds to make your word otherwise the timer would explode into an antsy 4 year old tantrum.

After we got done I took a picture of the board as proof that we did finish the game. When we were picking up the pieces, John was reading the box and discovered that Katie's score of 166 was very close to their estimation of an 'expert's' score of 180. Geesh...that's all we need.

The Scrabble champion

Earlier tonight while I was getting supper ready, I taped a big piece of paper that John had brought home from work for the kids to draw on. They did a GREAT job - both of them. This easily entertained them for 45 minutes or more. They each had specific areas to work on and pretty much stuck to their own sides. Will got messy, but hey, it'll wash off. He really pays attention to how Katie does things and really tries to imitate her.

"So that's how I'm supposed to do it."

Winter Time

It's that time of year again when we need to break out the boots, hats and mittens. In breaking them out I realized that Katie got bigger. Darn it anyway.

Thankfully her Elmo hat has been passed on to Will. So that means we have to get her a new hat. She also needed some good snow gloves. I had gotten her some thinner ones last year that get sopping wet after 10 minutes outside...not gonna work this year.

So while she was in school yesterday, Will and I picked out some for her. Will also took the liberty of trying on her new gloves and Hannah Montana hat. Luckily, she loves them...so far.

Where the heck is my little boy???

Katie had a play date today with her friend Ben. Ben was in Katie's preschool class last year and they were lucky enough to be together this year too. He is such a sweet little boy and the two get along very well. They played with playdough, pretened Will was a monster, played board games, ate lunch and colored pictures. Whew!

Big news

..and no, the news is NOT that I found my keys. :)

There's big news in the Hanson family. I was just made aware of it yesterday. My brother, Jeff and his wife Erica are expecting again. She is due in May. But that's not the exciting part...she's having twins! We won't know for another 5-6 weeks what the sex is, but we are all anxious to find out.

As for my keys...I have looked in 1 toybox, all of the shoes in the closet, my coat pockets (even though I didn't wear a coat the last day I had them), Katie's bookbag, the toy kitchen, and various odd places. All of your suggestions were GREAT ideas! But alas...nothing. I half expected Will to just come waltzing around the corner with them someday, retrieving them from where ever they had been placed.

I don't even KNOW if I took Mommy's keys!!!

A Little Girl Time

Today Katie and I had a little "Girl Time." She and I went to the 2008 Gymnastics All Star show at the Xcel Center. Thanks to the Ortega food company I had 2 free tickets waiting for me at the will-call window. A few months ago I saw an ad in the Sunday paper that said if you bought $15 worth of Ortega Mexican food you could receive 2 free tickets to any Gymnastics All Star show. YAY!

Although we were kinda in the nose bleed section - at least we were there. We could see everything great - just kinda far away. Katie didn't really care because she got to have popcorn and lemonade.

Personally, I LOVED IT. We got to see (forgive the spelling) Shawn Johnson, Nastia Lukin, the Hamm brothers, Chelsea Memmel, Shannon Miller, and more. Everyone that was on the 2008 Olympic team was there. The routines they perform on tv look difficult...that's nothing to seeing them in person. Wow. They look darn near impossible!

Katie was having a good time until somewhere in the second half of the show...suddenly a Miley Cyrus song comes on - "I Might Even Be A Rock Star." BOOM - there is an excited look on her face and she is on her feet singing and dancing. Her 'good' time turned into 'great' time. Then on comes the Hannah Montana song "Best of Both Worlds." Holy cow - I thought I was going to have to hold on to her! Everyone in our section enjoyed the dancing. :)

My favorite moments were the guys on the high bar - they really put on a show! I also liked Nastia Lukin on balance beam - so beautiful. She also spoke about her dad, who is her coach and how much it meant to be in Beijing with him. So the song she performed to was "Butterfly Kisses." And while normally that song makes me wretch...I actually got chills watching her.

All in all it was a terrific show - almost a teenie-bop rock concert. I was able to take pictures, but let's face it - we were too far away for them to be worthwhile, so I'll spare you.

P.S. - Welcome back to IA my niece, Sarah (who was in Chicago) and my Mom (who was in Branson) I also have a favor to ask of you readers...I seem to have misplaced my keys here at home. If you were my keys...where would you be? Also - what do you think are the odds Will threw them away? :(

Pardon me for a moment

Today is Thursday - a rainy, wet Thursday. The good news is that I raked almost constantly for the past 2 days...and I think I have most of the yard done. There is still an area on the side of the house that I would like to get cleaned up, but if I don't, I'm ok with that. We bagged up about 19 bags of leaves. We have a lot of trees.

******

So how are you feeling about the election? Relief? Let down?

I do feel relieved to have it over with first of all. I am also happy with the outcome of the presidential election. I think Obama and Biden will make a good team and surround themselves with positive, intelligent people. I think Obama is an honest, smart man whom I enjoy listening to. I can't say that about the current administration...I can barely even type it. It also seems that he genuinely loves his wife and will continue to be faithful to her. Does that mean he will be a good leader? No - but I appreciate the trait.

***

However, all across the country individual states passed some amendments that concern me. It seems that we may have taken 2 steps forward in the presidential election, yet taken 1 step backwards in some state elections. In California, Proposition 8 passed which bans gay marriage. In Arkansas, a bill passed that bans homosexuals from adopting children.

Here's my two cents in case you care. The whole gay marriage thing upsets me. Why SHOULDN'T they be allowed to marry? Is it going to affect my marriage? Is it going to affect yours? NO! If anything it will improve the divorce statistics. And as far as adoption goes - it's a sad time when there are so many children awaiting adoption and now there are good families that won't get a chance to love them. There are a lot of people in this world that need to devote more time and energy to THEIR OWN family, and less time trying to manage and control other people/families. I now step down from my soapbox.

Happy Birthday Jeff!

I wanted to take a post to say Happy Birthday to my brother Jeff today! As I was counting on my fingers to try to figure out how old he is today I realized....Oh My God....he's 40!

Also - Happy Voting Day....hope everyone takes an opportunity to cast their ballot. (This means it's the last day of political advertising right???)

And 3rd prize goes too...

The COW!

Those were the words we just heard at Chanhassen's city Halloween Party. Will won third prize for his age group...0-4. Guess who else was in that age group. Guess who got kinda upset because she didn't win too.

Anyway - the town had a Halloween trick-or-treat at a local strip mall. I wasn't planning on going, but John had some work to do at home and the kids were kinda restless after Katie's basketball game. Every business in the little area had candy or toys or toothbrushes. We even got two cereal bowls from Cub Foods! There was a costume contest at the end and we happened to be around for it... Will won a little plastic trophy and $10 from Subway. I explained to Katie that she really won too because it was originally her costume, Will was just wearing it this year. After we got home she really didn't care because she got all the candy.

Yesterday we went to a local nursing home to trick-or-treat for the residents there. It was perfect! No crowds, plenty of room, etc. There were only 2-3 other kids there when we were walking around. Katie felt comfortable enough to basically just walk up to the residents on her own, and say trick-or-treat. She's used to wheel chairs, etc., thanks to our visits with my aunt Carol. They all gushed over Will and thought Katie was a very sweet bee. Again...she walked away with a full bucket after about 20 minutes.

No, you can't eat that...

And last night was SO beautiful outside! What a great night for trick-or-treating! Honestly, any warmer and it may have been TOO warm! Will and I tagged along for the first 2 houses, then John and Katie headed off by themselves. About 45 minutes later they came back with another bucket full. By 8 when we turned the lights off we had gotten 58 visitors. It beats our 3 from last year. :) And I was very impressed with how polite everyone was - plenty of thank yous.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!