Let Them Eat Cake

This weekend, I was excited to do a whole lot of . . . not much. The past few weekends have been really fun, but I was looking forward to spending my Saturday at home instead of on the road or in a gym. Of course, because we have been quite busy lately, I had a lot of boring mom-chores that had to be done. Mixed in with all the laundry, vacuuming and cleaning, I wanted to throw in a little something that would be fun to do with the girls. Because my girls are all different ages, this isn't always easy. But as luck would have it, I just happened to have a cake mix laying around AND a tub of chocolate frosting (this never happens). I'm not really a baker-type-mom (I'm sure you already figured this out because a baker-mom would never lower herself to cake mix and frosting from a tub) . . . mostly because 1). I don't like cleaning up after baking with three girls and 2). I don't like having a butt-load of baked goods laying around my counter tempting my almost non-existent will power. But cupcakes are small, right? And fun to decorate - - and as an unexpected bonus, I just happened to find some Valentine's Day sprinkles in the cupboard ( . . . come to think of it . . . they have to be at least a year old!! But they were still sealed . . . so I'm sure they are fine . . .)!

Just a few ingredients needed . . . 3 eggs.

1/3 cup oil.

1 1/3 cup water and viola! Time to beat this batter!


look at that little smile . . . she thinks her big sister is the coolest!





While Jocie is taking care of the beating, Ella takes on the job of putting in the baking cups.




As you can see in the background, this did not fair well with Claire, so they job-shared.

Once the cupcakes were in the oven, we didn't have much to do for the next 20-25 minutes. So Ella dazzled us with some dance moves.

Then I blew Jocie's mind when I hopped in with Ella and started to preform the ever-popular Running Man. She was so impressed, that she just had to learn it for herself (or I made her get up and do it with me). Let's just say that Jocie will be the talk of the next Monticello Middle School dance!!

The best part was yet to come. What's better than chocolate frosting and (year old) Valentine's Day sprinkles? Not much.

Hope your weekend was as work-play balanced as mine! :)

They're baaaaack

Happy almost-February everyone!

more birthdays

Happy Birthday to two very important men in my life . . . my brother John and my nephew Myles John!

My brother celebrating his birthday with Jocie last year

Our little MJ

I hope you two had a great day!

that mom

I am sad to announce - - today I realized - - I am "that mom".

I am "that mom" who has a 12 year old with a cell phone. I once vowed not to get Jocie a cell phone until at least 8th grade. I thought it was unnecessary. But what do I get my 6th grader this year for Christmas . . . a cell phone. Not because I changed my mind and now think they are necessary . . . because they're not. Carl and I knew how BADLY she wanted one, so we got her one.

I am "that mom" who rolls her eyes when she sees young kids walking around (everywhere) plugged into an ipod. Now, I am "that mom" who has a 6th grade child with an IPOD TOUCH. Yes, an ipod Touch. To my defense, we did not buy this for her. We bought her an ipod nano (for her birthday). But she decided to return the ipod nano, get the money for it, pool together all of her other birthday money (except for an allotted amount that is going into her savings . . . I still have some dignity) and Target Gift Cards and bought an ipod Touch instead.

Yep, I am a poser. A mom that thought she was going to be a hard ass, and stick to what she thought was right. But, no. I caved. What's next? Designer jeans in Middle School? Highlights? A car on her 16th birthday? Stay-tuned.

celebrate

This past weekend we celebrated Jocie's birthday along with Myles's almost birthday at my mom's place. As some of you know, she lives on a lake in northwestern Minnesota. It is beautiful and relaxing and one of my favorite places on earth. Some people might think it wouldn't be fun to go to the lake when the temperature gage reads -20 . But honestly, I love going up to the lake in the winter just as much as the summer. The coffee brews longer in the morning, the cozy fleece pajama pants stay on all day, and the fire is always roaring in the evening. Because we are not out on the pontoon or lounging at the sandbar, it forces you to visit longer with your family and just be together. It's the best.

views of my mom's place . . . I really need to burn more candles at my own house . . . it's just feels so cozy.

While the rest of us lounged around the house on Saturday morning, Carl hopped onto his snowmobile to find a good place plop his ice fishing house down. Carl's two favorite things to do in the winter is ice fishing and snowmobiling - so he was pretty much in heaven :)








The birthday party officially started when Grandma, Grandpa, Dana and Ryan got to the lake. There were games to be played, good food to be eaten and fun to be had!

(only one candle left . . . you know what that means!)

Oh yeah, and cake to be tasted . . . for the first time.

Yes, there were presents to be opened, fish to be caught, snowmobiles to be ridden, and wine to be drank (or is the right word drunk . . .?) it sounds cliche, but the best part of the weekend was just being in that cozy little cabin, celebrating the lives of both Jocie and Myles.

First

Happy, happy 12th birthday to my amazing, talented, beautiful, funny, hard working and kind-hearted first born!

It was 12 years ago today that my world changed forever. After a loooong and grueling labor, a small, pink-skinned, warm bodied, blue-eyed wonder came into my life. I was young, scared, unsure of myself, but above all, I was in love. In love with this little person that would make me into the person I am today . . . a mother.

You have done so many wonderful things for me. It was you who made me responsible. It was you who made me study until 4:00am on countless nights during college. It was you who pushed me to always try to do things better. I don't think I can ever repay you for all you have done for me, but I promise to try for the rest of my life.

I know being the first child isn't always fun. You have to be the one setting good examples for your younger sisters. You will probably have an earlier curfew than your sisters when they are your age (that's just how it seems to work, right Ali?!). You will probably always have more chores and more expectations on your plate simply because you are the oldest. But, look at the bright side. You get to do everything first, stay up later, will get a car first, AND although we love you girls all the same, you can always say that we have loved you the longest!

Happy Birthday, honey! We love you more than you will ever know.

Vacation . . . sort of

This past weekend we packed up the family truckster and headed off to Alexandria, MN for Jocie's basketball tournament. Our trip had a painful beginning due to the fact that the interstate was closed down in Monticello because of a multi-car accident and jack-knifed semi - so it took us 1 hour and 45 minutes to get to Buffalo (which is only 15 miles from our house) where we were dropping Mario off for the weekend . . . there were plenty crabbies in the car that night . . . parents included.


The mood lightened after we arrived in Alex. We checked into the Arrowwood Resort & Hotel and were impressed with all it had to offer. Beautiful and spacious rooms, an indoor water park, a regular pool, and countless outdoor activity opportunities which included skating, sledding, snowmobiling, horse drawn sleigh rides, sledding and ice fishing. That's a lot of stuff to do - and in order to do all of it, we would have needed to stay for an entire week. So needless to say, we didn't get to any of the outdoor activities, but we sure stayed busy with all in the indoor ones :)


the view from our patio door early Saturday morning

this place had icicles hanging all over the place!



one of the hotel's ice skating rinks



Saturday morning and afternoon was dedicated to basketball. Coach Carl led his team into three tough battles which unfortunately ended in defeat. The other teams were well versed in pressing (the whole game . . . even when they were up by 30 . . . in the sixth grade . . . I hope that coach can sleep at night!) and the zone defense. Oh well, you can't win them all!








Honestly, this weekend wasn't really about basketball anyway. It was about going out of town with a whole team of excited 11 and 12 years old girls, letting them go crazy at a water park, eat pizza and birthday cake and stay up WAY too late laughing a talking with one another. I had those experiences as a kid when I used to travel with our figure skating precision team (yes, they do exist). Some of my favorite school-aged memories come from those trips, and I was so happy to see Jocie be able to have some of the same fun times with her friends. Man, she is growing up fast! Too fast!!



Speaking of growing up fast, we had a little pizza-and-cake-pool-side birthday party for her on Saturday night. With almost every weekend filled up with basketball and a trip to the lake on her "real" birthday this coming weekend, we thought it would be fun to celebrate her birthday with her friends while we were at the hotel. The girls had a great time!

Carl and I had fun watching our girls have fun in the hotel and at the pools . . . but I have come to the realization that "Family Vacations" when you have young children, is nothing close to a vacation for the mom in the family. Stealing a quote from my favorite TV comedy, Modern Family, "This isn't a vacation for me, it's a business trip". Oh, how true that statement is!



Yes it's fun staying in a hotel, but it's not fun trying to cram an enormous amount of stuff for a family of 5 into one room. Nor is it fun to try to put a toddler to bed in her pack-and-play and then continue to be in the same room, where she can clearly see you - - "Mama . . . Mama . . . Mama . . . El-ya . . . Mama". Plus, when in the room, the kids don't have anywhere else to go. They are always there. Right up in you business.



Yes, it's fun to watch your children have a blast at the water park. Swimming, sliding, and laughing. It totally warms your heart! But it's not fun freezing you ass off as you get splashed by other people's kids once every 30 seconds when you are standing in knee deep water for hours at a time, while you watch the early-twenty-bitches relaxing in the hot tub with a beer in hand.

It's fun to watch your eldest daughter work her butt off on the court, knowing that she is pouring her heart and soul into a game she loves. It is not fun, however, to only watch 8 minutes (not in a row) of said game because your youngest can't sit still - even when you bring a huge bag full of activities to do and snacks to eat. No, no. She would much rather run up and down the handicap ramp in the hallway, because that's super fun!



Okay - enough complaining. The kids had a great time, and at the end of the day that is all that matters. I know there will be a time when I get to have vacations again. And when that time comes, I will probably want these days back!



So here's to family vacations - They may be crazy, frustrating and exhausting, but they also create family memories, and nothing can compete with that.

Poor Jocie!

This is our family according to Claire:

"Mama" or "Mommy" = Me
"Dada" = Carl
"El-ya" = Ella
"Pu-ppy" = Mario
"Na-El-ya" = Jocie (if you can't figure out her pronunciation, she calls Jocie "Not Ella")

She has never been a verbal wizard, but really? "Not Ella" is even two words put together!

Is Jocie that hard to say?

We are off to Alexandria for Jocie's basketball tourney this weekend. We are staying at a fabulous hotel with an indoor water park . . . should be fun!!

Fall Book 2010

Click here to view this photo book larger

Dancing Queen

This past Monday night marked the beginning of another Dance season. For the past three January's, we have signed Ella up for a combination Dance class at Jennifer's Dance Centre. This year instead of just learning about Ballet and Tap, Ella's new class will also be teaching Jazz. With this new Jazz ability will also come another performance at this Spring's Dance Recital. Ella is already looking forward to this Dance Recital because after completing a third year of Dance, she will receive a trophy on stage!! I have tried to down-play the whole trophy thing because I think kids worry too much about ribbons, trophies and medals . . . but she can't stop thinking about it!

I am a little embarrassed to admit that a small part of me has been dreading going back to Dance. Not only is it yet another thing to add to our schedule, but it is also pretty expensive. But Ella adores it . . . so how could I deprive her of this:

Warming up and stretching out...where did she get that flexibility from? Certainly not her mother!

What would dance class be without Miss Mette?! Oh, they have so much fun.

I love how these two girls just decided to sit down in the middle of class and fix their hair :)


Yes, Monday nights will be busy, but it's so worth it in the end!