My Boy's First Ride

After a busy Tuesday we were all ready for our 8pm bedtime. That was until Seth saw Nick in his "work" clothes and realized that Nick was going to Grandpa Jim's to work on the Neon some more. Seth wanted to go with but knew it was time for him to jump in the shower and get ready for bed. He wasn't very happy with missing out on guy time to fix the Neon. I grabbed Seth a pair of his work jeans and tossed them to him. He caught them and continued to fuss that he couldn't go with. I told him to put them on and then it clicked! I get to go with! We told him that because tomorrow is the last day of 1st Grade he could celebrate a night early. Nick went into the basement and grabbed the kids snowmobile helmet and goggles. Seth put it on but wasn't sure why; until Nick grabbed his motorcycle helmet. Seth's face LIT up with excitement! I was so happy for him, yet at the same time so scared. I trust Nick with me on the back of his bike, but it is different because I am confident that I know how to hold on and when to reposition myself. Seth on the other hand has fallen asleep on snowmobiles and four-wheelers. How could I be certain he wouldn't fall asleep on the back of a motorcycle, that he would hold on tight and that he wouldn't move around and knock Nick off balance. I went outside with my boys and made sure Seth's shoe laces were tied tight (which they weren't), tried my best to educate him on being a good passenger and kissed my son goodbye. They drove off, and I kicked myself... Where was my camera? I missed capturing the moment my son has been waiting for.

As I was working on typing up this day, I heard a rumble and knew what made that rumbling noise. My boys were back! I grabbed my cell phone and raced outside to snap a returning home picture. Unfortunately it was 10:15pm and very dark out.



Seth's First Harley Davidson Ride - 7 years old



A Day of Honor

Today is Memorial Day. Today we remember all of those who fought for our freedom, and for those who sacrificed their life to give us a better one.

The Randolph Cup Scout Troop 208 were asked to participate in the Randolph Memorial Day Service held at the Lakeview Cemetery in town. Our troop had two boys that were able to participate (Seth was spending the weekend with his Dad and unable to attend.) Dakota Alveshere (4th grade) and Devin Ross (2nd grade) walked the American Flag up to the front and led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance. They did such a great job standing up at the front of the group holding the flag as it blew in the wind. There was a moment that made those attending the service point and smile. When the Pastor finished his speech with Amen, an eagle took off from behind the trees by the lake and soared above us. It was majestic!

I am proud of my veteran husband for the sacrifices he made for the citizens of the United States. I am proud of all those who are actively serving, and those who have served in the past by land, sea and air. I am proud of the families that have stood strong while their loved ones have been called away for a year or more. I am proud to live in the United States of America.

Why I love the Country

 Today Nick and I took a ride on our 2009 Harley Fat Bob. We met his dad in Red Wing and took the Wisconsin side down to where we cross over to Wabasha, then back up the Minnesota side of the Mississippi River to Red Wing.



Photos from the Red Wing and Welch area dipping through valleys and hugging each of the 25 plus curves in the road.

I don't care how many times we go on this route. It is a spectacular ride each time. There is something about being on a motorcycle that makes you feel so free. The wind against your face, the sound of the bike rumbling off of the cliffs, that no matter where I look, there is nothing between me and nature. What makes it even better is that the man I love is in front of me and I can lean forward and wrap my arms around him and kiss his shoulders as many times as I want. Although we are inches apart, our minds can be miles apart.



Loading up our gear

Yard work or shelter?

Today I was on my own. Nick was at his Dad's working on fixing the broken sub-frame on the Dodge Neon while I stayed home to do yard work. The sun was still shining so I figured I'd make an attempt at mowing the lawn. I got about half way done when it started to sprinkle, but I carried on. I wasn't going to stop until it started pouring. I could always throw it in 6th gear and race to the opened shed for shelter. As I blinked I thought I saw a flash. No... that isn't lightening. BAM! Ah man! Off I go to the shed to park the mower. The rain slowed to a drizzle so I decided to spread the six bags of pine nuggets around the trees and edging of the house. After about 10 minutes and not another flash of lightening I turned back on the ole' Murry and finished up the lawn. Next task - weed whipping. It's so nice to have a freshly cut/whipped lawn to look at; the bright pine nuggets topped it off. I had a few lawn ornaments, bird baths, feeders, etc to put out when the sirens went off. In Randolph our sirens go off at 6:00 PM every day. When I heard them go off today, I had to stop and think... what time is it? My neighbor is still mowing his lawn, it can't be six though. Nope... 3:15 PM. They sky looked blue with a few clouds so I figured I could quick finish up my work. Less than five minutes later I was done and headed inside. As I walked inside, I looked at my pant legs. Grass clippings from weed whipping and dirt from emptying the bags of pine nuggets all over my pants - they were glued to my legs. Since the sky doesn't look so bad I'll jump in the shower to clean up quick. As I turned off the water I heard something outside... Sirens were going off again! Oh great! I quickly got dressed, not knowing what it looked like outside, grabbed some tennis shoes, my purse, cordless phone, my cell phone and headed to the basement to turn on the TV. There were reports of wall clouds and funnel clouds in Farmington/Castle Rock area. Ever since the recent strings of tornados this year I haven't been too happy about the lack of a shelter in our house and I have come to realize that I'm not invincible. A tornado can hit my house and leave me like those who live in Minneapolis or Joplin, MO. I could go under the stairs but if the hot water heater goes, I will get get some nasty burns. I could crawl in the big chest freezer we don't use, but the prop we used to hold the door open fell out and some spores were popping up at the bottom. I could go in the basements walk-in-closet but Nick's tools are in there and they could be some deadly weapons. I'm sure my thought process would have been different if Nick was home. I called him to let him know what was coming towards Hampton in case he didn't know. Him and his dad knew. Yet they continued to work away in the tin shed. Why I grabbed my purse - I have no clue. Maybe I didn't want to lose my check card or drivers license. What is even worse is that I contemplated finishing yard work and took a shower after sirens went off. Good things my kids weren't home - what a bad example I was setting.

A Little Squirt

Our house is full of pets. Nick has Muska, Seth has Indy, I have Chloe and Sam had, well... Chloe was to be her dog, but Chloe wanted to be my dog (sigh).

Indy in the back resting his head on Muska. Chloe is the front soaking up Muska's warmth in an effort to stop quivering. 

So my little girl was sad, all she wanted was her own little animal to snuggle with. She kept begging us to let her have a kitten. Since I've had cats my whole life and the hives I was getting from cats back in 2007 haven't come out for a number of years we thought we'd give it a try. Sam's Aunt Jeanie's cat just had kittens and we were given the okay to bring her home on Christmas. The kids spent the last half of Winter Break with their dad which worked out perfect! I brought the kitten home a few days early to give it a test run before the kids would be back. No hives - she was going to be a keeper. When the kids got home, they were oblivious to the little black head poking out of my jacket. About 15 minutes passed before Sam spotted her. She was ecstatic! Let's name her Snuggles, Light Bulb, or Olive. I was drinking a can of Squirt and Nick said - how about naming her Squirt. Sam loved it, well second to Snuggles. She would go back and forth between calling her those two names. With a decision that had to be made Sam went with Squirt. The kids thought it was hilarious when we needed to squirt Squirt with water when she was digging in plants or clawing on furniture.

One day last week Squirt starting talking a lot more and acting strange. Uh-oh... we held off getting her spayed to long and our little one was going into heat. I looked online and read how they get more vocal as they call for male cats to come mate with them. That they spray their estrogen packed urine on verticle objects such as walls our cabinets. Oh man! Not in this house! I made a call to the vet for her pre-op and surgery. We dropped her off Tuesday night after a painful episode of getting her first set of injections. I think people down the block could hear her screaming. Wednesday morning she was spayed and her front claws removed. Thursday we were given the clear to pick her up and take her home. $418 dollar later she was our new little rag doll.

Our little cone-head would plop wherever she was set down. In the past week since getting her home she has been a lazy little loafer. Sleeps all day, snuggles all night, and tolerates Sam picking her up to have her lay on her lap. Where did our off-the-wall kitten go? She used to race through the house jumping off the sides of the couches towards the wall, where she would push off and dash around the dining room table. She was so energetic and fun to watch. Now she just lays there. Although she is still reliable in the area of tracking her litter around the entire house. For now it is newspaper shreddings, which is better than stepping on litter I must say!

A Thursday to Remember

Every year Randolph Elementary puts on a contest "Turn off the tube and move". The goal for the week is to eat healthy, stay active and to stay away from watching TV or playing on electronic devices. Last year, Seth's Kindergarten class won and were awarded with a picnic lunch at City Park. Which is conveniently located across the street from our house. This year Sam's class won 2nd place and were given a trip to Lake Byllesby Park between Randolph and Cannon Falls. Seth's class won 1st place and were given a bike ride down the Cannon Valley Trail which follows the Cannon River and many beautiful bluffs from Cannon Falls down to Red Wing. Today the first graders loaded up their bikes in a trailer and headed to Welch where their journey began. Seth said how he was one of the last in his group because he didn't have any water. If only my son focused a little more on listening, as we told him on our way to school that his water bottle was in his backpack. Oh Seth... I asked him if he crashed at all and he gave me a guilty grin - for just that morning he was arguing about what he was going to wear - insisting that he wouldn't crash. Yup - just like you didn't crash last summer and how your pinky finger nail turned black and fell off due to a bike accident.

Sam had her big day today also. Today was the PM Kindergartener's trial day of All Day Kindergarten. Today Sam was able to eat lunch with the big kids, go out for recess with the big kids and be with Mrs. Lau all day. She was so excited for this fun day! When i picked her up from school, Mrs. Lau said how they all had a long day (she forgot I followed her to the classroom to pick up Sam a few minutes before the official end of school day).

Off we headed to Dakota's Children Dentisty in Rosemount. I have always  been so impressed with my two little ones after leaving the dentist. The Dentist is always so happy with how well they care for their teeth, and their honesty with their lack of flossing. Isn't that almost everyones downfall? Seth was given a referral to see an orthodontist - eek! He has a few teeth that are trying to push their way into some pretty tight spots. Maybe there will be some preventative measures we will need to take to prevent braces later one.

From there we headed further north to Saint Paul to visit with Sheila. I'm not sure what Seth likes more at Sheila's, playing games with her or building lego trucks, trailors and cranes in the waiting room. Maybe he'll want to grow up and become an engineer rather than a truck driver. We'll see... he is holding strong with being a truck driver for the past five years.


Seth proudly displaying his truck suspended in air by legs and his Randolph sticker for his field trip today.

My Dolphins

When Sam was just over one year old she ran after her cousins who were trying to catch waves from a boat racing up the St. Croix River in Prescott. I stayed back a bit and watched to see what she would do, knowing that her cousins didn’t see her trailing behind. Sam had no fear; she raced into the water as if she was invincible. The first wave hit the shore and crashed over her head. Just as that first wave was on top of her I looked down and saw her blue eyes staring up at me from under the water;  her hand peaking out over the top of the wave. I grabbed her arm and brought her to my chest. She clinched my arms with shear panic in her face. We walked back up to our seats and I wrapped her in a towel. She sat there and cried, refusing to look towards the river. At that point I thought she was done with the water for a while. I asked myself if I will have to try to convince her to go near the water; to overcome her new found fear. After holding Sam for five minutes or so, she uncovered herself, slipped her little tiny body off my legs and ran off towards the water again. Wait a minute… what? No fear? Oh man… we are in trouble and I better do something about it.



  

This has been our life every Tuesday for 30 minutes during the school year for the past three years. There is no reading books or playing on the internet while swimming lessons are going on. The moment you look away one of them is calling and waving with excitement and a sense of accomplishment in their smile. I feel that swimming lessons are a vital part of growing up. I love swimming in the middle of the lake and just treading water out there. No floatation devices, just me and the water. I want my children to love water as much as I do and more importantly, respect for what the water is capable of. I want to know that if they needed to stay afloat for a long time that they could. It’s a matter of knowing when you need to tread, swim or float at that particular moment.

When Seth & Sam started at WiseSwim School in Apple Valley neither of them understood the concept of swimming. They weren’t afraid of getting their faces wet or about falling off the stairs into water that is too deep for them to touch. Over the past three years they have advanced through Mini Dolphins 1-3, Junior Dolphins 1-2. This session both have advanced to Junior Dolphin 3 where they will learn how to use breaststroke arms, dolphin kicks, treading water, how to swim two lengths of the pool, improve their stamina, and skills. They can both now swim the length of the pool freestyle and backstroke. Yes, they are good swimmers now. But am I ready to have them stop taking these lessons… Nope. They will start up JD3 this fall and continue for another 9 months until the start of Summer 2012. Who knows… maybe they will want to continue their lessons and make a sport of it. Nonetheless, I am very proud of my little swimmers and their rainbow arms.

Reasons I Love My Yard in Spring

There is no need to do much writing for this one! I could sit in my backyard all day and smell the subtle fragrance in the breeze.


Cherry Tree in the Front




Hostas Galore

 

White Lilac Tree and a Deep Purple Lilac Tree
(The purple one is Sam's climbing tree)

Can't you smell them?

Tons that border our back yard



I have to include Muska, who likes to water each hosta daily.

 

... and the little culprit who hauls armfuls of them inside for me each day!



A Day of Recognition

Seth joined Cub Scouts this past fall. There are only two first grade boys for the Tiger Cubs this year; Seth and his friend Josh Taylor. Nick volunteered to be the Den Leader for the Tiger Cubs and was asked to take on the Cub Master postion as well. If there isn't a Cub Master, then the Pack (Gr. 1-6) can't exist for Randolph. Since Nick earned his Eagle Scout his senior year, these positions are right up his alley.

On Sunday, Seth's entire pack got together at Camp Phillipo Boy Scout Reserve in Cannon Falls (right on Lake Byllesby). The boys played for about a half hour as a fire was being made out of damp freshly shaven wood. Once the fire was roaring they all roasted hot dogs and we all enjoyed having a picnic in the middle of a pine forest. Some ventured back to the lodge we were using for a dryer place to sit.

The boys were all honored for the advancements they have made over the past year. Seth & Josh crossed the bridge to become a Wolf.

The Flag Ceremony is about to start.

After all of the boys crossed the bridge and had their face painted with special meanings, they posed for a Pack photo.



The boys also did a compass course but Seth kinda cheated. He looked ahead to see where the markers were and just ran there instead. After all of the boys advanced to the next rank we celebrated with some marshmellows over the hot coals. I wish I would have taken more pictures. It was absolutely beautiful there with rolling hills, forests in the background and open fields to run and play in. We are lucky to live so close to such a beautiful piece of scouting history.

Great job Seth on all of your accomplishments!

The Value of Friendship

I met my best friend in 1995 at Burnsville High School. Our friendship has grown to so many different levels over the 16 years we have been friends. Although we have had a fair share of times when we don’t see or talk to each other for a few months we always pick right back up where we left off. Distance has played a role but we’ve found time to still get together.

Our value of friendship is the same. We are both here for each other, no matter the miles between us. We stand up for one another and will always hold strong to the value of having someone to listen to you -  knowing that your words will never see the light of day nor being judged! No matter what happens to us, we know and trust each other to always be there for one another. I’ll never throw Melanie to the sharks to save my own life; and Melanie would never do the same.

A friend who throws things in your face, or criticizes your ways, isn’t really a friend to begin with.

Pay it Forward

This weekend I'm working a hockey tournament at Edina’s Braemar Arena with my best friend Melanie. On Friday we decided to make a drive out to the arena to check out the penalty box and make sure we were ready to manage the scoreboard in case multiple penalties came in at the same time. It was perfect, we were able to stand right behind the box about 10 feet up and watch over the two people currently running the box. While we were watching, Sam said she was hungry and wanted to get something to munch on. We walked out to the concession stand and I asked if they take cards and if not where the ATM was located. As I turned away to head towards the ATM the lady who just paid handed a couple bills to me. I thanked her for her kindness but told her I’d just grab some money from the ATM. That was not acceptable for her. “Take this, you are going to be paying fees to pull money from the machine, so just take this.” After I realized that there was no way she was going to allow me to pass up her generosity, I gratefully took her money and thanked her. She vanished just like that. I bought Sam a pretzel with cheese and a pop which totaled four dollars. I still had two dollars left, and wanted to find her so I could give her back her change, but as I had said, she vanished.

The next day when we came back to the arena I saw her again. I approached her and handed her back the six dollars she had given me the day before. She continued to walk and refused to take it. Her only words were “I have been there before when my child wanted some food and I didn’t have any money on me. Thank you for your gesture of paying me back, but I don’t want it.” She smiled and continued to walk away.

I didn’t need her money, and I wasn’t concerned with spending two, four or even ten dollars in fees. My girl wanted to eat a snack, and I would have paid those fees to get her one.

She paid it forward, and now it is my turn!

My Little Shopper

Today we ran to Target to pick up a birthday present for Sam's friend Marea. Sam was eager to pick out a present for her. "I know exactly what Mae Mae wants for her birthday!" Sam insisted on pushing the cart around the store. We walked up and down every isle at least twice. She started off pointing to everything from Barbies, horses, Zhu Zhu Pets, Bratz dolls, My Little Ponies and so on. We told her to look at everything first and then pick her favorite for Marea. Soon nothing seemed good enough. We left the toy isles and headed to the crafts... jackpot! In a matter of moments she picked out a bracelet making kit and some cute animals to paint. Next stop, cards; Sam wanted to get a Hello Kitty card that sings, well that was not an easy task. She looked at a few and her mind was made up when she found the fuzzy Hello Kitty face. With a slight joyful grunt, she threw the card in the cart and carried on pushing the cart throughout the store. When it was time to checkout, she wouldn't allow either of us to help her unload the cart onto the belt. Once the cashier bagged everything Sam grabbed each bag and placed them nicely into the shopping cart. As I reached for the cart I was quickly cut off. "No mom, these are my things, I paid for them (with a giggle) and I can bring them to the car." I responded with "I bet you drove your car here too." A simple yup was all she needed to respond with.

Once we got to the door we were each going to grab a bag. But oh no... Sam was the shopper here and she'd carry all three bags herself. They were a little heavy so we helped her lift them high enough out of the cart to where she could manage them herself. I felt odd walking out of the store with my five year old daughter lugging all the bags herself. Nick finally offered to carry the two bags of cat food at least. Sam gave in and let him carry them. As he was untangling the mess her poor hand started turning purple. She let him carry two but not the third. When we got to the car she made sure that nobody else loaded the bags into the trunk. Once all three bags were in, she huffed and wiped her hands against each other. A sense of accomplishment.

...but they're worth taking

A wise person once said that blogging is a way to capture those small things in life that you never want to forget. Moments when your seven year old son asks what the baby inside your tummy is wearing, how s/he eats if s/he doesn't have any teeth to chew my food; moments when your child looks at you in front of their best friends and says "I love you Mom! You are the best!"

If you would like to know what sold me on taking this chance, it was that I can turn our families memories into books; volume after volume. I would love to have the opportunity to read about moments from my childhood. This time I wouldn't only be reliving the memory, I'd be reliving it through the eyes of someone who loved me... no matter what I did.

We always say how busy we are as parents. The more I've thought about it, the more I've come to realize that "busy" is just a convenient excuse for letting life pass you by, and when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance, I hope you dance