Just Thinkin'

What is on your mind?
She must be thinking about how much she misses her momma!

Or maybe how she can get herself off the boat to go swimming some more.

That one is more likely.

~I just want to kiss that little girl~



Nisswa Bliss

There isn't a better place

than to float on the pontoon

Lake Edna in Nisswa

The lake is relatively quiet

amazingly clean

and very relaxing

Seth and Sam were enjoying a four day vacation with Grandma & Grandpa Loken
while Nick and I were stuck in the cities working.
Sometimes being an adult isn't very fun!

Another First of the Summer



Seth, Zack and Hunter



Seth spent last week up at Aunt Jeanie's Cabin on Holt Lake in Garrison, Minnesota.

He called me from the store to tell me that they were buying worms to go fishing.

He likes to fish with leaches, but those are usually bought when fishing with Grandpa Loken.

Later that afternoon Jean sent me a text.



This week, Seth and Sam are up in Nisswa spending a few days with Grandma and Grandpa Loken.

Lucky kids!

Summer isn't all Play

It is so easy for kids to lose some of the valuable information they spent all school year learning over the summer break. This summer we are being proactive!

Monday through Friday we spend at least one hour working on study books and reading.

Sam zooms through her pages while Seth tries to let time pass without working on much.

It works out pretty good because during this time I work on dinner.

Once they finish eating it is playtime until bedtime.

As you can see, we also take advantage of this quiet time to soak infected fingers. Such a boy!

Girl Scouts

This is Sam's first year of Girl Scouts. Once a month they meet after school and do projects together.

This was also Sam's first year of selling Girl Scout Cookies.

She did great and sold around 470 boxes!

She even made the newspaper...

It helps that we know one of the columnists for the Cannon Falls Beacon.

Although when Chris asked Sam where the money was going, she said "FLORIDA!!"

Sam's troop also took a trip to the Red Wing YMCA for a pot luck, swimming and some rock wall climbing.

My girl has no fear! She reached the top two of the three attempts at different walls. The one she didn't make the top was a hard one to begin with. The wall curved back on her so she would have had to be horizontal to get above the ledge she was underneath. Proud of my girl!





Bye Bye Number Five

June 25, 2005 11:04 PM

16 days past my due date

Samantha Lynn Brunner

entered this world

at United Hospital, Saint Paul, Minnesota

7 lbs, 1 3/4 oz ~ 19 3/4 inches long ~ 14 inch head circumference

Delivered by Dr. Nancy Struthers from Allina Clinic, Cottage Grove

It has been a fast six years since she was born.

Samantha has grown to become and strong, independent little girl.

She excels at school and loves to read.

I am so proud of who she is...

I love her to pieces!



July 24, 2006
13 months old

 

June 9, 2007
Celebrating her 2nd Birthday with her Cousin Nick's 3rd Birthday



August 22, 2009
4 years 2 months
Minnesota State Fair
Showing off her airbrush tattoo
and her Fair-Do



 

February 26, 2008
2 years 8 months
Can't get enough of her Halloween 2007 costume

    

April 29, 2000
4 years 10 months
Graduation from Preschool



June 18, 2011
Celebrating her 6th Birthday

U.S. Air Force Base Tour

Devin Ross' father is an Air Force Reserve and thought the troop would enjoy a trip to the Minneapolis Air Force Base which is also located at the Minneapolis/Saint Paul Airport.

We toured the inside of a C-130 Hercules. The boys saw the cockpit and the cargo area. They were even strapped into the seats and pretended to be going off to war. (Sound effects included)

We were taken through the paint shop, metal shop, mechanics bay and the engine repair area. With special access we were able to go out on "the line" which is where the planes sit and is heavily secured.

Unfortunately for the boys, we were not given a ride on the C-130.

The pictures above are of the first C-130 we toured. There were mechanics in the cargo area working on some repairs.

Below is a different C-130 that was outside. We learned about how military vehicles are strapped in and parashoot out. How lazors on each side of the tail (shown in the picture above - object to the right of the star) pinpoint a designated spot on the ground and the parashoot is able to follow that lazor and land within feet of its destined location. Amazing technology!

It take four people to fly this plane. The Pilot, Co-Pilot, Navigator and the Engineer. The Engineer is responsible for knowing when to push each of the thousand plus switches and what each do.



Cody, Devin, Trey and Jacob





The tail (closed)



The seats were our soldiers sit when in flight.
Although some apparently sleep on the floor between the
roller rails. Can't be comfortable while in turbulance.

 

Seth was not able to attend this trip but Devin's father said he would take Seth up for his own turn.

Nick's Pride

Nick purchased a 1977 Ford pickup truck from his shop teacher in college. He loves this truck! His goal is to rebuild this truck and drive it proudly. I was given the priveledge of driving his pickup truck although I feel a little stressed when it comes time to change gears - third gear seams to hide on me and then we grind. I'd look over at Nick and he'd smile at me but I could see the pain in his eyes. Whenever we would go someplace the kids wanted to take the truck. "It's cooler than the car momma!"

I have since hampered that dream with leaning away from the homes that needed work with huge garages to a house with a small one car garage. His pickup truck used to be in storage in the winter months and driven during the summer months. In 2009 he decided to park it. It now lives in our small little garage with flat tires, and the added weight of my four wheeler in its bed. The hood was taken off and sits in our basement, where Nick goes down and sands it by hand every so often.

We have hit a bump in the road, but that bump will not hold us back from making his dream come true.



Memories



Cabin Fun

My Grandparents have a cabin in Luck, Wisconsin, on Bone Lake. I don't get up there nearly as much as I want. Now that my Grandma Williams passed away this past November, I am going to make this year different.

Growing up my sister and I would spend two weeks every summer with our Grandma and Grandpa Williams. It is there that we learned how to clean fish, how to water-ski, function a small boat with oars, ride our grandpa's three wheeler without crashing; it is where I was crashed into the dock while tubing because the swimming dock was closer to our dock that summer, than it had been the prior year, it is where I rolled from the tube in an effort to not hit the dock and turned my body into an underwater torpedo, it is where I sank to the bottom of the lake after going through the boat lift and hitting the dock then being pulled to the surface by my cousin's friend, it is where I was brought into the Amery ER for stitches on my right leg and given fireworks from my Dad as a way to say sorry, it is where I lost out on learning to knee board because of those stitches. I have countless memories of that place and I wish how my children could have great memories like mine.

 

The Williams' side of the family would gather there in masses over the Fourth of July, tents and campers would span the two properties. My Uncle Keith would snore like a bear and scare all of us kids. My Dad's cousin ate a beating fish heart to gross everyone out. My grandparents would square dance to the music playing on the radio. My Cousin Shelly would dance to Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-a-Lot in the front yard. My Aunt Laura would stand in the water directing me to sit like I am using the bathroom as she signaled my uncle to "hit it" and launch me to the surface on my skis. I would then focus on the water to make sure I wasn't going to fall in the thick of the weed ridge. When I would, I would try to paddle myself out of them so a fish or turtle wouldn't bite my butt. We would keep trying and eventually I was able to make it twice around the large island out front without falling.



June 24, 2007



My fondest memories as a child was at Bone Lake. Now I go there with my own children and reminisce.

Most of these pictures (with the exception of my grandparents and the kids on the swing) were taken September 25, 2010 when we were up to help take the dock out for the year,

and to see my grandparents before they left for their winter in Texas.

This was the last time I saw my Grandma Gerry alive.

My heart still hurts for her, but because of her,

I was given some of the most memorable times of my life.

Alligator Obsession

Seth has an obsession

Alligators

It all started when Grandma Loken began mailing Seth & Sam self made postcards of pictures while they were away in the winter months. Grandma would tell Seth about the gators laying outside of their porch and then came the pictures. Seth was fascinated with them. How big they are, how mean they look, and how close they come to people.

We have had two trips to Florida, 2007 & 2011.

Since then, Seth has started a collection.

He was given the smaller head from Grandma & Grandpa Loken last year. This year we looked all over for a larger one but thought our efforts were lost as they were all really expensive and didn't have the nice felt along the backside of the head and under the lower jaw. Then we stopped for gas at the border of Florida and Georgia. Within the gas station was a display of all different sized gator heads. That is when Seth spotted his next purchase.

While we were in Florida this past trip, Seth focused much of his spending money on gator paraphernalia. He has come home with a gator claw necklace, a gator tooth inside a small glass corked bottle, and his last purchase of the large gator head.

The First Sign of Summer

Every Summer since Seth was three years old we have a Summer tradition. All of Seth's cousins on the Brunner side of the family have underwent this tradition each Summer.

Every year I make one shave down the middle then say to myself "shoot!" I should have given him a mohawk. Seth asked for his Summer shave and this time I remembered. My intent was to leave the mohawk and then head over to Grandpa Jim's shop to watch the boys work on the car for a little while, let Grandpa Jim see Seth's new look and watch his reaction as we tell him that Seth wants to keep the mohawk all Summer. Then after we had enough enjoyment, I would pull out the shaver and remove the mohawk. I don't know if I am ready to let my son have a mohawk at age 7. Nick thinks that it starts with a mohawk and then turns into many other "labeled" behaviors.

"Give me a mean face!" and this is what he gave me with his missing front tooth.

I just want to kiss him and squeeze him!

He makes me smile!

It's More Than Just Being A Father

Definition of Father: a man who gives paternal care to others; protector or provider.

Nick has been an amazing father figure to Seth and Samantha since the day he met them for the first time. He picked up Sam, threw her on his shoulders and took them both to watch Muska flush pheasants from a field in Hampton.

He has helped guide them in the right direction, he makes them laugh and plays all those silly roles. He chases them around the playground as if she was still a child himself. He gives up his masculinity to share a femanine tattoo with Sam. He holds great patience while teaching Seth how engines work and what each tool is called. He buys Sam Easter dresses and roams the baby section of stores, but tries to get away saying he was shopping for "tools".

When Nick gets home from work, Sam runs and jumps into his arms to greet him. When Nick leaves to go somewhere, Seth wants to be right there by his side.

Nick volunteers for the Randolph-Hampton Fire Department which takes up at least three weeknights per month, not counting the medical/fire calls that he has to run out the door for. Last summer Nick coached Seth & Sam's T-Ball team and took on the role of Cub Master while he was just looking at being Seth's Den Leader. If he or someone didn't take the Cub Master position, the Randolph Cub Scout Troop 208 would no longer exist. He would not allow that to happen, so he has added Cub Master and Den Leader to his already earned Eagle Scout accomplishment. Scouts takes up another 3-4 week nights per month with meetings and preparations.

He makes every effort to be at all of their school events, sport and doctor appointments. Although his new hours keep him away until close to 7pm each night.

This man would sacrafice anything for the sake of his family.

He remains active in understanding what children enjoy.

Let's Celebrate

 Sam invited over six of her closest friends to celebrate her 6th birthday. We started on our project "Makit & Bakit" suncatchers. Each friend picked out their favorite suncatcher and started filling them with the baking crystals, then most left the table to run around and be crazy. This left me to finish their projects for them in a short amount of time to allow them to bake and cool down before their parents came to pic them up. I started getting a little sloppy towards the end when I couldn't get the little plastic pieces out that fell into the wrong sections.

I told Sam she could start opening presents as I continued to work on the suncatchers. The boys who came each gave her the sam gift so Sam so kindly gave one of the duplicate gifts to her friend Marea.

I finally got the suncatchers in the oven and we decided it was a good time to have some cake. Sam wasn't quick enough to blow out her candle and Trevor blew it out for her. I relit the candle and covered Trevor's mouth as he giggled.

Sam received a doll with long blonde hair and a cheer leading outfit. This is her favorite. Sam thinks it is an American Girl Doll. We all just let her continue thinking that. She also was given a princess book, Cinderalla and her horse drawn carriage, along with a few other gifts that vanished before I was able to see them.

Front Row: Maddie Swanson, Abby Gehrke, Trevor Preston

Back Row: Marea Nielson, Owen Brochman

Sam's best friend JoHanna Taylor wasn't able to make the birthday party due to her cousin having a birthday party at the same time, so we decided to have JoHanna over for a sleepover on Friday night.



I feel ya

Women who are pregnant tend to feel their unborn baby kicking around 16-20 weeks. Those who have been pregnant before can feel them sooner than that. Since becoming pregnant I have been more aware of bubbles that I feel. Oh... I think that is the baby. Then a few days pass and I don't feel it again. I laugh at myself because at the time I would only be nine weeks pregnant.

Well on Tuesday while we were at the Taylor Swift concert I kept feeling fluttering (or popcorn popping) in the same spot for about two minutes. Then it was gone. Today while I was working I felt the same sensations from Tuesday, and they were in the same spot. It has to be baby! Yesterday I turned 15 weeks.

If there is one thing that I love about being pregnant, it would be feeling the baby move around in me, and watching my stomach shift as my due date nears. If there is one thing I could change about being pregnant, it would be the exhaustion. I've been lucky - no morning sickness, no nausea, no constipation, weight loss in the beginning, and occassional sciatica.

In five weeks we can have an ultrasound to determine the sex of our baby. But no thanks! We are still looking forward to the December surprise.

A Mowin' Man

For the past year Seth has been begging to mow the lawn.

I've always said no because the riding mower is too old to have safety features such as turning off when the driver is no longer sitting.

Then as I was mowing the lawn last week I raised myself off the seat to reposition myself (after having to lay back while going under some branches of our lilac bush) and the motor started to shut off.

I knew I was in for it as soon as Seth's smile grew ear to ear.

Our lawn needed mowing for the past couple days but I didn't want to be rude on the last nice day we had and mow the lawn while two of our neighbors were having graduations/family get togethers outside.

I waited too long and it rained for the next four days.

I picked Seth & Sam up from RCC today and the first thing Seth asked was

"Momma, can I mow the lawn today? Please..."

We gave it a try, but he is about an inch to short to push the brake without sliding his weight off of the seat. I held down the seat as he put it into first gear (the highest he is allowed to go while the blade in engaged).

Off he went...

I needed to make dinner but couldn't walk away from him. I would have felt neglagent.

With staying in first gear and the time it was taking, I decided to take the kids to the Red Diamond on the main drag through town and eat a Heggie's pizza.

(Where they both took turns spilling their kiddie cocktails on the floor. Whoops!)

Enchanted

As mentioned in yesterday's post I just couldn't settle for seats that didn't touch the stage or at least allow a view where you can see details of Taylor Swift's face. My co-worker, Patty, and I went on a mission! On the day of the concert I was calling the radio stations like crazy. I wanted to win Meet and Greet tickets so bad! I flipped over to 101.3 KDWB and heard Dave Ryan (the DJ) great the caller as being number 97 and nobody was there. I quickly picked up the phone and started speed dialing. After two attempts the phone was ringing and they were at caller 99, 100... my heart was racing. Could I be caller 101? He greeted the caller as my phone continued to ring. I refused to hang up! I was going to sit on that phone until someone answered or until my heart slowed down to acknowledge that the phone was still ringing. Then all of a sudden Dave Ryan was talking to me. How I was one caller away to win Meet and Greet... NOOOOO!!!! I told them how I was going to bring my daughter for her 6th birthday and how she sings Taylor Swift songs in the shower. I was hoping they would still give us tickets. He told me that they don't ever do this but they would give me tickets to. My heart raced faster! My other co-worker, Loriann, came into the office when she heard me on the phone and later pointed out how I was on the radio the whole time. I had the radio on next to me but never noticed myself playing back in a three second delay. The tickets would be waiting for me at Will Call for Wednesday's performance. I already had tickets for Tuesday and became conflicted since they couldn't tell me where my seats were. Just that the seats were somewhere in the arena. Should I give the tickets away? Why should I be selfish? We were going that night anyways.

Patty kept trying to see if she could win better tickets. She won on K102's contest and like me, didn't know where her seats were. She didn't have anyone to take so we decided that she would use her second ticket since Seth was sad he couldn't go on Tuesday (even though he begs for her to be turned off when she is on the radio). "It's different when it's a concert momma."

Patty and I met at Will Call and my tickets said we were in G00 which sounded like the back of the floor. Patty's were section 108 which ruined our thoughts of switching tickets with two people next to one of our seats so all four of us could see each other. Seth and Patty found their seats, Sam and I continued to the floor to find ours. "Follow the edge up" is what we were told. I kept stopped at each of the attendents and they kept telling me "Keep going". You have got to be kidding me! I stopped at the two front security guards where we were given wrist bands with PIT 1 written on it, and a stick of Big Red. (I think the gum was for Sam because he handed me one and said I better give you one if I gave her one). We were given the lowdown of our area. No pop, No food, No videos, do not grab the singers, or set anything on the stage.

Since we saw the show last night we I knew exactly what was going to happen later on in the show. Taylor would walk down in the pit on the other side, go to the end of the arena for two and a half songs, then make her way into our pit and up the stairs back onto the stage. Sam was going to get to TOUCH Taylor Swift. Now... to make sure she doesn't pass out.

We walked back to check on Seth and Patty and found a little face covered in ice cream and being spoiled by his new friend for the next few hours.

Since Sam is so little, I had her on my hip whenever Taylor was on the stage. While holding her I was trying to snap pictures. She was so excited to be down there. Plus she was getting attention from the other 18 ticket holders who were in the pit with us. What an amazing experience! I can see exactly how she has won so many awards. Impressive! I also can't count the number of hugs and kisses my little girl gave me, nor can I count the times I heard "I love you momma".



Now for the pictures...



Main stage behind with NeedToBreathe singing



Catwalk behind with Randy Montana singing





Sold out concert



Taylor Swift rose from under the stage feet from us.



Patty and Seth were in the pie shaped section. Half way down.









   

Taylor as a ghost