3rd Annual Eagle Bluff Trip

I (Laura) survived my third trip to Eagle Bluff with my 6th grade students. Of course, we picked one of the coldest weeks to go. I made a couple of last minute purchases that were crucial in keeping me warm. An Under Armour compression shirt and another pair of Smart Wool socks. Each day I was wearing at least four layers on both the top and the bottom. I also used up most of my hand and footwarmer supply. Overall, it was a great trip, for students and chaperones. Of course there was a little drama with parents, staff, and the girls. Never a dull trip. I also had the luxury of having a student throw-up off my tower on the Tree Top Ropes Course. That was a first! I was so glad to come back home to my comfy bed and my boys. I am not looking forward to teaching again tomorrow. Spending most of the day catching up on cleaning, laundry, and school work. The end of the quarter is right around the corner and my gradebook needs some updating.

Jake spent time this week with a lot of family members. Joe stayed home Monday and Tuesday. They went toy shopping and to Chuck E. Cheese. Definitely a highlight for both of them. He went to daycare Wednesday morning and spent the night at Grandma and Papa Knutson's house. Uncle Matt was down for the night, so Jake was able to play pirates with the new swords Grandma bought. It was back to daycare on Thursday and then Friday was with Papa Bien. He had a great week with all his family. He was excited to see me on Friday afternoon. The excitement wore off after about 30 minutes and then it was back to Mr. Defiant.

My side of the family started a new tradition yesterday. We are going to get together and have a birthday dinner every couple of months. Most of our birthdays are either in Winter or Spring...with just me in the summer. Last night we went to Broadway Pizza in Maple Grove. We thought it would be a "kid friendly" place. In some ways, it was, but we got a few looks from some customers. What do you expect with two 2 year olds? Jake managed to dump a whole jar of peppers on the table and the floor. They kept themselves entertained playing on the steps and ramp at the front entrance. It was nice to get everyone together. We may decide to make dinner next time, or head to Chuck E. Cheese! Hailey mid-jump

Mr. Defiant

That post title could be Jake's nickname. Boy is he trying me at times. He is definitely testing the limits. I know this is just the beginning of being a 3 year old. His latest is to stick out his tongue, tilt his head, and say "Na, na, na, na, na! You're not my friend!" It is hard to not laugh at this while he is doing it. I know some of it is just the stage he is at in his development and another part of it is being around older kids at daycare. They can be good and bad influences. Lately, he has been picking up the not-so-great things from them. He can turn anYthiNg into a gun and pretend to shoot. He knows the words he is not supposed to say and some how says them continuously! It is so hard, because the boys that teach him these things are the boys he is constantly talking about at home and pretending to call. I don't know how his daycare provider, Cheryl, can stay sane with these boys! I guess years of experience. I know there would be no way I could do it. Give me a room of 6th graders and I am fine, but toddlers....no way!

We're Buried Under Toys

We have survived Christmas. Jake absolutely lOvEd opening presents...maybe too much. He has asked everyday since the 25th if we have any more presents for him. As I was in the middle of writing this post, he asked for more present! A big change from last year. He wasn't all that excited to open presents, but now he will even offer to "help" you open yours. He had plenty of opportunities to open gifts, as we had Christmas spread out over three days and five locations!

It was very fun for Jake to see his family at each place we went to. There was always someone fun to play with. On Christmas Eve, Joe's cousin's boys were there to play with. Another cousin's husband was a good sport and let them wrestle him. Jake was asleep before we drove out of Grandma and Grandpa Sullivan's neighborhood.

We left a plate of cookies, a glass of milk, and a letter out for Santa on Christmas Eve. We had to wake Jake up so he could see the full plate of cookies before he went to bed. He was surprised to see the cookies were all gone...except for the top of a stocking cookie. Santa must have been really full! Jake thought it was fun to see what was in his stocking. He is now able to shave with dad in the morning, or in the bathtub. He loves his shaver! He also now has a fun Hot Wheels track that launches cars. We need to get some more cards that are heavy enough to go on the track. Jake gets mad at me when I try out certain cars. He tells me, "They don't work!" We have tried all the cars in the house and only two work. The two that came with the track. Thank you Hot Wheels for forcing us to go out and by different cars. Oh well, Jake can use his gift card to Target to do that. Santa also brought him a talking Woody doll (action figure to Joe). He made the trip with us all day.

We had a good time at the Knutson Zoo. Presents were flying all over the living room. To be honest, I don't really know who gave Jake his gifts. He was too fast for me. Jake even helped Uncle Mike open up one of his gifts (gift card) and then lose it. I guess Jake was not to impressed. It was fun to see his cousins open up there gifts and then play with them afterwards. My mom bought them all the same pajamas. We tried to take their picture before opening up gifts, but none of the shots I caught turned out. All in all, a fun time!

Later that afternoon, we were off to the Youngstedt's house with the Deters's side of the family. Jake loved playing with his Uncle Ben. He tried out his drum playing skills on the drum set. Joe's aunt offered the drum set to us, but my headache said no! Jake went outside to sled in the deeeep snow with Emma, Haley, Ben, and Daddy. A few of us sat inside and watched him. He looked like he was having a ton of fun! Jake ate dinner at the "big kids" table and shared a peanut butter sandwich with Joe's cousin Alex, who only really eats pb sandwiches. Jake has not been a good eater, so I was happy he ate something other than a cookie. Jake would eat them from the time he woke up until the time he went to bed if we let him. Grandma and Grandpa Deters, Haley, Ben, and Dan gave Jake some new Playdough, Toy Story figurines, and a cool talking Dinosaur. Again, Jake was asleep right away when we began our drive home. Another no nap day made for an extra sleepy Jakey.

Our final celebration was with Joe's mom, step-dad, and step-sister on Sunday. It was just seven of us there, so it was less chaotic than the other gift openings. Jake was the star of the show and loved getting to open his presents. Grandma and Grandpa gave Jake an interactive video game that Jake loves to play. It is adorable to see him jump up and down to power up the rocket on the Little Einsteins rocket game. He also received some dinosaur and zoo animal figurines, so there is plenty of pretending going on at home. The braciosaurus is always saving someone with his long tail. Again, Jake opted for no dinner and only dessert. This stage he is in, which has been going on for a long time, is getting really old. Cannot wait for it to be over.


I had to make a trip to Goodwill with old toys, in order to make room for new toys. I was not the only person who was cleaning out their house this week. Goodwill was a popular place. Jake did notice that there weren't any toys in one basket in his toy room, but otherwise has been too entertained with his new toys to notice.

Jake went to daycare for a few days this week to play with his friends. He was way to overstimulated with all the new toys here. Every five minutes we were on to a new toy. I needed to get somethings done around here and Jake just did not like that. He had way more fun playing with his friends that being home with me. We are home today and am glad we don't have to go anywhere. It is raining out and very dreary looking. We talked about how the clouds were sad and were crying. Jake told them to not be so, so sad. Wish it would be nicer so we could get out of the house, but I guess Play dough and finger painting are in our near future!

Let it Snow and Snow and Snow

We are in the middle of a snow storm in Minnesota. We are all stuck inside. Jake and Joe are getting ice fishing poles all set up for the first fishing trip of the winter season. Joe is letting Jake help, which has been a sight to see! Here are some pictures of what is going on outside our house.

Outside the front door

A drift at our front door

View from the deck

You cannot even see 169 off to the left. Good thing we are stayig home!

Happy Thanksgiving

We're stuffed from a busy Thanksgiving weekend. Well, two of us are, since Jake doesn't eat much besides fruit snacks! We had dinners with family everyday since Thursday. We enjoyed all the family and friends we were able to see.

Jake and Paige Getting Along!

Jordan

Thanksgiving day, we went to Grandma and Papa Knutson's house for dinner. All of Jake's aunts and uncles on that side of the family were there. The only cousin missing was Hailey. It was her year to spend Thanksgiving with her mom. We definitely missed her. It was great to see Jordan and see how much he is growing and changing. It was different not having my Grandma there. It was the first holiday without her. Although she was not physically there, I could still feel her sitting at the table talking to all of us as we were getting the food ready, repeatedly asking if there was anything she could do to help. The food was great and there were lots of laughs. Jake decided that he liked pumpkin pie. This is the kid that eats nothing except fruit snacks, string cheese, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and chocolate chip cookies. What made it even better was he picked it up and ate it like a piece of pizza.

Friday night, our good friend Brittany and her fiance', Taylor, were in town and came to my parents' house for dinner. Another night of good food and laughter. We hope we made Taylor feel like part of the extended family!

Saturday night, my dad's side of the family got together for dinner. Joe had to work, so it was just Jake and me that tagged along with my parents. Again, a good time catching up with family. We get together during the summer and after Thanksgiving. We don't all see each other throughout the year, so it is our only time to spend with one another. The kiddos loved playing with the dinosaurs, wild animals, and horses. Jake and Paige had been around each other so much by last night, that they were purposely trying to make the other person mad. Each one of them was guilty of giving the other the "ha, ha, ha, look what I have of yours" look. It is quite humorous, until the screaming and tears come along.

This afternoon, we had Joe's dad, step-mom, sister, and brother over for turkey dinner. Joe did a great job with the meal. Very yummy! We have tons of leftovers. Guess Joe will be eating a lot of homemade lunches this week. I am not a fan of leftovers, so they are all his!

A First Time Illness and a Wedding Weekend

The week before Thanksgiving was, by far, our busiest week of the school year. Joe was really busy at work, now that winter has made its grand entrance to MN. He was stuck late at work most nights, which made for really long days. All Jake wanted was to play with his dad after daycare. Quarter 1 grades were due for me, as well as I was asked to take on more leadership at school. I believe I had a meeting every morning before school and every afternoon, too. We are constantly getting ready for our big field trip in January, to Eagle Bluff. It keeps all sixth grade teachers extremely busy, on top of normal school stuff. So, it was quite fitting when I noticed a missed call and voicemail from daycare that said, "Can you come and get Jake? He just threw up three times!" I was just getting ready to run an errand before picking Jake up, dropping him off with Joe's brother, and heading to a groom's dinner. Really, the flu?? I don't have time for that, nor have we ever had to deal with Jake having the flu. I really had no idea how to best take care of him. Thankfully, I did not have to learn how. He "got it out of his system" at daycare. Joe's brother, and mom, offered to still watch Jake so I could go with Joe to the groom's dinner. It did mean that I would be needing to take Friday off, since daycare was not in Jake's future. I arrived at school at 6:15 to get plans ready. My kids were awful, too. Made for a fun Monday! You would never have known Jake was home sick if you actually saw him on Friday. Definitely out of his system. He spent the rest of the weekend at my mom's house and had a blast!

Our good friends, Mike and Sara, were married on Saturday night. Joe was one of the groomsmen. It was a very fun night dancing and catching up with old friends. The weather was not cooperative, though. The freezing rain caused the limo company (our rides home from Uptown) to cancel on us. Put the bride in a panic (don't blame her one bit). After some phone calls, falls on the ice, and a good amount of money, the woman who was working the coat check took a big group of us home in the back of her SUV. The bride and groom thankfully made it back to their hotel in Downtown, and we made it to our friends in Uptown. My leg is a little sore from falling twice. One time, Joe was trying to catch me, but fell on top of me instead. A fun, but tiring, weekend :)

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Santi!

Happy Halloween!

To Infinity and Beyond!