Let It Snow!

Muskie Man had his second snow day of the year today. If these snow days keep coming, he'll have students at school until July! We probably have almost 2 feet of snow on the ground after receiving about 8 inches of fresh snow this morning. The temperatures were reasonable so we bundled up and went outside for some fun in the winter wonderland.

Minnow has so much more fun in the snow this year.
She did not want to help shovel the driveway, however:

That got me out of shoveling, and allowed us to go sledding instead:

We slid down the driveway and ended up a few feet into our unplowed street, we are definitely snowed in here:

Then we trudged back up the driveway to do it all again:

We then moved the fun to the yard and Muskie Man took over as the sled driver:

Minnow got off easy and was pulled back up the "hill:"

We had a fun time out in the snow, and now we are ready to warm up and take a nap.

So Much to be Thankful For

We have so much to be thankful for in our life.

I am thankful for Muskie Man, my best friend and husband. We laugh together, cry together and are on this adventure of parenting together.

I am also thankful that Muskie Man is in the field of education. He doesn't have to worry about coming to work one day and not having a job the next. Yes, his job is challenging and at times, stressful, but he is good at his job and enjoys it, most of the time.

We are thankful for our friends. We have been blessed with a great group of friends in our little town. We also have friends from college that we are still close to and enjoy getting together with them. I am thankful for my mommy friends who help me get through this being-a-mommy-thing.

We are thankful for our health. God has blessed us and our families with health and we pray that He will continue to watch over us.

We are thankful for our family. Some of our family lives far away and we miss them, but they are always in our hearts. We do see the majority of our family on a fairly regular basis, for that we are thankful.

Last but certainly not least, we are so very thankful for our little Minnow. Some days I look at her playing and laughing and can't believe that we are her parents and that she is our daughter. We can't imagine our little family without her as she brings us so much joy.

This Thanksgiving as we reflect on all of our blessings, we give thanks to God.

Halloween Fun

I had to do this long overdue Halloween post before Halloween is a distant memory and we are celebrating the next holidays. So. . .
We had fun on Halloween. Minnow was a monkey--monkeys are her favorite animal right now with dogs coming in a close second. We went to a MOPS barn dance where the mommies had to dress up too so I went as a banana, thanks to my "good" friend who so graciously lent me the costume.

Trick or treating was a good time too, Minnow sort of got the hang of it, but she would just hold her bag out for the treats. We did get her to say thank you. We ended up at some friend's for a while enjoying adult trick or treating with adult beverages--good times!

This is a fun age for holidays we are looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Here is a picture collage I made on scrapblog.com--what a cool site!

Fall Family Photos

We had a friend so graciously offer to take our family photos for our Christmas card. I just got a couple of samples and will have the rest later this week. Thanks so much Coach L for taking the pictures!
I love how Minnow is holding my hand in this first one:

Two family shots:


Daddy's Little Girl:

My favorite, although it's not of the whole family. Minnow was in a rotted out tree trunk and ended up with all kinds of junk in her hair--I love the photo though:

A Trip to the Zoo

We took a trip to the zoo this past weekend. It was a beautiful fall day. Minnow loves animals so she had a blast! She ran from one section of the zoo to another, it wore me out. We saw pretty much the whole zoo except for the small mammals (bats and rats) and we didn't get a chance to ride the train that goes around the zoo--we had to save something for next time.

Looking at some monkeys:

Comparing ourselves to a baby gorilla:

Close encounter with a peacock at lunch:

We spent quite a bit of time looking at the fish, which is not surprising. Minnow loved looking at all the fish:

Tigers and Bears, oh my! (didn't get any good pictures of the lions to complete the phrase, sorry)

A trip to the zoo is not complete without feeding the goats:

Moms' Weekend

I had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with some really great moms this weekend. I escaped the life of a SAHM for a few days and met my "imaginary friends." These girls are all moms with kids Minnow's age. We all met on a web forum and have become what we call "fake friends." It was so great to meet these moms in real life. We had fun sharing stories, shopping, eating and hanging out. What a great group of people.

We have one common thing between us and that is motherhood. We share the ups and downs of our days and offer support and advice. We offer tears and laughter to get each other through the adventures of raising toddlers. Each of our journeys to motherhood was just that--a unique journey, filled with emotions and challenges. I am so happy I met these moms who I call my friends. I had a really fun time, although I did miss Minnow and Musky Man, but they survived without me.

Highlights from the weekend were: late night and early morning talks with my roomate; going for a run with a cool mom from Philly; listening to the stories of the moms with mulitples--you guys are amazing; sitting at a bar watching the Brewers beat the Phillies with the cool mom from Philly; and the best thing we did was splurge for a cab back to the hotel and avoid a l-o-n-g train ride after the game!

I'm so glad to have met these moms in real life--you guys rock!

Fun at the Farm

We had a fun day at a farm this weekend. A family not far from us holds a really cool day at the farm event every September. The event is in memory of their son who died of a brain tumor at age 15 months. All proceeds from the event go to St. Jude's Children's Hospital, very neat!

It was our first time going and definitely won't be our last! We had awesome weather and Minnow had a blast. I think Muskie Man and I had as much fun watching Minnow have fun.

Feeding a camel:

Petting a bunny:

Pony ride:

In the hay bale maze:

A very serious "cow:"

Heading home, very tired, with a balloon:

I Did It!

I first want to preface this post with the phrase, "toddlers are gross."

"I did it!" this was the exclamation that came out of Minnow's mouth. I was wondering what she did that she was so proud of. She held up her hand for me to see and at the end of the index finger was a huge booger. "I did it!" she said again, very proud of her accomplishment.

Before I could explain to her that 2 year-olds aren't supposed to pick their noses, she said: "high five, Mommy!" At least the hand she extended to me was the one without the booger.

Games Have Begun

The school year is in full swing and that means time for the games to begin at Muskie Man's school once again. We have already attended a volleyball game and a football game.

The volleyball game was an adventure. The past 2 seasons, Minnow was not mobile or at least not walking. That has now changed. She is running, jumping and acting very much like a 2 year-old. She is exercising her independence and doesn't want mommy to help her with anything. She also loves to play with balls of any kind. What a temptation a bright white volleyball is, sitting there in the middle of the court during a time out! She screamed for the ball, I said, "no, it's for the girls to play with," and then she screeched some more. We went out into the hall to run around for a little while.

Muskie Man was at a meeting during this game so I was left to struggle with Minnow by myself. It would have been so much easier if we would have been able to double-team her. She also listens to Muskie Man better than she listens to me.

We went across the gym to the freshman game so Minnow could see her favorite babysitter, K, play her first high school volleyball game. I soon realized this was a mistake. Minnow screamed for K to hold her and give her a hug. OOPS! I took her to the end of the gym where we bothered the least amount of people and she made it through most of the game without too much screeching.

Minnow did make it though the Varsity game because K could hold her and hug her as her game was over. Minnow was the center of attention as she hung out with the freshman team and cheered on the Varsity team. Hopefully each game will get easier as Minnow realizes that she cannot play with the balls the teams are using and that the players cannot stop in the middle of their game to hold her and hug her.

Fishing Fun

We are That Family is hosting a summer vacation carnival with some great prizes. So here's what we've been doing the past few weeks:

Minnow loves to go fishing and spend time on our boat. We have put quite a bit of time on the water here at the end of summer.

Minnow likes to "play" with the fish once they are caught. Who needs toys? Just give the kid a couple of bluegill:

Minnow was done playing with the fish so she got a driving lesson:

A day on the water is not complete unless we go swimming:

Minnow loves to "play" with the little fish, but bigger fish are much more exciting:

At the end of a long day on the water, Minnow is tired from all her adventures and takes a little nap:


We had a fun summer, filled with great memories and we hate to see it come to an end.

"Blankie" and "More Blankie"

Minnow has a favorite, treasured blankie that she sleeps with, goes in the car with, takes on walks, takes pretty much everywhere. It's a small pink "comfort silkie" blankie that was given to us by a teacher at Muskie Man's school when Minnow was an infant.

We thought we lost blankie back in June. Muskie Man had taken Minnow for the evening stroller ride which is part of our daily life. When we were putting her to bed, the blankie was nowhere to be found! Minnow sometimes gets agitated in the stroller and throws the precious item from the stroller. Why she does this is a mystery to us as this is a prized possession. We searched high and low, Muskie Man even went back over the walking route in hopes of finding the missing blankie. We checked the stroller, under beds and furniture, in every nook and cranny of our home--no blankie! Minnow missed her blankie that night and reluctantly accepted another similar one, but it just wasn't the same to her.

I ordered a new blankie just like the missing one. It had to be ordered online and shipped, I couldn't find a local store that carried this exact one. Minnow was very happy to receive her new gift and life went on.

Fast forward a few weeks to our vacation in Michigan. We were out walking with Minnow in the stroller, and I see a blankie peeking out the back of the stroller from behind the cushions. It was the missing blankie! We also found a nuk back there so that must be Minnow's secret hiding place. She must have shoved it behind her in the stroller and with the stroller being folded up a few times while travelling, it worked it's way out.

We now have 2 precious blankies that make our Minnow very happy. She has recently started referring to them as "Blankie" and "More Blankie."

Happy Birthday Minnow!

Minnow celebrated her 2nd birthday on August 14. We're a few days late in the happy wishes because we were Up North again for a vacation. We celebrated Minnow's 1st birthday Up North so we thought we'd keep the streak going this year. We stayed at my brother's home in the Northwoods. His family was on a vacation of their own, so we used their home, thanks big bro!


We spent Minnow's special day on our boat. We fished, swam, ate a delicious lunch at a restaurant on the water, and just had a fun family time. Minnow caught her first fish and realized that she likes to play with the fish, she even kissed the fish.


It was a wonderful day, one that will be a great memory for all of us. We love you, Minnow, and can't believe it was just 2 short years ago that we were on a plane, flying to meet you on your day of birth. We can't imagine our family without you.

Giving Daddy a big hug before leaving for the birthday outing:


Swimming in the lake after a delicious lunch:


Concentrating on catching her first fish!

Admiring her catch:

Kissing a fish:

A Language Explosion!

We've been having a language explosion around here for the past month or two. Minnow's vocabulary has been just exploding. Sometimes we have to try very hard to translate what is being said, but for the most part, we figure it out. It is so nice that she can verbalize what she wants instead of just grunting and pointing.

She repeats what we say and understands if we give her simple commands. It is so fun to watch her grow in to this funny, interesting little person.

One of my favorite phrases is "I want a W*ii" She watched my nieces and nephews play the W*ii on our vacation in June and loves this thing. She cheers for them as they play and also wants to participate in Gui*tar Hero. Several of our friends have the game too, so she can watch it at their homes.

The first time she asked me for one, I told her to ask her daddy. He was out in the garage and came in about 15 minutes later. She ran up to him and looked up (she comes up to his knee) and said, "I want a W*ii." It was priceless! What is she going to ask for next, a pony?! I don't think we will be getting a W*ii any time soon, but she can enjoy the games at other people's homes.

And the Winner is. . .

After a long wait, sorry commenters for making you wait, the winner (as randomly chose by Muskie Man) is dani, the last commenter for the contest!

I'll contact you via email. Thanks to all who participated in my bloggy giveaway!

Bloggy Giveaway Time!

It's that time again, the quarterly bloggy giveaways carnival is underway. Be sure to visit bloggy giveaways for lots of other cool giveaways.

Since it's summer and we are all outside (or should be!) it's time to apply good sunscreen. I'm giving away an Arbonne Save Face and Body SPF 15 bottle of sunscreen (a $26 value) to one lucky reader. This sunscreen is AWESOME! Muskie Man even likes to use it because it doesn't have a strong "sunscreen" odor and it is not greasy. He can use it when out fishing and can still tie his knots or whatever it is one does to the lures when out fishing.

This giveaway is open to US residents only, and you don't have to be a blogger to participate. Just leave a comment and you could win! The giveaway will be open until Friday evening, July 31. Thanks for playing!

Up North

We took another vacation the week after the 4th. We visited Up North with Muskie Man's family. We go to the same resort for the same week with the same people every summer. It's fun and we've gotten to know the other guests at the resort. We had beautiful weather and once again enjoyed time with family.

Some highlights of the trip were first spending the 4th with my brother and family who also live Up North. We visited them for a couple nights before heading to the resort. We did the whole 4th of July thing: parade; picnic in the park; and then fireworks. Minnow had fun with her cousins, but was very tired by the end of the evening.

Could it be she was tired because the night before she decided to have a middle-of-the-night party? She woke up at 12:30 a.m. and would not go back to sleep! She wasn't crabby, she just wanted to hang out, Muskie Man and I did NOT want to join the party. Muskie Man finally got her to sleep at 4:30 a.m., we all were a bit tired the next day.

She actually fell asleep on my brother's lap during the fireworks! She did have fun hanging out with her cousins during the day:

We then headed to the resort for a week of fun in the sun. We had great weather and enjoyed celebrating Grandma and Grandpa Muskie's 40th wedding anniversary--Congratulations!

Muskie Man and I also celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary while on vacation. We went out for breakfast, and spent some time fishing on our boat while Minnow napped in the afternoon. It was a nice day.

The rest of the week was spent being lazy by the water. Minnow loves the lake, she stood in the water, picked up stones and threw them--for hours! She would pick one up, "kiss it good-bye," and throw it into the water:

We also had fun with a bucket--she wanted me to dump it while she tried to get a drink:

One of the guests at the resort was a girl who is just finishing cosmetology school and wanted to do Minnow's hair. After an hour-and-a-half of wrestling and a little screeching, the end result was 9 cute little cornrows. I love her hair like this and need to learn how to do this. She looks beautiful!


The week came to an end and it was time to say good-bye to our fun vacation--until next year:

Vacation

I took a little blog vacation and we took a real vacation. We spent a week near Petoskey, MI with my family. Our family, my parents, my sister's family and my brother's family all piled into a condo at a resort and spent a week. It was a nice time, the weather was great, the kids loved the pool and we relaxed.
Our vacation started out a little rough. We stayed one night at Grandma and Grandpa Muskie's as it was on the way. Minnow decided to start her day a little early, at 3:45 a.m.! She would not go back to sleep until we had her in a high chair watching E*lmo right before we went to church and she decided to nod off:

There was time to sleep on the way to the resort that day. Here is the rest of the week in pictures.
A view of the resort from the ski chair lift:

At a park in Petoskey with Lake Michigan in the background:

My Mom, Dad, sister and I went to Mackinac Island for a day:

My sister and I rented a bicycle built for two and biked around the island:

My parents opted for the retro bikes:

We spent a day with my sister and family at a beach near Charlevoix. Minnow had fun looking for rocks and playing with her cousins:



The pool was the place to be. Minnow jumped from the side to Muskie Man and had a great time. It totally wore her out so she took good naps.

Our happy little family on vacation: