For everything else.....there's mastercard

Come and Play....everythings a-ok. Can you tell me where the skies are blue? Can you tell me how to get.....how to get to Sesame Street?

I took my son to see Sesame Street Live yesterday. On Friday I told him that we were going to go and see Elmo and Cookie Monster sing and dance after church on Sunday. He took it to mean that on Friday we would go to church and then go meet Elmo and Cookie Monster......you can see

what happened, right?

I went through a few days trying to explain and cheer up a 3 year old that only wanted to go to church to "meet Helmo and Cookie Monter". I thought Sunday would never get here.

Church is usually a highlight for my baby. He loves it. He likes all of the babies there. So, during the confession of faith, during the Apostles creed.....he talked about "Helmo".

Then....finally 3:30 came. We went and picked up Grandma and left to go meet Elmo.....er...I mean Helmo. They charged $5.00 to park my car.

$22.00 a ticket.

Here we goooooooooo..........this should be great! Right? ......

We got there and immediatly we saw these little whirley light up Elmo toys.....I had to get it for my boy.....a lot of the kids had them!

Spinny thing

$15.00

The popcorn was 4.50, cotton candy 10.00, and coke was 2.00. Stay with me.

Then the show started......

and my baby cried and screamed. Why? Because he wanted to go on to the stage to "meet Helmo!" I went through about 20 minutes of fighting a wiggly and squirmy screaming three year old! Finally, I had had enough! Mommy wasn't going to stand for this awful behavior anymore! I took him to the lobby......intending to have a "talk" with him. Then I saw something and had a great idea. I would buy him his own Elmo to sit with him and then he would be happy. I thought of the Supernanny and how much she would disapprove of this action. Was I bribing my son to behave. Was I rewarding his horrible behavior and letting him know that he would gain from this type of action?

Yep. I may as well be honest about it.

Elmo doll

$25.00

Oh, I am not done yet. When we got back to the show....my mother in law just stared at me....her mouth was open. I was informed that I was spoiling him. I stated...."He is my only child!" Then I got to thinking of all the times my mom brought me and my siblings to the Shrine Circus and all I got was a Kitty balloon! Man....that sucked! Ready?...............

Really big kitty balloon....er, I mean Elmo balloon

$8.00

Talk about buyers remorse.

Well folks....I found Sesame Street! It costs a pretty penny to get there. But it was worth it....and it created a memory. and I learned that maybe I need to work on controlling my spending too!

Our newist additions to our family

Our family started with Jason, me, Daniel and a member of the family I don't talk much about......Zelda, our dog. I got her when I lived in Texas in 2003. She looks like this.

She is a really good dog. She doesn't do much. She is quiet. She keeps to herself. She likes to be pet. That is about it.

On Monday, we found these little guys on our doorstep....literally. They were very matted and dirty and had many, many woodticks on them. I took them the a groomer.

I had to keep them....you see, they are Shih Tzu's, my mom and dad used to raise Shih Tzu's and we kept them as pets for many years. Our little boy has fallen head over heels for the little one....he named him Gizmo. The older one is called Sparkey. Sparkey came to us potty trained....Gizmo needs work....but he is probably only about six months old.

They are cute! Zelda loves them too!

Before and After

I took some pictures awhile ago to be able to do before and after photos of our backyard. I took the "befores" in the early spring, right after the snow melted. The "afters" I was finally able to take yesterday. I wish I would have been able to take the "afters" when my lilacs were in full bloom....they were beautiful! But, here we go. My husband's and my life just got soooooo much easier. My husband installed a FENCE!!!!!! He actually did this over a period of two weeks, and didn't even let the downpour of rain stop him! Here we go......






Before After




Before After



Before After




We have cleaned out the trees, cut down trees, raked, sprayed weeds, trimmed back trees, taken down an old antenna, had stumps ground and installed a swing set. All for this......












Now our next before picture will be this......our home. Lets see what we can do with this?



You can kind of see my new car in the driveway.....my plates say "Xpresso". Thats right.....I am that cool!!!!

Let's go to the Circus!

We brought Daniel to the Circus for the first time ever last night. We didn't know what to expect from him. Would he be good? Would he be bad?

Here is Daddy and Daniel going to the Ralph Englested Arena....Home of the UND Fighting Sioux Hockey team.

I tried to prepare Daniel for the clowns. I know that sometimes kids are afraid of clowns. We looked up pictures of clowns on the internet. He just giggled and repeated the word "clown".

When we walked into the arena, clowns were there to greet all of the kids. Daniel was very excited and had a kind of frozen smile on his face. He didn't run and hide. He liked them. His bottom jaw shook. But he was brave!

Next, he got to go on a pony ride. His ponys name was Fat Joe.

He enoyed that! While we waited for the show to start I made the mistake of bringing him into the bathroom to change his pull ups. It became about the toilets after that. All the way until the lights went down. Once the show started, Daniel LOVED it! His big, blue eyes sparkled as he watched the show. He cheered and clapped. It was so cute. He got a green, glowing sword and you could tell by the look on his face that he thought he was pretty special as he waved his sword around in the dark.....you know what? He was!

Just a side note. I am enrolled in college at UND. I start with American Government this May. Wish me luck!

Happy Easter! Happy Birthday

We had a fun Easter at our house. Daniel, Grandma Bakke and I went to sunrise service at church. It was a good service! I have found a church I really enjoy. I get so excited about it! In a way its odd because its a Free Lutheran Church. Nothing against the Lutheran church, its just different than what I was used to. But the Free Lutheran Church is like a bridge between the Nazarene and the Lutheran. I really enjoy it and really like the pastors way of thought. Which is also suprising, he is very conservative. :) Daniel got up extra early and was suprised and delighted by his Easter basket that the Easter bunny left him. The night before, he wouldn't go to sleep so I told him that if he would just fall asleep, the Easter bunny would come into our house at night time and leave him candy. Daniel then said, "oooo, I cared" (it means, I am scared.) That made me laugh pretty good.

To join us for Easter and the "hunt' was his cousin Trace from Minneapolis, Uncle Vance and Aunt Kelly. Daniel loved to play with Trace.

The following week was Daniel's THIRD birthday! Wow, time is going to fast! He had a fun and very special birthday. He shares his birthday with two of his cousins, Jesse and Billy. Well, Billy came to our house to celebrate his tenth birthday all the way from Spokane! Along with Billy came Aunt Lisa, cousins Amanda, Sayde and Morgan. Great Grandma and Grandpa came over too! Daniel has taken a special liking to Morgan. Yesterday, we were on our way to Grandma's house and Daniel said "Is Morgan there?" I laughed. That is the most complex sentence Daniel has said yet! Here are some pictures:

Daniels favorite cartoon is Mickey Mouse. So, I found a Mickey Mouse cake. He LOVES cake. He LOVES Mickey Mouse.....He had a good day. He got a Tonka Dump truck, a John Deer Tractor and finger paints. Wish you all could have been there.

Happy Easter, Happy Birthday etc

So, its been a bit since my last blog. I fell from the face of the Earth. Not really, I just got busy. Christmas and New Years have come and gone. We have been dealing with the cold and depressing winter. Winter in North Dakota isn't bad until January, then its sub zero time. Not fun! The extreme weather wouldn't be so bad if it came in shorter bursts. Does it really need to last for TWO months? I guess that it makes Spring that much better. Spring seems to be here. Our weather is finally in the 30's! Its almost feels like summer.

In January I took a week off to fix up my son's room. I had never painted it since we had moved into our house. I determined the theme would be bears and camping. Here are the before picture:

Just a plain and ordinary light blue.

Now look at what I did!

It was fun. I still need to get the new curtain rods and paint a mural of a pine tree underneath his red lantern night light. He likes his tent. Its a lot of fun. He also loves "big bear".

Next came Daddy's birthday. Jason turned 38 this past March fifth.

.

I wish I could say I made his cake. It turned out really nice and very fitting.

We had a good time. He got a new watch, broadheads and a release for his bow. All gifts centered around his upcoming Elk hunt in Idaho that he is going to this September.

Today, we colored Easter eggs. Wow! Daniel loved it. You always know if Daniel had done something he has enjoyed. Afterwards, when he walks, he will throw in what I call a random "scissor" kick. Its hilarious! He is very proud of his eggs and is insisting on carrying them all around the house with him.

Daniel also loves to go to church. Usually around Wednesday, he is asking to go to "Chich" as he calls it. Next Sunday, he will wear a new suit I bought him. I am more excited than he is.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Happy New Year!

I have never been one to "celebrate" New Year's. I am usually found at home, in bed....long before midnight. My big celebration is Christmas! All of the presents, all of the food....its all soooo good. By the time New Years gets here, I am burned out. I want it all back to normal.

I must confess. I do reflect on events of the past year.

I quit smoking 11 months ago. I feel great. Now, I will work on the weight. I want my feet and my knees to not hurt anymore.

My son is another year older. He has grown so much. He is changing all of the time. He loves to read books, play with toys, have mommy or daddy chase him, have his picture taken, play in the snow, help with laundry and help with cooking. He is able to potty on the toilet with no help. He is growing up. He won't give "kissies" anymore. When you ask for one, he gives you his cheek!

Jason has found his artistic outlet in taxidermy. He does amazing mounts for himself and for others. One of my favorite things to do is to watch him at work, while I am on my computer. From where I sit, I can see into his studio. Its fun to watch him do something he enjoys so much. Its something that he has found that he really enjoys. He of course also busies himself with hunting, fishing and anything outdoors. He has become very passionate about bow hunting. He loves the challenge.

We have finished a great deal of our downstairs. The house we bought was unfinished in the downstairs. We put down carpet, bought new doors, drywalled, textured, painted, and have almost finished our bathroom. Upstairs, we pulled out our carpet and replaced the flooring with laminate. It looks great!

My Christmas trees are down, everything is put away, the funiture is rearranged. I am ready for the new year. I can't wait to see what it brings.