This was a super easy gift to whip up and Kraig seemed to get a kick out of it.
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Father's Day
We spent Father's Day with Mitch's Dad Kraig. Kraig is an amazing Dad and I am so blessed to have him a part of my life. As part of his Father's Day gift we made him a candy card.
This was a super easy gift to whip up and Kraig seemed to get a kick out of it.
This was a super easy gift to whip up and Kraig seemed to get a kick out of it.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Mother's Day
I love our Mother's Day Tradition, and this year Mother's Day got even more special by combining my family with my future family.
Every Mother's Day we wake up and participate in the Susan Koman Race for the Cure. It is an easy 3 mile walk with all the proceeds going to help fight breast cancer. My Grandma who was such a huge part of my life died of breast cancer in 2005. This is a beautiful way to remember and honor her.
It is so awesome to see a kazillion people all gathering together to fight the same fight.
I can't imagine spending this day in another way.
Every Mother's Day we wake up and participate in the Susan Koman Race for the Cure. It is an easy 3 mile walk with all the proceeds going to help fight breast cancer. My Grandma who was such a huge part of my life died of breast cancer in 2005. This is a beautiful way to remember and honor her.
It is so awesome to see a kazillion people all gathering together to fight the same fight.
I can't imagine spending this day in another way.
Friday, March 18, 2011
St.Patty's Day Shinanigans
St. Paul is known in Minnesota as the place to be on St. Paticks day. Mitch and I have talked about going for the past years but have never made it over there. When we found out that the BSU hockey team was going to be playing in the final five on St. Patricks day in St. Paul we took it as a sign we were meant to play hooky from work. So we took off work grabbed a couple of friends (Matt, Katie, and Jason) and spent a nice solid 13 hours celebrating (read: drinking green beer, keeping a kilt count, watching the oddest parade you have ever seen.)
The parade was really an interesting experience the extent of it was a bunch of O'Somethings or McSomeones walking down the streets holding a banner with the family name on it and chanting the letters to spell their last name, just in case the crowd wasn't able to make out the spelling on the giant banner they were carrying.
My favorite part of the parade, and any parade for that fact, is the bagpipers. My Grandpa is Scottish and my Uncle plays in a bagpipe band so pipers hold a special place in my heart.....not to mention that this really boosted up the kilt count we had going on for the day!
St. Patric's day lead to a ton on awesome people watching. Mitch and I roamed the streets for a quite a while before the parade started and I could have done it for hours more.
The bars were so packed with people that they had set up outdoor tents. It was awesome weather so being outside was the way to go for us. Oh and we got the necessary green beer taken care of!
These two have a major bromance going on right now, which is really fun for Katie and I. Kate and I have been friends for 8 years now and it is so great to know that we will be able to spend time together and the guys get along just as well as Kate and I do.
Please note the Sprite in the pregnant ladies hand.
And the iceing on the cake for an awesome day a BSU vicotry along with Mitch's first ever witnessing of a penalty shot!
All it all this St. Patrick's day might be my favotire St. Patrick's day of all time, and we already have a date with the Boell's to do it again next year, and St. Patrick's day lands on a Saturday!
The parade was really an interesting experience the extent of it was a bunch of O'Somethings or McSomeones walking down the streets holding a banner with the family name on it and chanting the letters to spell their last name, just in case the crowd wasn't able to make out the spelling on the giant banner they were carrying.
My favorite part of the parade, and any parade for that fact, is the bagpipers. My Grandpa is Scottish and my Uncle plays in a bagpipe band so pipers hold a special place in my heart.....not to mention that this really boosted up the kilt count we had going on for the day!
St. Patric's day lead to a ton on awesome people watching. Mitch and I roamed the streets for a quite a while before the parade started and I could have done it for hours more.
The bars were so packed with people that they had set up outdoor tents. It was awesome weather so being outside was the way to go for us. Oh and we got the necessary green beer taken care of!
These two have a major bromance going on right now, which is really fun for Katie and I. Kate and I have been friends for 8 years now and it is so great to know that we will be able to spend time together and the guys get along just as well as Kate and I do.
Please note the Sprite in the pregnant ladies hand.
And the iceing on the cake for an awesome day a BSU vicotry along with Mitch's first ever witnessing of a penalty shot!
All it all this St. Patrick's day might be my favotire St. Patrick's day of all time, and we already have a date with the Boell's to do it again next year, and St. Patrick's day lands on a Saturday!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
What it is really about
I am not the kind of person that is anti-Valentines day. I love to show the people I love that I love them and have no problem with having a day in the year to remind us to recognize those people. That being said I am not the kind of person that gets all jazzed up about a dozen red roses (that everyone else gets) a box of chocolates (that my hips hate) and a crowded restaurant (that would take either weeks of forethought or long lines to get into).
Last night however was everything I think Valentines day is really about. Mitch and I have been in the thick of the kitchen remodel and had just planned on taking a rain check on Valentines day to get ready for an building inspection we had the next day. When I got home however Mitch had an entire evening at home planned.
Yes we did work on our home. We hung insulation together and as not romantic as that sounds I really enjoy working on our home just the two of us. We are building our lives together both figuratively and literally.
The part of the day that really touched my heart and made me realize he is one of the kindest people I know if that Mitch planned an awesome dinner at home for the two of us and for my Mom. I never mentioned the idea of spending Valentines day with my Mom but when I walked in the door Mitch said "I would like to invite your Mom to dinner tonight, you cool with that?"
Me: "Ya for sure that would be great, what made you think of that?"
Nicest Guy Ever: "Cause I love her, you love her and no one should spend Valentine's Day alone."
Yep, my heart melted and it reaffirmed that I have picked the best partner possible to spend my life with.
This is what Valentine's day is all about building the life you want to live with the people you love.
Last night however was everything I think Valentines day is really about. Mitch and I have been in the thick of the kitchen remodel and had just planned on taking a rain check on Valentines day to get ready for an building inspection we had the next day. When I got home however Mitch had an entire evening at home planned.
Yes we did work on our home. We hung insulation together and as not romantic as that sounds I really enjoy working on our home just the two of us. We are building our lives together both figuratively and literally.
The part of the day that really touched my heart and made me realize he is one of the kindest people I know if that Mitch planned an awesome dinner at home for the two of us and for my Mom. I never mentioned the idea of spending Valentines day with my Mom but when I walked in the door Mitch said "I would like to invite your Mom to dinner tonight, you cool with that?"
Me: "Ya for sure that would be great, what made you think of that?"
Nicest Guy Ever: "Cause I love her, you love her and no one should spend Valentine's Day alone."
Yep, my heart melted and it reaffirmed that I have picked the best partner possible to spend my life with.
This is what Valentine's day is all about building the life you want to live with the people you love.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Another Sweet Baby
I love that I am at the stage in life where I am surrounded by babies as often as I am. I have so many great friends who are having babies or have just had babies and Mitch's family is like a baby producing machine. Here are some pictures of Lamondre, Mitch's cousin Kayla's baby.
Here are the reasons I love this picture
1. Dre's super dark eyes
2. He is holding the taggie that I made him
3. He is staring right at me with that quizzical look
He can reach his toes right now, when I last saw him on Thanksgiving he couldn't quite get to them yet. Being the loving cousin that she is Eliana who is two months older was willing to put Dre's toes in her mouth for him since he couldn't get to them. That is some really family LOVE!
Look at how happy his Nana looks holding him!
He is at the perfect stage to snuggle with. He isn't walking or crawling yet so he is perfectly content to be snuggled up right on top of your lap. I also really like watching Mitch play with the babies...our future children are going to have a great Daddy!
He really is a wonderful baby. He got passed from person to person all night long and was totally content in any one's arms.
Katie even got the little guy to crash out for a quick power nap.
Is anything cuter than a sleeping baby?
Seriously?
Here are the reasons I love this picture
1. Dre's super dark eyes
2. He is holding the taggie that I made him
3. He is staring right at me with that quizzical look
He can reach his toes right now, when I last saw him on Thanksgiving he couldn't quite get to them yet. Being the loving cousin that she is Eliana who is two months older was willing to put Dre's toes in her mouth for him since he couldn't get to them. That is some really family LOVE!
Look at how happy his Nana looks holding him!
He is at the perfect stage to snuggle with. He isn't walking or crawling yet so he is perfectly content to be snuggled up right on top of your lap. I also really like watching Mitch play with the babies...our future children are going to have a great Daddy!
He really is a wonderful baby. He got passed from person to person all night long and was totally content in any one's arms.
Katie even got the little guy to crash out for a quick power nap.
Is anything cuter than a sleeping baby?
Seriously?
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Minute to Win it
Last weekend we had Christmas celebration number 3 and ohhh did we have some fun. Mitch and I have been in charge of games at him family Christmas for the last two years. Last year we set up an awesome Jeopardy game and this year was another game show theme, MINUTE TO WIN IT!!!
We are lucky enough to be part of a family that is willing to participate in our crazy games and don't even blink twice when we tell them to lube up their noses with Vaseline to participate in a game, a game that doesn't even have prizes mind you!
The competitiveness that they show in games suck as "Suck it Up" it admirable. Not many people can get that intense over moving M&M's with a straw!
Even after they see how silly one person looks participating in these games they line up to participate as well!
This picture of Cody says so much to me about how far this family is willing to go for a good time. Take notice of:
~The hat that has been turned backwards to not obstruct the view of the M&M's
~The sleeves rolled up, indicating the seriousness of the task at hand
~The redness in the cheeks that demonstrate the amount of sucking power that Cody is demonstrating
~The empty wine glass sitting in the middle of the table
When I bought this handy dandy pedometer I never imagined it would be as much fun as it was this weekend. FYI if you attached a pedometer to someones forehead a ton of laughter will follow.
Not only can the observers of this fun little diddy laugh so hard they have a pain in their side the person with the pedometer on their forehead can't help but laugh as well.
If you can find a way to have the pedometer start flying wildly and hitting the "Bobblehead" in the face it will produce even more laughter.
We tried to balance the crazy games with games that took a bit more skill. As a matter of fact too much skill because no one was able to successfully stack three golf balls on top of one another....oooppps our mistake, but its not like we are playing Minute to Win It every weekend with our friends, maybe we should start though it is pretty fun.
Cool thing about these games? Very little supplies need here is the list of the supplies for this game, Paper Dragon, that Mitch's Auntie Sherri is beautifully demonstrating.
1. Two packages of Streamers
THAT'S IT!
Super cheap, super easy, and you need to be super close to a bathroom because you will laugh really hard!
We rotated which team started first because with how competitive this group gets Lord knows it would not have been ok if one team had an advantage over the other.
As the teams watched one another participate in the games they gained new ideas and strategies with how to successfully completed the task in the fastest time.
One advantage that all the contestants on the TV show get are that they get to practice all the games before they are put on the spot. Not our skilled players they went into all these games cold and were really quite impressive at how good they were.
Take a look at that determination!
Is there anything better than watching family try and slide a cookie down their fact trying to get it in their mouth only using their face muscles? I think NOT!
Go ahead try it...Grab a cookie and stick it on your forehead...not as easy as you think!
You could call this the cheering crowd or the hecklers each name would be appropriate.
This group of people is super fun and crazy but more importantly they are really generous and loving. Mitch continues to impress me and surprise me the more time I spend with him. He came up with the idea to get everyone who came to the party to donate shoes to Souls for Soles an organization that provides shoes to the less fortunate around the world who are without shoes. And did the shoes rolled in, by the bag full. It was a beautiful display of humanity which makes me proud to say I get to be part of this family.
We are already planning for next year. Mitch and I love pulling together these games and have a few things stuck up our sleeve for Christmas 2011!
We are lucky enough to be part of a family that is willing to participate in our crazy games and don't even blink twice when we tell them to lube up their noses with Vaseline to participate in a game, a game that doesn't even have prizes mind you!
The competitiveness that they show in games suck as "Suck it Up" it admirable. Not many people can get that intense over moving M&M's with a straw!
Even after they see how silly one person looks participating in these games they line up to participate as well!
This picture of Cody says so much to me about how far this family is willing to go for a good time. Take notice of:
~The hat that has been turned backwards to not obstruct the view of the M&M's
~The sleeves rolled up, indicating the seriousness of the task at hand
~The redness in the cheeks that demonstrate the amount of sucking power that Cody is demonstrating
~The empty wine glass sitting in the middle of the table
When I bought this handy dandy pedometer I never imagined it would be as much fun as it was this weekend. FYI if you attached a pedometer to someones forehead a ton of laughter will follow.
Not only can the observers of this fun little diddy laugh so hard they have a pain in their side the person with the pedometer on their forehead can't help but laugh as well.
If you can find a way to have the pedometer start flying wildly and hitting the "Bobblehead" in the face it will produce even more laughter.
We tried to balance the crazy games with games that took a bit more skill. As a matter of fact too much skill because no one was able to successfully stack three golf balls on top of one another....oooppps our mistake, but its not like we are playing Minute to Win It every weekend with our friends, maybe we should start though it is pretty fun.
Cool thing about these games? Very little supplies need here is the list of the supplies for this game, Paper Dragon, that Mitch's Auntie Sherri is beautifully demonstrating.
1. Two packages of Streamers
THAT'S IT!
Super cheap, super easy, and you need to be super close to a bathroom because you will laugh really hard!
We rotated which team started first because with how competitive this group gets Lord knows it would not have been ok if one team had an advantage over the other.
As the teams watched one another participate in the games they gained new ideas and strategies with how to successfully completed the task in the fastest time.
One advantage that all the contestants on the TV show get are that they get to practice all the games before they are put on the spot. Not our skilled players they went into all these games cold and were really quite impressive at how good they were.
Take a look at that determination!
Is there anything better than watching family try and slide a cookie down their fact trying to get it in their mouth only using their face muscles? I think NOT!
Go ahead try it...Grab a cookie and stick it on your forehead...not as easy as you think!
You could call this the cheering crowd or the hecklers each name would be appropriate.
This group of people is super fun and crazy but more importantly they are really generous and loving. Mitch continues to impress me and surprise me the more time I spend with him. He came up with the idea to get everyone who came to the party to donate shoes to Souls for Soles an organization that provides shoes to the less fortunate around the world who are without shoes. And did the shoes rolled in, by the bag full. It was a beautiful display of humanity which makes me proud to say I get to be part of this family.
We are already planning for next year. Mitch and I love pulling together these games and have a few things stuck up our sleeve for Christmas 2011!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
First Cheescake
I have officially made it into the adult world. I didn't just show up for a family holiday and expect all the work to be done without me ever lifting a finger, this year I was given a job and my job was desserts. One of the greatest things about being in charge of desserts is you get to make the desserts that are your favorites, oh that and being able to lick the bowls while you are making them too. So I decided that this Thanksgiving was going to be all about the cheesecake. I made two cheesecakes the first one was this little beauty, The Cranberry Cheesecake.
It was great and really it wasn't as difficult as I assumed Cheesecakes were.
The second cheesecake was a Pioneer Woman recipe. In my family it is a tradition that every year we use the same table cloth and after we are done eating dinner we pass around a sharpie marker and everyone needs to write on the table cloth what they are Thankful for that year. I think Mitch's thankful message speaks to the quality of this recipe he wrote "I am thankful for the Pioneer Woman."
It was great and really it wasn't as difficult as I assumed Cheesecakes were.
The second cheesecake was a Pioneer Woman recipe. In my family it is a tradition that every year we use the same table cloth and after we are done eating dinner we pass around a sharpie marker and everyone needs to write on the table cloth what they are Thankful for that year. I think Mitch's thankful message speaks to the quality of this recipe he wrote "I am thankful for the Pioneer Woman."
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Our Pumpkin Patch
Mitch and I have never carved pumpkins together before so this was the year to make it happen. Mitch's cousins Austin and Callie grew some pumpkins at their house and gave us two and we found an awesome pumpkin patch that sold any pumpkin for a buck so we went crazy and bought 10. We laid out a bunch of newspaper and went to town.
I am not a huge fan of the process of cleaning out pumpkins and get my hands all full of guts so I resorted to just decorating the pumpkins rather than carving them.
Each of our carving styles matches our personalities...can you guess who carved the Vikings pumpkin?
Mitch stuck with the classic Jack O'Lantern face here while I attempted to make a skull.
Another funny Halloween moment for me this year was a conversation I had with one of my second graders the week before Halloween.
"Ms. B how do you spell punkin?"
"P-u-m-p-k-i-n"
"Na-uh, there is no MMMM sound in punkin."
"Ya there is you say the word Pummmmpkin not punkin"
"No my Mom told me, its a punkin"
"Buddy I'm not lying to you there really is an MMMM sound in pumpkin"
"I think your confused. Let's ask Mrs. Melby she will help you understand she is pretty good at letter sounds. Mrs. Melby you aren't going to believe this Ms. Bowman thinks there is an MMMM in punkin. Can you explain that to her?"
I love love love teaching and having these funny conversations with kids who are just in the stages of learning how words and letters work. My little buddy was a firm believer that the word punkin could not possilby have an "M" in it and he was ready to teach me how to spell.
I am not a huge fan of the process of cleaning out pumpkins and get my hands all full of guts so I resorted to just decorating the pumpkins rather than carving them.
Each of our carving styles matches our personalities...can you guess who carved the Vikings pumpkin?
Mitch stuck with the classic Jack O'Lantern face here while I attempted to make a skull.
Another funny Halloween moment for me this year was a conversation I had with one of my second graders the week before Halloween.
"Ms. B how do you spell punkin?"
"P-u-m-p-k-i-n"
"Na-uh, there is no MMMM sound in punkin."
"Ya there is you say the word Pummmmpkin not punkin"
"No my Mom told me, its a punkin"
"Buddy I'm not lying to you there really is an MMMM sound in pumpkin"
"I think your confused. Let's ask Mrs. Melby she will help you understand she is pretty good at letter sounds. Mrs. Melby you aren't going to believe this Ms. Bowman thinks there is an MMMM in punkin. Can you explain that to her?"
I love love love teaching and having these funny conversations with kids who are just in the stages of learning how words and letters work. My little buddy was a firm believer that the word punkin could not possilby have an "M" in it and he was ready to teach me how to spell.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Hound Dog Halloween
Buzz spent some time over Halloween at our house, and much to his (and Ben's) disgust I played dress up with him. The following pictures are proof of the pain and torture I put Buzz through.
"Do I really need to sit here and get my picture taken? This is EMBARRASSING!!!"
"If I don't look at the camera maybe my friends at the dog park won't think it is me."
"Ok if you aren't going to listen to my begging to save my dignity how about taking this thing off of me because it is too small? If you haven't noticed I have been growing at a crazy fast rate and this little shirt is cutting off circulation to my paws."
"Mitch please save me, help me get this thing off!"
"Sorry man wish I could help but she picks out my clothes too."
"Fine I give up just take my picture already and get it over with."
"Do I really need to sit here and get my picture taken? This is EMBARRASSING!!!"
"If I don't look at the camera maybe my friends at the dog park won't think it is me."
"Ok if you aren't going to listen to my begging to save my dignity how about taking this thing off of me because it is too small? If you haven't noticed I have been growing at a crazy fast rate and this little shirt is cutting off circulation to my paws."
"Mitch please save me, help me get this thing off!"
"Sorry man wish I could help but she picks out my clothes too."
"Fine I give up just take my picture already and get it over with."
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Ghouls, Goblins, and Ghosts...Oh My!
It was our first Halloween in our new home and I was unable to contain my excitement. All I wanted to do was stay home, pass out candy and meet a few more of our neighbors. As the first kids stop by I opened up the door and they greeted me with a big "HI NEW NEIGHBOR" It was great I was feeling like we were becoming a part of the neighborhood! We had 40 adorable little monsters stop by to get their candy and I couldn't resist handing them each a whole handful! Since our landscaping projects aren't on the top of our to do list (right now the top of our list is get a bathroom up and running) I had to artificially create a sidewalk for the trick-or-treaters to find their way to the front door. I raked a path up the yard and then created a path with some glass jars that I painted and turned into Halloween luminaries. They turned out pretty cute but I need about twice as many to light up our big front yard!
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