Happy Halloween

Nothing like snow falling outside to remind me of warmer times- like Halloween! Which actually wasn't that much warmer. It was rainy, windy and cold. Emma's witch hat kept blowing off so she finally gave up, and the witch shoes that she was so excited to wear were quickly replaced with cozy rain boots.
Emma really wanted to be a scary witch- dressed all in black with no face make up or fake warts. I made her dress and cape- she picked out the patterns at Jo-Ann Fabrics. We had to search at least 3 stores to find just the right broom. She wanted the broom that was just like the one at school with black stitching and a short handle.

Before Halloween Emma was coming up with ideas for what Mommy and Daddy should be for Halloween. "You should be a hot dog and Daddy should be a hamburger, " giggled Emma. That was probably the funniest idea.
Next she came up with this. "Ha ha, Mummy, " she laughed by accident one day. "Hee hee. I just said Mummy. You should be a mummy for Halloween Mommy. I could put a sign on you that says Here is my Mommy who is a mummy. or my mummy is who my mommy. hee hee." She thought that was quite clever. So I cut an old sheet into a very long strip. Steve helped wind me up and Emma completely approved.
Both girls looked great in their costumes. I made Annika's monster suit as well.  The four of us went to 3 houses all together, including Karen and Tom's across the street. Then Steve took Annika home and had fun watching Susan give out candy. (Apparently that is a whole another story!)

Emma and I headed out into the wind and filled up her sack. I actually scored some candy along the way from sympathetic adults who applauded my self-costuming efforts. I wasn't going to say no! Once we made it almost completely down the street and back up the other side, Emma started asking me to stay at the end of the driveway. She wanted to walk to the doors by herself. I don't know if that was motivated from the growing up part of her or the jealous part. She does like her candy. :)
We had a fun time and Emma enjoyed telling Aunt Susan and Daddy all about it when we got home. Trick-or-treating wasn't over for another 30 minutes or so; Emma loved opening the door and passing out candy. In fact, "no! I want to do it!" was heard until we finally took the hint and stopped opening the door first. :)

Of course sorting and eating the candy was a must!  She still hasn't eating it all yet and it's December! She was so sweet and shared some of her haul with us adults.

 I almost forgot that I surprised the family with a spooky dinner. Then knew that I was making a smitten kitchen dish but they didn't know that it was mummified until I pulled them out of the oven. Emma loved it! Actually we all really enjoyed the meal. (But I let my childish side out when I put them back in the oven under the broiler to crisp the dough strips and burned some of them- so I stomped upstairs and got all whiny. Not my best but I acknowledged that when I came back down. and we could all laugh at silly mommy.)

Visit this link for the awesome, delicious pot pies. I made it vegetarian and didn't miss the meat. I only wish that I had rolled the dough much thinner before cutting the strips so i could have avoided the super thick, somewhat doughy layers that led to my broiling, burning, tantrum episode.  pancetta-white-bean-and-swiss-chard-pot-pies

Up and Running

Well, Annika may not be running but she is finally walking!  She has been mastering the bipedal skills for about 3 weeks now. She loves to come into the kitchen while we are cooking/working and go through the cupboards. The honey stick is a favorite chew toy for those sore gums. She has gotten one molar (the bottom left) and is working on at least one more. And all the while her huge front teeth are still coming in; we assume that they aren't done growing yet because the left top-center tooth is still longer than the right! :)

Annika is loving to read these days and will pick out the books she wants read. She can be quite forceful if you start reading a book she is not interested in. Sometimes Emma will read to her and sometimes Annika will let her. Those moments are precious.
Annika is not really talking yet. We think she might actually mean Daddy when she says dadda, dadda.  Babba, Babba could mean Emma or Mama. But Chloe or doggie is definitely panting noises. Elephant sounds are popular- Annika makes them when she sees elephants or hears us say elephant and she loves to hear us trumpet, too.  She can roar like a lion or tiger and says the most adorable "ow" for cats/kitties. When I ask her to get something like a toy she can and I just about fell over the other day when I asked her to sit so I could put on her boots (that she "asked" me to put on) and she sat.  Her asking consists of holding something and grunting "ahh, ahh, ahh." 
She can do some hand signs like milk, more, please and bread and candy/sweet. Yeah, it isn't good that she will sign candy but not thank you! :0
So that's the update on little A.

Cat-tastic Celebration

Make a wish!

Happy 6th birthday, Emma K.!  What a whirlwind of a weekend. Such fun and sweet moments to treasure. Not that there was an absence of poor choices or behavior that was the direct result of being overwhelmed, over tired and disappointed. It's hard to be little!

Saturday the 19th we woke up and had chocolate chip pancakes, as requested by you the night before.  You were so excited about your birthday that the humdrum of a mostly regular Saturday was too much.  You wanted to open the three boxes that had come in the mail and waiting to open the gift bag from us was excruciating.  Once you got to open the bag you were very disappointed to find only a poncho. "That's not a present!"  Reading the card and the horse and pony experience promise for that afternoon wasn't enough to break the disappointment spell. But you did almost smile!
Waiting until after lunch seemed impossible.
 We carved pumpkins, which you loved.  "I'm going to draw the faces on all the pumpkins. Daddy you can cut both of ours out. Mine is going to be scary."  When I told you I was going to do a cat face you said, " that's not spooky for Halloween." You helped draw the cat face on my pumpkin using the image from the iPad as a guide.  I had to redraw it on the other side because your attention to small detail was too tiny for me to carve.  So you drew daddy's pumpkin face and your own.

Scooping out the insides was gross but you did it anyway. "Look at how much I got this time! Mommy can I please use that fork? The fork works good."
Lunch time came quickly and you could hardly focus on eating from all the anticipation. Then we were off to the stables!  La Fleur stables is about 30 minutes away and we got there with time to spare. There was a horse in a corral right by the van.  You got right out and walked to the fence and were fascinated watching it trot and harrumph long the fence opposite.  We went inside and were happy to be out of the blustery, cold.  You liked looking at the framed horse and rider pictures on the wall. After waiting a bit we were taken through the mysterious double doors that led...to...the indoor stables and arena!

Grooming and not quite at ease yet.

We walked down the long stable hallway to the tied up ponies.  Annika was interested in the horse faces pressed up to the bars on either side. You pointed out horses you liked and asked what their names were. The young girls explained how to groom the ponies with the different brushes. You were shy to begin with and asked me to go with you to choose a brush and get

Riding the pony was neat. Your feet almost touched the ground.

started.  You lost your shyness quickly and liked grooming the ponies.  After a bit the ponies were untied and we followed them down to the arena. There you asked for your bike helmet and waited your turn to ride a pony. The other pony was hooked up to a small cart.
You had no trouble getting on the pony by yourself!  And your feet almost could touch the ground.  You were reluctant to show even a smile but never said that you didn't want people to watch you.  You rode the pony two different times and liked it a lot.
At first you didn't want to ride in the cart even after the girls said you could sit on the seat and not on their laps like the younger girls in the group.  But at the very last possible opportunity you changed your mind and climbed in.  It went pretty quickly and you liked it. You said you liked riding the pony better.  And that was without a saddle!  The pony names were Mouse and Minnie.

Apple Jack, the quarter horse, with one happy Emma.

We went back and you helped groom the ponies before they brought out the big horses.  Apple Jack was the quarter horse and Sport was the thoroughbred.  We followed to the arena and you waited your turn to ride. You went on Sport first and insisted that daddy help you get on.  Sport cantered around the arena, which is pretty quick for a first ride.  You loved it and couldn't always keep your smiles hidden.  It was so much fun to watch you.  I could easily imagine you taking lessons and becoming a horse rider.

That was so fun and fast that you didn't want anyone to know how much you liked it.

After riding you did more horse grooming and you and the other girls were quite surprised by how large of a poop the horse dropped.  Then it was time to go home. In the car we asked you if you liked the experience and what your favorite part was. "It was good. I liked riding the big horses."  It all sort of came apart when Annika started crying and wouldn't stop. "Stop! You are ruining my whole birthday!"
Tom and Karen stopped by before dinner to give you their presents. You showed them the pictures from the horse and pony experience and were quite pleased to be able to share it with them.  Aunt Susan came for dinner and we enjoyed homemade macaroni and cheese with peas.  You also showed Aunt Susie the pictures of your day. Aunt Susan's cheesecake with fresh raspberries was phenomenal. You helped decorate the top of the cake with some fun supplies Aunt Susie brought with her.

Decorating that delicious cheesecake with Aunt Susie.

Then came the plethora of presents. Both sets of grandparents and great grandma's plus Aunt Susie and some other random boxes were filled with clothes, toys, and even money and makeup (lip gloss). You were right in your element. You said some pretty funny things that I am kicking myself for not writing down!
You went to sleep happy and woke up the next morning just bursting with excitement for your friends party. It was a long wait but we all survived. We arrived at the Dane County Humane Society and found the room to be much larger than we expected as well all decorated!  Frannie was the first to arrive and slowly your friends showed up. Frannie, Tesla, Violet, Rosie and Ellie, Meghan, Daryn and Soren, and James were all there. Plus Miss Beckie came with a lovely bouquet of flowers! The cat visitor names Max was first. He could sit on command! Everyone got to pet him once before his owner took him away.

Then the group was off to see  behind the scenes; you were always the line leader. You saw loads of cats; you wanted to take them home.  And so many cute dogs enjoyed tasty morsels that you and your friends dropped down the feeding tube into the kennels. There were also smaller pets like gerbils and feathered friends, too.  Back at the room we had some juice and you and your friends colored cats or dogs.

Not a cat but it will have to do.

The best part was coming up! The leader took us all into a small room where you got to hold a corn snake, guinea pig and rat.
Okay, maybe the best part was coming up- cake and presents! You decided that a cookies and cream custard cake from Culver's was a fine substitute for vanilla cat cupcakes with custard on the side. (I still feel guilty that I didn't make them!) The cakes were a huge hit with everyone and you blew out all 6 candles in two breaths I think. Your friends know you well and got you presents that fit your talents and hobbies- lots of art projects. Then it was time to clean up and go home. You were sad that it was over but also very happy.
Since it was late(r) in the day we let you pick a restaurant for the last birthday celebration meal. We went to Monty's and had yummy food but no dessert. Instead you had some cheesecake when we got home.

You are such a great big sister! Here you are helping your sister navigate the Earth and Sun set-up.

Was the birthday fun really over then? No! Annika and I came to school on Monday for your birthday celebration at Toad Hill. We kept the Emma-isms very brief but shared some pictures of you doing fun things through the years. You walked around the sun 6 times and Annika crawled on the sun!  Then I hung around for a little bit while you showed me some work, and I read a pumpkin story to your friends. Before I left I made sure that your teachers knew what to do with the special snack. I made individual parfaits for you and your friends with the berries and yogurt of your choice- vanilla yogurt with raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries. Plus there was a bag of granola for sprinkling on the top and some chocolate graham cat cookies. We brought three pieces of cheesecake for your teachers.
At the end of the day you were sad because the cat cookies were not served. But we took them back the next day and you got to share them with your friends.
Such a wonderful celebratory weekend for such a wonderfully sweet and beautiful girl! We are proud of you and love you so much. Happy 6th birthday, Emma K!

Kindergarten

All ready for the Meet and Greet on Tuesday.

Emma started Kindergarten last week. She is at Toad Hill- the same school she has been at for preschool for 2 years. So it shouldn't be that different and I shouldn't be all teary-eyed, right? Ha. I have been near tears for a couple weeks now. I just can't believe that she is old enough to be starting school!
Mommy or Daddy: So Emma, are you excited to be starting Kindergarten?
Emma: yeah, except for the teachers.
M/D: what do you mean? We thought you liked your teachers.
Emma: No, they are silly, mean teachers.
M/D: Why are they mean?
E: Because they tell me what to do.

It should come as no surprise that we also wear the mean hat from time to time- whenever we tell her what to do. Aye aye aye!

Emma told us that she had a good first couple of full days at school. She was playing with some new friends. Friday in the car she said, "They don't serve enough food for community lunch! I'm hungry!" 

Smiling for the first full day on Thursday.

Happy 1st Birthday, Annika!

August 18, 2012 was a marvelous, joyous day because Annika finally was born!  One year has flown by, except for the crazy months when she didn't sleep and screamed all the time!  How did we survive?
A pinwheel theme seemed like the perfect way to celebrate Annika's first birthday.  I read that for the Chinese New Year people will write hopes and dreams for the year on pinwheel points so that as the pinwheel spins, they go off into the world to come true.  
On her birthday we ate salami, tomato, and cucumber pinwheel roll-ups. A huge hit with both girls! That night for dinner Aunt Susan came over and we gobbled up smitten kitchen's heavenly chocolate cake roll for dessert. Annika seemed surprised at first to be offered so much of such a tasty thing!  She opened a couple of token presents from her godfather, great grandma and us. (We are trying to keep the first 5 years fair between the girls. Starting this year for Emma we are sticking to useful or experiential presents only. It's only fair that Annika have some books from her parents until she turns 6!)

But we do want to hold true to the mantra "less is more" while keeping the amount of stuff in our house down to a minimal. Such a hard task with kids and society and stuff!  So instead of presents we asked guests to bring a hope or wish for Annika. They wrote it on an unfolded pinwheel, folded it up and pinned it to a pennant on a banner made the night before.  The pennant banners will be for decoration in Annika's room to be somehow incorporated into a quilt at some point.  Lots of good wishes came with guests on Saturday August 24th. Wishes came in the mail from family, too.
The party had pinwheels everywhere!  Lots of spinning ones outside, inside, on the cake and in the form of games and activities.  Annika had one on her shirt, her bib, and on her headband (all made by me just for the occasion.). Although Emma was the one who added sequins and ribbon to the head band first; she would want me to say that.
 We played Pinwheel the Cupcake (like pin the tail games), find the one matching pinwheel out of the 20 or so around, draw a pinwheel competition with sidewalk chalk, color a pinwheel in the cool of the house with crayons, make a pinewheel, and a homemade pull string piñata. It was so much fun!  Annika really seemed to enjoy herself, too.  She was all smiles as she was passed from person to person.  Annika even put a pinwheel on the cupcake!  With Auntie Em's help.
For food we had Glass Nickle pizza, a rainbow fruit "pizza", raw veggies and ranch dip displayed in a gigantic hollowed out zucchini, and pinwheel cookies. I am so bummed that we don't have any pictures of the fruit and veggies!  We had mason jars with cute fabric name tags and paper straws in raspberry and purple to drink up root beer and pink lemonade.  (Beer was also served.)  For the birthday song Aunt Susan made a fantastic three layer cake with chocolate, vanilla and strawberry layers.  It was Neapolitan!  So we also had the same ice cream flavors.  And of course the cake was decorated with pinwheels plus a mini pennant banner made from scrap melted crayon
decorations and affixed with the letters in Annika.  (The stained glass buntings made by following idea from artful parent.com were hanging around the house.)
It was just so much fun having everyone gather together to celebrate!  Guests: Tom and Karen, Aunt Chenoa, Maddison and Audrey, Auntie Em and Ian, the Gletty-syoen family, the Montague family, and aunt Susan.
Annika loved her cake!  And the no gift thing worked great; we did say guests could bring their favorite candy for the piñata if they wanted and many did!  Annika pulled strings, too.  But none of the strings actually opened it up!  Oops!  My efforts to secure the ribbon were not good enough.  Bt the kids all laughed and were happy to take turns hitting it with the baseball bat.
Happy birthday, dear sweet baby!

On the move!

Annika is crawling!  We have gone from the doctor mildly concerned that she wasn't meeting her 9month gross motor milestones to an active baby.  Who is also not so little. We don't have confirmation on the little thing and no actual verifiable evidence. But she has some chunky thighs that even strangers notice.  And she feels heavier and looks different after every sleep.

Three days ago she was only sort of crawling a few short "steps" at a time.  Yesterday afternoon we had to set up the gate to keep her out of Emma's art area and the computer space.  She explored the sliding glass door, got close to the dogs water dish, tried pulling herself up on the octagon table, rattled the gate and generally just want everywhere in the back room.

Yesterday when I went to get her from her afternoon nap she was standing in her crib.  She has only done that once before.  This morning she was also standing after her nap and when I did a reset this afternoon.  Yay!  Now to make more progress on the gross motor skills she needs to walk while holding on to furniture.  She is starting to move her legs when standing so its a start.  All this good sleep is working to her advantage!

Go little baby, go!

Let's Pretend

There probably is a post with this title already!  It is Emma's favorite game to play. We pretend to be the Frances family (like the Bread and Jam for Frances characters) quite often- daily actually. And sometimes hourly. She has added Lily as a character and sometimes Annika is just the new baby Annika while Baby Katie scrubs in as Gloria.
On the way home from the nature center this afternoon Emma says, "Let's pretend that this is a bus and you are Lily the bus driver. I'm Frances, Annika is Gloria, and Daddy is Albert." OK I say, "Stay in your seats and keep quiet! you're on my bus now!"  Said with a smile of course.  Then Emma replies, "You're Lily and you live with us." OK but then that was that. The game ended without any warning.

Yesterday we played Barbies in the basement. She wanted me to talk for some of the girls so I did. But then she would ask, "who said that?"  So I would tell her. As I listened to her she talks but also narrates as if we are enacting the pages right from a book.  "Let's go to the beach, said Mia. So they all got dressed and went to the beach. Let's pretend that Ariel climbed up the cliff and dove into the water and swam and swam."  It is really fascinating to witness but a little hard to follow along. (It's hard to narrate!)

Mother's Day 2013

With two it is even sweeter!  Emma and Daddy kept whispering and talking for a few days leading up to Sunday. A mysterious package arrived in the mail mid week. Emma made some picture cards for Grandma, G-Bugga, Nanie and Great Grandma and said, "but why? They aren't my mommy!"
Sunday morning Steve and Emma got up early with Annika and let me sleep.  Not that the sleeping was great, but being able to lie in bed for awhile was heavenly.
Then a breakfast in bed that still has me smiling came up the stairs with Emma and Daddy. Emma insisted that I have my usual oatmeal, plus she picked out Surprise muffins to make, Steve cooked bacon, there was delicious tea, juice with fruit, a bowl of fruit and an iPad mini!  It was just the best.  Emma stayed and helped me eat the wonderful spread with just a few crumbs making it in the bed. We played with the iPad a little and I found a song from Zumba. Emma asked to not hear it again after a few minutes! It was will i am's Scream and Shout. Steve came back up later with baby and we got a group photo. 
Perhaps the piece de resistance was the card. I don't know where Steve finds them but he always manages to get the best blank cards. This one was blank but for the beautiful hummingbird and flower art on the outside and inside. Emma wrote "Happy Mother's Day Love Emma" and then added her own flower that matched the drawing. She also drew a hummingbird to match and it looks fantastic! She is a very good artiste. (Steve also had his own sweet message.) I am so lucky!

 

I am loving watching the two of my girls grow up. I can't remember what we did for the rest of the day and I don't need to. The morning is memory enough for me.

Trim It Up

It was really past time to trim Annika's old man hair style.

BEFORE

AFTER

SO MUCH HAIR!

Over the River...

..and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go. Great Grandma's house that is- finally after a long hiatus. An unintentionally long stretch between visits ended this past Saturday. It is just so hard to do the trip with both girls, especially since Annika had been so fiesty.
It was so sweet to watch Great Grandma with Annika. Annika really studied her face and didn't smile much at first. Gma's face would light up as she baby talked some words and phrases. Annika would watch her and blink. During lunch Annika became a bit more animated and smiled back. Annika loved the swedish meatballs and over done green beans. Even though she "flat lined" on the growth chart, you wouldn't guess it by watching her eat. That girl can chow down!
 Gma had given both girls a stuffed toy- the stuffed animal is a token Grandma gift. My collection was quite large by the time I reached the "too-old-for-toys" age. Grandma used to tell me how Grandpa would say, why are you getting another sruffed animal? And Grandma would say because they are so cute and cuddly. So now Annika has a large blue bunny with sewn on patches to make it appear a little whimsical.  Emma got the annual noisy bunny. It shakes and moves while playing a hoppy song. The one she got from Gma last year (or the year before) is a favorite. Emma also received a Disney Princess art set- activity book, cardboard scene to color, puzzle and crayons. Emma and Gma had some puzzle time after lunch. It was cute watching Gma get all impressed when Emma found a piece.
We hit the road pretty early since both girls had missed their naps. The first 30 minutes or so in the car were a nightmare!  Emma was having tantrums for dropping her art set, losing markers, losing puzzle pieces. "When are we going to go back to Great Grandma's?" Huge sobs and screams. The back of Steve's seat was being pushed. The tears were rolling and her face was beet red.  She couldn't manage a polite request for picking up the dropped items, which added to the stress. After talking things through (multiple times and getting to the point of threats and promises of rewards (so bad!!)), she finally chokes out a strangled "please help me Mommy" and I turned around to help her collect whatever item she just had to have right that second. We started to drive under an overpass and the van got darker and darker. "What is happening to us!!" Emma sobs and screams. It was so funny. I had been wondering the same thing since the overpass was not very wide. It didn't make sense that we should not able to see the floor of the van or our groping hands. What happened to us indeed.
Eventually Emma calmed down. That was just when Annika decided to scream. The Nuk didn't help so we just had to wait it out. She fell asleep after awhile, followed closely by Emma.
Whew. In the middle of Emma's tantrums Steve asked her to "Ask us again, Emma, when we are going to go back to Great Grandma's."  She made us tell her why and of course she didn't like the answer- not for a long time because we don't want to go through that again.

Sweet Sisters

Well, it starts off sweet and then progresses down the road that only a 5 year old can follow.

Snow Fun

Yesterday could have been another one of those days when Emma and I push each others buttons. It was a half day of school, which tends to lead to rough days even if they start out fine. (The early release started/ended with a children of the world parade. It was really cool to see the kids all dressed up (even Emma) and singing It's a Small World and another song with hello in many languages.)  Back at home the party was over pretty quickly. Just a typical scene of a 5 year old who saves her poor choices and tantrums for Mommy.
After rest time in the afternoon and a painting project that took longer to set up than it did to occupy her time I suggested that Emma get dressed and go outside and run around. She surprised the heck out of me by saying OK, with enthusiasm even.  I even said that she didn't need to put on her snow pants unless she was planning on rolling around in the snow. 
So while she was outside tromping in and out of the front yard I finished up with the dinner prep and prepared to go outside as well. She came in just as I was getting ready and was super excited that I was going to head outside with her. "That's just what I want you to do!" She put on her snow pants while I got suited up.
She was quick to show me the huge snow pile by the birch tree that has the shepherds hook poking up out of the top of it again. We made some faces in the mound with our shoe print holes. Then on we trudged through the yard. Very soon she suggested we play hide and seek, "and you count first. I know right where I am going to hide." So I wandered around until she was ready. She wasn't in the mailbox! She wasn't under the car! She was right next to the large snow pile we marred earlier and giggling like crazy.
Somehow the game fizzled right out. I took the old wreath off the side of the house and Emma immediately grabbed for it. "Wait, I want to play with it." So she giggled and pulled it over her head. "I'm your wreath that you want to keep but I run away from you. So sleep Mama." I laid down to sleep on the ground. "So while she was sleeping the wreath ran away," and she got up and ran away, holding the wreath like an inner tube around herself.  "Now you have to try to catch me!"  So I ran after her and when I caught her we tumbled to the ground. We both laughed a lot. We kept playing that until I got to be the wreath.  I ran around just out of her reach. "I'm going to get you, Wreath! No, don't go to the snowbank!" But I ran right to the large snow bank in our neighbors driveway, hurtled myself over, and to allow some time for Emma to catch up, I fell to the snowy ground and pretended to be having a hard time getting up. (Well some of it wasn't pretending- it is not easy for a Wreath to maneuver!)  Emma clambered over the snow bank and piled on top of me. We laughed a lot.  "OK, I am going to sleep again. Now you run away. I'm going to catch you, Wreath. Come back here, Wreath!"  So many giggles and laughs.  I really wonder what the neighbors were thinking as they saw us chasing each other with the large wreath wrapped around us.
Then when we tired of the wreath we just chased each other. "You can just leave the wreath on the ground." But she still narrated using the Wreath character. Pretty funny.
I made a snow angel and she helped me up.  We made snow balls and played catch while sitting on the ground. "It counts if it lands on the ground close to you." 
Then the baby woke up and I had to go back inside. But when Emma came in it was all smiles for both of us.  Being outside warmed us up from the outside, in. :)

happy 2013

Happy New Year! 

We started new year's eve day off at Great Grandma's. Nanie and Papa and the Schueles were there (except Marc). We had a nice meal and the girls got tons of presents. They really got spoiled. Annika got a stuffed Snoopy from Nanie and Papa. The story behind the snoopy toy is that when I was a girl I had one that I took everywhere with me. I dragged it around and loved it. (I honestly don't remember this.) I don't know if my brother had one, too or if maybe he got my chewed on crusty one. Well fast forward to the next generation and Uncle Scott's first son, Wyatt,  just had to have a stuffed Snoopy. Papa found one and then continued the tradition for Blake and Emma. What I really want to know is if they bought 4 or 5 Snoopy's back when Wyatt was born with the hopes that there would be as many grandkids as Snoopy's someday. 

Chris and Uncle Chuck put together the baby care center from Great Grandma to Emma. It was quite the project. Emma was upset that she didn't have any dolls with to give it a test run. We balanced it precariously on the top of the brewing equipment in the back of the van on our trek to Woodstock and hoped it wouldn't land on the dog.

We spent the rest of  new years eve at the Kniola's in Woodstock. It was a raucous and fun night as always. Annika slept really well in the afternoon and evening, which amazed us all. Then at about 1 am she decided to be cranky all night long. Since we went to bed late I guess we should be thankful that all night long was only 6 hours or so. Emma had a fun night playing with the kids. She snacked and played and was wide awake until the ball dropped. At midnight she toasted us with some sparkling drink and put on a festive hat. She slept on the couch with Madison and Jared. The next morning everyone was fuzzy, but Steve and Uncle Steve still brewed beer outside in the bitter cold.  Madison and Emma skated on the backyard pond in their boots. I fell while borrowing Aunt Darcy's skates (I forgot to remove one of the blade guards). Rooky mistake! Emma was concerned for me, which was sweet.  

Annika napped and enjoyed hanging out with the kids, too. Madison and Jared love to hold Annika, and Emma doesn't seem to mind. We were all happy to sleep in our own beds that night!

Christmas Vacation

We had a wonderful, quiet Christmas around Madison. Well, sort of quiet. Annika was as usual fussy and not sleeping well. It was cold but Steve bundled her up in the stroller and took a 30 minute walk. She slept for part of the walk and promptly woke up once back inside the house.
We enjoyed a delicious red and green meal of raspberry-pistachio crusted chicken and wild rice pilaf.  Emma helped crush the pistachios with the mortar and pestle.  It was her idea to use it and at first we didn't think it would work. She persevered and proved us wrong! It turned out that using the mortar and pestle helped to make the pistachios stick better to the chicken, resulting in a very delicious chicken dish- the best ever!  Even Emma liked it as leftovers.
We rushed to make it to church on time, which meant that finding seats was impossible. If it weren't for Lynn and John we would have been standing. As it was, we squeezed into the spots, with one girl each on our laps. It was a nice service. Emma liked holding the candle for Silent Night.
Emma made sure we put out the treats for Santa (store bought dairy-free Newman O's) plus 9 carrots for the reindeer. She was particularly curious about whether or not Rudolph would come with Santa.
Annika slept for 6 hours I think that night- a Christmas miracle. :)  Santa had come and the reindeer had eaten the carrots to the ends. Rudolph did come because all 9 carrots had been eaten. After presents we just hung out all day. WE packed and organized for our trip.
Bright and early (5 am ish) we loaded up the van and started the looong drive to South Dakota.  Annika slept a lot, which was great.  Emma amused herself quite well for the most part. Once the DVD was introduced, though, it became a hassle to set it up and keep her behavior in check. We had a McDonald's dinner in Rapid City (in the car) and made it to the cabin in time for stories and bed.
Emma was fascinated by the loft and really wanted to sleep up there. Due to the steepness of the stairs and the lack of a door to keep out the sounds, we convinced her to sleep int he downstairs bedroom. It had it's own bathroom, which was fun for her.
Annika had a horrible night of sleeping. It was also hotter than blazes upstairs so I woke up dripping sweat. We had to open the window over the bed to make it comfortable.
The next morning we planned our day and headed to Mount Rushmore. It was snowing, silently and dream-like. It made for a gorgeous drive and view. There were hardly any people- yay!  Emma wouldn't smile for the camera and was very grouchy about the museum part.  Annika slept in the stroller and seemed quite content overall.
I don't remember the rest of that day. Except that night we went and saw Mount Rushmore lit up-cool. Then we drove into town for some beer and dessert. Emma chose strawberry cookies. I chose lime mini-popcorn bags. The popcorn was so good. Annika had another rough night.
The next day dawned clear and cold. Mount Rushmore was seen again in many different views all day long. The sideview of Washington was neat. Then Crazy Horse was a big disappointment as we drove up to it. It's not even close to being finished! Once we were inside and learned the story we felt bad for disparaging it.  The sculptor worked alone for a number of years. Mount Rushmore can fit in the side of his head (the scale is astronomical). The family doesn't accept funds from state or national governments. It's pretty amazing.
Emma liked the Native American museum part (just not the video, which she almost ruined with her whining- we were the only ones in the theater though). We had fun looking at the artifacts, rugs, bead work, etc.  We tried to come up with what our Native American names would be. I can't remember what she said.
We rambled along and finally headed out to the Nature Gates that was covered with metal animals. We each found our favorite. Emma searched for a horse and couldn't find one.
Then we headed to the Wind Cave. We had lunch in the center's small cafeteria. Chloe stayed in the van. Then we went on the 1 pm tour over 100 feet under ground. Emma was scared at first, like me, but we turned it into a game. Emma kept pointing to places where the Pegasus would sleep or fly through. The boxwork formations were yummy Pegasus food. Almost at the end Annika filled her diaper and began to cry. Steve had to take her back down the trail a bit to not disturb the ranger or the group.  The ranger brought up the point that people who go caving need to take food in and waste out, like one memeber of the group was showing us. :) It was funny.  (At home, when Emma saw the Wind Cave brochure she recognized the boxwork!)
On the drive back to the cabin we saw some elk and then some bison way off in the distance. We drove through some tunnels and saw Mount Rushmore yet again from different views. We ate some dinner cooked in the electric skillet and rested.
The next day we left later than we would have liked and made it home by 10 pm.  We played 20 questions and I Spy a lot on the way home. Annika needed to be soothed a lot as well. That's not easy in the car!



Overall it was a fun trip and we are glad we made the effort.