Merry Christmas 2012

a present for next year

Set to release exactly one year from today:

Anchorman 2 releases Dec. 20, 2013 with the reported bonus of Kristen Wiig involvement.  Of course, that's if Dec. 20, 2013 isn't the one year anniversary of the last full day the world existed.




Now if they'd only make another Anne of Green Gables movie next year...

return of the weather geek

We got about 10" of snow this weekend.  Other parts of the metro got around a foot.  The kids and neighbor kids all descended on the snow pile in the cul-de-sac after the plow went through.

I think all four kids have used the circa 1975 snowsuit that Zach's wearing.  He's getting too tall for it now...sniff.  So if the weather talking heads know their stuff, this is the most snow in a one-time event that we've had in almost 2 years.  During last year's wimpy winter season, our biggest total was around 4 inches.

Also spent time this weekend trying to get a family photo for the Christmas card.  Though we set the camera to take seven pics at a time and took almost 100 photos total, we still had precious few to choose from.  I do admit to having the lofty goals of everyone looking at the camera and having at least a non-menacing facial expression.  Here's one we didn't use:

Zach and Nicky were the biggest offenders.  And the dang cat wandered into this one.  Yeah, "Merry Christmas from all of us and Felix's rear end".  Zach looked like this for a whole series of 7 shots:

And poor Michael came pretty close to breaking my Non-Menacing Look rule.  He bared all his teeth in every photo.  One could imagine him growling or howling at the moon afterward.

Suzuki method

Nicky started violin lessons this past summer and he's doing pretty well.  At yesterday's lesson, he had to pick a card to determine which "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" rhythm he'd play for a warm up, and then pick a card to alter the rhythm somehow.  One of the alteration cards he picked was "Who What Where Why When" or something like that.  Nicky wasn't sure what that was about, and neither was I.  His teacher said she'd ask him questions while he played.  He said, "What... like 'who invented Microsoft?'  Like Bill Gates?"  Ha!  What a goof.  She just asked him things like "what month is Christmas in?," and so on.  No Jeopardy! stuff.  When he figured out he was just supposed to play through the distraction of her cross examination, he did okay.

'Prolly will get our Christmas tree this weekend.  If we win half a billion dollars tonight, maybe we'll spring for one of them spendy $80 trees at the tree farm.  On the other hand, maybe craziness like that is the slippery slope to bankruptcy.

Men's wear milestone

Michael and his 8th grade band compadres looked way too old at their concert last week.  And while out shopping recently, we realized Michael can fit into men's size small.  My 'lil baby, all grown up and wearing men's clothes.  And he's more and more particular about what he'll wear, of course.  He also complains about his 6th grade sister yelling "Hi Michael!" in the hallways at school every time they cross paths.  Awkwaaard.  6th graders are lame-o, and heaven forbid you're related to one of those peons.

Anyhoo, Thanksgiving's around the corner.  Have a good one!  I'm thankful for all sorts of poetic and sublime things, like Cold Stone Creamery's cake batter ice cream and Cinnamon Fire Jolly Ranchers.  And turkeys just taste fantastic.  And pumpkin pie.  Ahhh.

All Hallow's Eve 2012

We're getting a lot of mileage out of the werewolf mask.  That'd be Mikey in there, of course.  Adrienne is a vampire girl or whatever.  Nicky - 'arrrr, matey!  And Zach the proctologist.  Ha.

We had a groovy time trick or treating with some neighbor friends for an hour and a half.  That wasn't long enough for M and A though, so they went back out with dad for 45 minutes to rake in more loot.

An American Werewolf in Lakeville

And speaking of Lakeville, Nate pointed out that it made number 19 on Money Magazine's 2012 list of top 100 best small cities to live in in the U.S.  One of 5 MN cities to make the top 25, so I guess somebody here knew who to pay off (just joking, Money Mag spies).

Had a little more fun with masks last night, just like last year around this time.  It wasn't as fun as last year though...in particular, when we went outside to take pics of me riding a scooter with the werewolf mask.  See, we were surprised to see a skunk lumbering around the cul-de-sac, so Nate threw rocks in it's general direction to scare it away.  Too funny.  "Be gone you skunk, we have big important things to do like take pictures of ourselves scootering around in a werewolf mask for pete's sake."

No skunks were harmed in the making of this photo

We're just doing our part to put Lakeville in the top 100 weird cities to live in.  We'd be in the top 100 skunk-filled cities, if somebody made a list of that, too. Three times in the last couple months, we had to shut the windows when some virulent skunky odor started pouring in at night.  Not to mention all the skunky roadkill around here.  Ewww.

Zachisms

Zach had us chuckling during supper last week.  When he was told to eat something besides grapes, he scooped up a forkful of meat and said "I'm going to regret this!" and then "Oh, I'm gonna panic!"  Nicky took the 'blame' for Z's expanded vocabulary.

Red Wing was cool and misty on Saturday and the kids grumbled as we moseyed our way through the street vendors, but just like every year, Godfather's cinnamon streusel* pizza was flippin' marvelous.  When we got home Michael disappeared for about ten minutes and then reappeared with a K'nex* tower he'd just assembled. 

Not sure where his sudden architectural enthusiasm came from, but he was proud enough to smile with minimal prompting.

*suggested corrections are cinnamon 'stressful' pizza and 'Kleenex' tower

Okra is slimy

Disclaimer:  you probably shouldn't read this post before eating.  That's probably a good rule of thumb for my whole blog, actually.  Recently I bought a new veggie to try out.  Maybe I'm sheltered, but I had no experience with okra before today.  Turns out it emits some kind of snotty substance as it cooks.  We all managed to choke some down somehow.  It doesn't have a strong or offensive flavor per se, but it gets negative points for presentation.  Poor Nicky sat at the table the longest.  His attempt to eat one stinking piece provided some good video footage.

This is not my photo of okra

It reminded me of the one time my mom decided to make split pea soup when I was a kid.  Chris and I came to the table and thought it was some bizarre joke.  It was not.

"I mean, if we only had a wheelbarrow, that would be something!"

That was one heck of a gorgeous fall weekend.  Snapped a photo of this wheelbarrow my multi-talented hubby made me this summer.  Now if we can lay our hands on a giant and a holocaust cloak, we're all set to storm the castle.  If we can find a castle to storm.  Maybe Nate can build me one, after he finishes the wooden bench he's making for the entryway.

Blogger doesn't like my use of multi-talented.  It suggests mulch-talented, mufti-talented (what the sam hill are those?), and multifaceted.  Removing the hyphen or space doesn't help.  Strange.  After computers take over the world it'll be fun to hear them talk to each other.  If they haven't done away with us organic critters, that is.

Zach's 5!

The baby in the family turned the big cinco last week.  He's officially past toddlerdom and into big boyville.  I'd get wistful, but having older kids has it's perks.  No diapers or mushy baby food or tantrums in the toy aisle. 

practice for the jumbotron

Two middle schoolers!

Tuesday was the first day of school.  This year's Thing that makes Nate and I feel old is having two kids in middle school, 8th & 6th grades respectively.  Eesh.  First day jitters made Michael and Adrienne robotically follow my command to put their arms around each other for this photo.  Nothing I say can make Michael smile naturally on command, though.

Nicky's in 3rd grade and is the only one in elementary school this year.

 

One more year of preschool for Zach, since he turns 5 later this month.  He goes Weds. & Fri.

We've been to a handful of open houses and parent teacher nights and what not.  I like our district.  They make no bones about enforcing a dress code at the middle school.  One of Michael's teachers told everyone that no spaghetti string tank tops or low cut tops are allowed for girls, and that boys need to keep their pants up, because "we don't get paid enough to see your underpants."   Heh.

A's 11th

And to squeeze the boys in here...funky foot tan lines!

1st 5K!

Along with lots of other self loathing folks, I ran in the MN Zoo 5K this morning.  Well, "ran" is misleading...but I jogged it all and was happy with my time.  Never did one before, and was crazy anxious about it all.  When I woke up at 2 a.m. I couldn't get back to sleep.  Glad it's over, and glad I pushed myself.  I'd like to thank Michael for letting me use his iPod, Adrienne for the earbuds, and my left foot for forgiving me so quickly after I made a doofus of myself twisting it in a parking lot last Saturday.

I did not win this bling.  It's Zach's t-ball trophy, which was for participation, so I borrowed it.  Anyway, it's August 25th, and now that the 5K craziness is done we're chilling out and celebrating Adrienne's 11th birthday.  11?  How did that happen?

tuckered out

Funny how everybody's cuter when sleeping.  I know there's snoring and drooling, which aren't too attractive, but Felix hardly ever does either.

aforementioned stay-cation

Some highlights of the stay-cation week!  Exciting.

The Friday preceding, we went to a Twins game with Papa Duane.  They actually won, and afterward there were fireworks.  Nate and Zach disappeared for a while to go exploring.

Did you know Minneapolis was, like, the milling capital of the world for a while?  It does not get cooler than that.  We went to the Mill City Museum on Monday.

Here we are inside.  I guess you can't impress us with a giant wooden grain of wheat.

Wednesday was Walker Art Center day, 'cuz one of the kids wanted to see the big cherry on a spoon thing in the sculpture garden.  Most of the modern art in the museum was just plain whackadoo freaky.  We posed modernly by the spoon art.

Thursday was Get a New AC day, plus Nate's b-day (yay!)...

...and Zach's last day of t-ball for the summer.  Everyone got trophies!

And finally, on Friday we went to Fort Snelling, where the kids learned how to march like the soldiers at the fort did in 1827.

It wasn't all big fun adventures.  Spending half a day on Thursday waiting for the AC guy to come and the rest of it waiting for him to install it and then pony up the cash they wanted wasn't enjoyable.  Neither was my chat with the sales guy for some roofing/siding company.  'Cuz he didn't seem to know that when the homeowner hides behind the bookshelf it means Go Away.  I didn't mean to talk to him, but after he rang the doorbell, he knocked super loud and urgent-like.  Shoot.  You see, when I ran for cover after hearing the ding-dong (or maybe ours dings with no dong?  like ding ding?  gosh I can't recall) I thought I saw a clipboard in his hands.  Sales dude!  I felt confirmed in my choice to hide.  But that follow-up loud knock made me doubt myself.  I thought maybe it really was a neighbor informing me that our house was aflame or whatever.  But I shouldn't have doubted myself.  He was odd straight off and asked me if the USA got any more medals today 'cuz he had seen that the Olympics was on inside.  Hey sicko, don't start off a sales call by admitting you snooped through the window.  So I sent Peeping Tom packing, likely to frighten some other poor homeowner with his obnoxious mega ding dong and Big Knocks.  Hmmf.

Yesterday we went out for supper with my family to celebrate Nate & my dad's b-days and to give a send off to dad and my big bro Andrew, who are flying to Finland this evening for a 10 day exploration of the fatherland.  Pretty cool, and something my dad has wanted to do for a long time.  They're even gonna stay with some distant cousins for around half the time there.

alligator pond

When I was young my little bro and I would jump from couch to chair to table and such, because if you touched the floor the alligators would get you.  I've been wondering if they'll make that an Olympic sport.  During prime time NBC airs the 'normal' event footage, but the daytime coverage has been kinda weird.  If table tennis is an olympic sport, then something like jump roping should be, too.  Maybe on an obstacle course with alligators.

We watched most of the gymnastics.  It was fun to see team USA win gold, but I would have been okay with that poor heartbroken Russian girl winning individual gold.  I think the Russians' movements generally flowed more smoothly.  Less staccato than the American kids. 

Nate is off this week.  We're busy stay-cationing.  No vacay this year, mostly due to all the economy stimulating we've been doing this summer.  For Nate's b-day yesterday we got a new AC.  The previous fix-ups didn't do the trick.  So, we've been checking out some cool local stuff.  Like museums and junk.  Go team twin cities!

mowed over in the greek yogurt aisle

I've been trying to eat healthier lately.  More fruits and veggies, less processed carbs...it's not fun.  Never been a yogurt eater, but this greek stuff is tolerable.  You gotta be on your toes when you buy it, though.  I thought I'd read some labels the first time I got some, but hoards of women with flailing arms swarmed in from both sides and snatched them away greedily.  So I scooped some into the cart and ran away.  I keep hearing that a cup or two of coffee helps prevent lots of icky conditions, so how hard is it to start a coffee habit?  And wine in moderation is a friend of the circulatory system, so I could try to drink more than 4 or 5 glasses a year.  I'd rather drink pop and eat donuts, though.

You Can't Go Home Again or watch 80's movies

We recently watched E.T. and Flight of the Navigator with the kids.  Thought we'd introduce them to some of The Classics of our childhood.  It was a little weird to see them again.  Maybe it would have been better not to, as some of the magic of what you thought you remembered about them gets flushed down the toilet.  Actually, I didn't even see E.T. till high school Spanish class, 'cuz there are naughty words in it.  "E.T. telefono mi casa!"  But anyway, all I have to say is special effects and synthesizer and I'm sure we're simpatico.  At least The Princess Bride still holds up well.  Speaking of, a while back the yahoos at youtube took down our Little Princess Bride video for copyright infringement or whatever.  Lame.

post Pan-O-Prog parade

Keep Off The Fish!

What a steamy week.  Feels like you're wearing a wet suit 5 seconds after walking outside.  Blech. 

Anyhoo, we had a nice impromptu visit to Iowa over the weekend to check up on Nate's mom & grandma who are recovering from surgeries.  They are tough ladies!  The kids are getting old enough to play some fun card games with the family.  Once the go karts are out of gas, anyway.

Sunday afternoon Nate & I drove up to the Mille Lacs Lake area again.  I blogged about a previous trip there, back in June of '09.  Even up in north central MN it was too hot to go hike in the state park and revisit our old buddy the tower-of-chicken-wire, but we did drive a bit further north to see the big Garrison walleye.   

We drove by it many times while I was growing up, and we never got out to snap photos.  But hey, that was the pre-blogging and facebook era.  No one can resist the urge to photograph a 15-foot fiberglass fish now.

They even have a bossy little sign on it-

I like how they specify that you mustn't harass the fish, including the fins, tail, and mouth.  'Cuz before I read the fine print, I was all set to dangle from it's teeth.  I had to settle for gently touching the tail.

Happy 4th to ya'll.  Don't blow off any digits.

Cat on a Hot Asphalt Roof

Last week stunk.  The AC petered out on Thursday and our hot water heater sort of imploded on Saturday morning.  Shelled out mucho dinero and had both issues fixed on Monday.  And just our luck, those days without AC were toasty and humid.  We had to make more use of the windows, which Felix took advantage of by knocking out a loose upstairs screen to go explore the magical wonders of the roof.

Naughty beast.  Some day we'll let him back in.  We went to Canterbury on Father's Day and won 60 cents.  Lost a little more than that.  We were by the winner's circle at the end of the last race and a jockey gave Adrienne his muddy goggles.  Maybe he was just being nice, or maybe he was intimidated by her height and girth.

Rounding out a banner week were the 4 a.m. storms Tuesday that rocked the house and hail that made us fear for our windows.  Straight line winds of 60-80 mph, they say.  One of our willow trees partially lifted up and looks pretty bare on one side now.

3 storm chasers went through yesterday while we cleaned up, hunting for damaged roofs and cracked siding.  We came out pretty good compared to many in our area.  Trees are down everywhere and slammed into a few houses.  This pic is from a local news article - it's a street just northeast of us.

Ahh, June in MN.  Hoping that's the worst we see this season.

from the Messed Up files

Article: The Global War Against Baby Girls

"In terms of its sheer toll in human numbers, sex-selective abortion has assumed a scale tantamount to a global war against baby girls."

Scary stuff.  We haven't really learned from the past.  We just decide it's okay to kill a different group of people.

Movin' on up

Or down, rather.  We've been working on transforming the basement bedroom from Nate's office/collectibles room to a real bedroom for Michael.  He moved in a couple days ago.  I think he's going to like having more space and a bathroom to himself.

Ugh, painting...we hate painting.  Nate redid the trim too.  But it's done and looks pretty good.  Nate made the shelves when he was a teenager.  To his chagrin, the Star Wars action figures & sets that previously decorated them have been relegated to the closet to make way for Lego Technic etc.  It's the first time since '99 that there haven't been Transformers or Storm Troopers or sports cards actively displayed somewhere in our home.  Poor Nate.  I can't say there isn't a piece of me that's giddy, but I won't gloat.  They are not really gone.  Just like herpes, they merely lie dormant.  The kids will move out eventually, and then I bet the Empire Strikes Back.

Last week I went to an awards ceremony at Michael's middle school where lots of kids were honored for various things.  He and 15 other kids received an award because their History Day In MN projects went to regionals.  He created a website about how the automobile revolutionized society.  No one from his school advanced from there, but it was cool anyway.

And he got braces last week!  We're metal mouth buddies now.  The school year is winding down, too.  Thursday is the last day.  Yay, no homework for 3 months!

angry birds

Pics galore, due to messin' around with the new camera. I'm pretty intimidated by it. I need a DVD that explains the 'How to use this camera' DVD, and a Photography for Dummies book.

The boys helped plant flowers a few weeks ago.  Sanctioned diggin' in the dirt, yeehaw!

 Apocalypse alert?  A bunny takeover in the backyard.

Nate and I took turns trying to snap photos of the robin nest under the deck while the other stood watch to shoo away the dive bombing mom.