light snob

The house has been Christmas cutified.  But (alert the media!) I've decided I don't like LED lights.  Not Christmas ones, anyway.  They don't glow.  They give off weird evil vampiric undead light.  I bet if you hold up LED lights to a mirror, they have no reflection.  Aaanyway.  We used to be real Christmas tree people.  But between last year's leaky tree stand that lead to the mold stain from Hades, and now being the owners of a male-type dog, we went fake.  A little ironic, I suppose, after my rant about the deadness of LED light.  But who wants their dog to urinate on their Christmas tree?  Besides the obvious odor issues, he might electrocute himself.  His hair is frizzy enough already.  So, fake tree it is.  Skippy mostly leaves it alone.  Maybe because dogs can sense evil, and it's "lit" with LEDs.

It so does NOT look like this in real life.  I wish!  My camera took some serious artistic license.  They are really just little specks of light unto themselves.

Zach's religious art

Zach made this in faith formation the other night. I don't think we've got a future Michelangelo on our hands, but he's got the basic idea down. 

gendercide

Jaw-droppingly scary...

Halloween '14

Skippy wasn't over fond of his sombrero...

We had an unintentional theme of white costumes this year.  Zach the ghost, Adri the Easter Bunny, and mummy Nicky.

And one more, with Michael in it, even though he didn't get in on the fun.

The mummy costume only lasted about a block.  It unraveled and poor Nicky waddled up to a few houses with his feet pretty much tied together.  Had to make an emergency run home for Dracula's cape instead.

Since Skippy was a big old party pooper about his $1.99 doggy sombrero, we used it elsewhere.

Adrienne had the biggest haul this year, probably her last one trick-or-treating.  She was embarrassed when some of her classmates in the neighborhood answered the door to hand out treats.  Just so hard to say good bye to that lovely assortment of free candy...

Crescendo

October goings on

It's been a pleasantly warm autumn so far, for the most part.  Last Wednesday we all went to the football game to see the marching band perform their halftime field show for the final time.  The game itself wasn't really worth watching, unfortunately, but the band has improved throughout the season.

Super up close Michael trombone action!

Thank goodness for zoom lenses.  Michael's the front man of the middle row.  Seniors got to do the last show minus their hats.  I mean Shakos.

The kids had Thurs. & Fri. off for MEA last week.  Nicky & Zach wanted to try a pumpkin rice crispy recipe I saw on Pinterest. 

We headed down to see Nana in the hospital on Friday, who seemed pretty chipper despite recovering from partial hip replacement surgery after a bad fall earlier last week.  

The harvest is in full swing.  Nicky got to ride in the tractor and combine with Papa for a while.

buckle up

Cuz it's gonna be a long ride.  Nate says he can't wait for the special extended versions to be released.

Peter Jackson announces plans for 72-part movie series of the Silmarillion

Michael got an F

But first things first.  A couple weekends' worth of stuff here.  Zach had a b-day just over a week ago, and his grandparents all came bearing gifts for little man's lucky number siete.

And this is what spoiled rotten looks like.  After opening presents from everybody all at once, it looked a tad obscene.

And as for Michael's F... it's an academic letter, woo-hoo!

Lastly, we made our annual excursion to Redwing on Saturday.  A little early for it, but Michael has a marching band event coming up on the October weekend we'd normally go.  I suppose as the kids get older, we'll run into more conflicts like that.  *wiping tears for old fogey kids*  Anyway, it worked out great, with bright sun and temps in the 80's.  We found our way to a lovely overlook that had a good view of Barn Bluff, the one we usually climb (as seen in previous Crayziee entries).
 

dining room redo

We put it off and put it off.  The wallpaper needed to go.  For almost 10 years, the dining room project loomed in the background but we tried not to think about it.  Because wallpaper.  Finally gave in and started removing it a few weeks ago.  Replaced the carpet while we were at it, too.  I like how it turned out, and it feels good to have the furniture back where it belongs, instead of piled in the living room.

snerk

"My mascara's coming off!"

Had some fun on Lake Waconia over the weekend when my brother Chris and his fiancée Jenny took us out on their new boat.   Except Michael the water-phobe, the kids all tried tubing.  Zach wasn't too keen on it, but the middle two were.  Had a good laugh when Adrienne, who's just started to wear a little makeup, realized her mascara was running down her face.  Heaven forbid somebody see you in the middle of a lake without luscious long thick eyelashes.

 

2014 obligatory first day of school pics

Today was the big day!  The kids were jittery and excited and couldn't eat much for breakfast.  I don't have a shot of them together, 'cuz they leave at 3 different times.

 

Didn't get a good shot of Adrienne; it's too dark.  She's an 8th grader, already in her last year of middle school.

Nicky's in 5th grade, his last year of elementary school, so it's the last year that he and Zach (in 1st grade) will ever be in the same school together.

Michael the sophomore got to have a lazy morning because the 'little' freshmen always start the first day alone for a few hours.  Starting tomorrow, he'll be the first to leave, at 6:45.  He spent his extra time this morning tormenting poor Skippy, who's still pretty intimidated by him.  Michael positioned him just so on the couch, and he wouldn't move while Michael was there.  Now that everyone's gone, I think Skippy's as happy as I am to have a few hours of peace and quiet.

2 teens!

Adrienne turned 13 this week, so we've got two teenagers in the house now.  Her present was cold hard cash that she spent at the mall with a friend.  The girls flitted from store to store while I tried to keep up.  The hat is from Claire's, where they went twice, cuz once was not enough for their overpriced junk charming accessories. 

I remember my 13th birthday well.  My hamster died, and I was crushed.  Nobody loved any rodent more than I loved Ginger.  Anywaaay...Adrienne truly enjoyed her special day, and Nana and Papa were up here a few days to help celebrate, too.  Now, on to school next week...

He didn't want to wear the hat

"It's a shako, mom."  Yeah, yeah.  I suppose they have funny names for every little thing.  Got the marching band pics back tonight.  They've been practicing hard all summer and will perform their program for the first time at the home opener next week.  Moo!  I mean, Roar!  Go Tigers!  It's just that the high school is basically in the middle of a cow pasture, and the noxious air is stifling.  Maybe the away team will pass out.  We switched to a big tough conference this year, so we can use all the help we can get.

Yep

northern MN getaway

We had a little family getaway to the Iron Range last week.  We toured a couple museums and mining sites in the Chisholm and Hibbing area.  It's pretty up there, but the Minnesota state bird (yeah, the mosquito) proliferates in the shade of all those trees.

The Hull-Rust-Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine

 

On Saturday we drove about an hour south to the area in north central MN that my dad hails from.  We visited my grandparent's graves, and then went to an extended family reunion where I met some second cousins who share the great-grandparents who are also buried in the small cemetery with my grandparents.

The last of my grandparents passed away almost 30 years ago.  I'm so glad my kids are growing up with the blessing of grandparents in their lives!

Michael the Marching Tiger! And a new family member...

Michael joined marching band this summer.  They had two weeks of practice before the city parade, and after that, the rest of the summer rehearsals are to learn formation marching for the fall football season.  So here he is at the parade last Saturday...

He's the trombone in the middle.  And afterwards at the fairgrounds...

 

Ahh, he just looks so old all dolled up like that.  My 'lil baby all grown up and marching around in uniform.  I was a pretty excited proud giddy mom.

So who's the new family member?  Because we didn't have enough mouths to feed already, we adopted a four-legged friend a couple weeks ago.  Meet Skippy...

Skippy is a small goofy terrier mix, only about 9 lbs.  He's a rescue from north Mpls.  He hates the kennel.  He likes the kids, except Michael, who intimidates him for whatever reason.  Yep, his ears are big, and he's missing some hair in a strip around his muzzle.  He must have previously worn a head halter that rubbed it all away.  Besides 'claiming' the vacuum cleaner the very first day, he hasn't had any accidents.  We'd been pet-less for about a year, so, we're still getting used to the pitter patter of tiny paws thing.  And occasional yippiness.  Yippy Skippy!

it was a dark and stormy June

smarter than the average bear

This is so, like, two weeks ago, and therefore ancient news in the digital age.  But it still kills me, so I'm postin' it.

I read in an article that the bear chilled out for about 20 minutes in the hammock after raiding some trash cans.  All in a good day's work...

Nicky's violin recital 5/20/14

Musette by J.S. Bach

M.Div. in the family

My fantastic mother-in-law graduated from Bethel University with a Masters of Divinity over the holiday weekend.  Congratulations Doreen!  We love you and are very proud of you.

Bring Abbie's Brother Home!

Click on the pic to find out how to help!

Awww...

high standard of living, except for the flippin' cold

As much as upper mid-westerners kvetch and moan about the weather (and justifiably so, after that ridiculously cold, long winter), it seems we may otherwise be satisfied enough to continue to make a life here.  Something funky happening in Illinois though, cuz they all want to leave. 

This graph and an article are found at gallup.com

This past winter I was wishing that our forebears hadn't settled in MN and IA, however.  I love hot weather.  And water.  Why couldn't my great grandparents have immigrated to SoCal?  But if we were to move far enough away to escape snow and ice, we'd be too far from our families, so...we'll just keep whining about the weather.

Easter Joy

"He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay."  Matthew 28:6

Happy Easter!  This is our tired but happy family at about 11:00 p.m. after the Easter Vigil. Nate was confirmed and had his first communion.