the tale of two moos...

Just as I promised. The story of Amelia and Paul's moo adventure! At the end of Amelia's visit to the Helping Hands Farm, she got to get finger puppets (I had a coupon!) and then I said "Okay, let's pick out something for Pauly." So she picked out a cow for Paul (pictured above). And she also got one for herself! We paid for them and then headed outside to meet up with Daddy and Pauly. She carried the bag with the "moos", her finger puppets and a magnet photo frame. We got outside and she took out Paul's cow and said to Paul (while giving him his new toy and gift from her) "Here Pauly, I got you a moo!" in her sweetest little 2-1/2 year old voice. It was the cutest thing ever! She was so proud of what she got for her brother and just couldn't wait to give it to him, she was practically running to him with it. Well, Paul definitely enjoyed the cow, for the short amount of time he got to have it. You see, these cute adorable little cows are made out of foam! Not foam like a sponge, more like the compressed foam that they make those little stress balls out of. Well the 9 almost 10 month old...sticks EVERYTHING in his mouth, so it's definitely not a wonder why this wouldn't go to his mouth as well. We weren't paying much attention, as he was enjoying playing with his new toy his big sister got him at his first State Fair. Well, I just happened to look down and noticed the cow's nose was missing...well the little booger, bit it off! Those two tiny little teeth sure can do a lot! So we had to take it away from him, which made him cry. So what does his big sister and best friend do? She reaches back and says "Pauly here's my moo" and give her cow to him. What a nice big sister. However, we had to take it away from him and then put them both in the bottom of the stroller, so no one would be eating foam! Amelia's cow is now as she put it "Daddy, moo broke", as some how on Monday evening, one of her cow's legs came off. We think Paul got ahold of it again! Needless, to say, both moos are going into their memory boxes with the date of their fair visit and maybe a short note written on them as to what happened! So there my friends you have it, the tale of two moos! In the picture above, Paul's cow is on the left...note it's missing nose!

...on a stick

Yes! We did it! We attended the Great Minnesota Get-Together aka the Minnesota State Fair! It is our one thing we look forward to all summer long and is always on our to-do list! It's a tradition we share with our kids and hope that someday it is something they look forward to as well! We went yesterday.

We love going...call us nuts. But we love it! I think it's our love of people watching! Both kids seemed to enjoy it as well. We ate a sampling of food... We started our day off with Cheese Curds (we shared a small basket) this is the first time in 4 years we've had cheese curds at the state fair. Then I got Kettle Corn...this is one of my fair favorites and a must have! Then Kevin had boneless chicken wings on a stick and Meli had a foot long hot dog, that she dipped in Kev's remaining ranch dressing for his chicken wings. Then Kev had Spaghetti and meatballs on a stick...I tried it and it was great! He had seen it on the news the night before and just had to try it! It was a meatball with spaghetti noodles mixed into the meat, battered and deep fried and covered in marinara sauce. Amelia had buttered noodles...from the same stand. I had a few of those as well. Next I moved onto a bacon wrapped turkey tenderloin on a stick...I must say this was my favorite! Kevin had a beer...I stuck to soda! Next I had a deep fried Milky Way on a stick...yum-o! I look forward to this every year...they are very good and very rich. I had a steak fajita...which wasn't as good as in previous years. There were more fajita toppings than steak. That pretty much topped out our day...oh and Kev had a pepperoni and sausage calzone...which was suppose to be on a stick as well...but wasn't! All in all, it was a great day food wise. We picked up some Sweet Martha's cookies for someone in Kilkenny (Gene called with the request right before we left the fair) we had a small sampling of those in order to get the lids on the buckets!

The kids seemed to enjoy themselves. I took Amelia to the Little Hands Farm. It is a neat little interactive exhibit just for kids, to see what it's like working on a farm and how your food gets from farm to table! They collected things throughout their visit. First we got feed for the animals (a baggie of corn) then we rode the tractors...see picture below. Then she fed the chickens (all animals fake of course!) and got to collect a fake egg and put in her bucket. Then she picked a carrot from the garden for her bucket, then fed the sheep and collected a bag of wool, then she fed the cow the rest of her feed and collected a carton of milk. Then picked an apple from the tree. Then we visited the Farmers Market, turned in all of her things she collected and earned a play dollar to buy something in the "store" they could pick from cans of vegetables or small single serving boxes of General Mills Cereal...she opted for the Lucky Charms...which she has never had before and seemed to enjoy. I don't particularly like to give her sugar cereal...but oh well, it was a special day! After we got done with the farm, we visited their gift shop and Amelia got some finger puppets and I told her to pick out something for Paul and she picked out a foam cow for him and one for herself as well....the story continues below!

Here she is riding a pedal tractor...couldn't quite figure out the pedals so she was being pushed around!

Here she is just at the tail end of the farm, after we collected all her goodies, she's telling Daddy and Pauly all about her adventure (They are standing outside the fence!)

Mr. Pauly pants cruising in the stroller, enjoying his first MN State Fair!

Time for a little snoozer!

Watching the Canadian Mounted Patrol...in her handy dandy Home Depot apron! (Amelia and Daddy were building a project at the Home Depot booth and she got an apron...just like the employees at Home Depot. We got one for Pauly too!

Canadian Mounted Patrol, putting on a show outside the cattle barns.

Waiting for the parade to start...Big slide! Amelia and I are on the far right side of this picture in the middle of the slide. Right between the yellow and Green. Amelia loved this!

Overall it was a good day at the fair. The weather was nice, sprinkled a few times...large drops...nothing serious. Nice breeze. Nice company and good food. Check back for the story of the two moos. I'm too tired to write about it tonight...it relates to Amelia's visit to the Helping Hands Farm and her gift for Paul! Goodnight.

Relay for Life...

First and foremost, I have to thank each and everyone of you who supported me when I did the Relay for Life. What an incredible event. I raised just shy of $300 for the American Cancer Society thanks to all of you very generous people and I sold 6 luminaries for another $60. I am very proud to say I was a part of the 2007 Relay for Life at the West Ottertail County Fairgrounds in Fergus Falls. It was a great event and I plan to participate again next year and hope to raise even more money.

It was very incredible to see all of the luminaries lit...I heard a few people say they estimated that there were 30,000 luminaries. The white ones designate someone who has lost the battle to cancer and the brown bags designate someone who survived their fight with cancer or are still fighting a courageous battle. Someday I surely hope to see a lot more brown ones than white ones. The luminaries lined the walking path.

Below are just a few pictures from the Relay. Some are ones I took and others are one's my mom's friend Carolee took.

this spelled out hope...

There were a lot of neat designs with the luminaries...including this heart... My good friend and "sister" Sara and I...this was after a LONG night staying up...I think this was taken about 5:30 a.m. as we were starting to help clean up the fairgrounds and our "campsite"
The few sole survivors of the all night event...

from Left to Right: My Aunt Roxanne, my Mom Carrie (Colon Cancer Survivor), my step-sister Sam, Stephanie (mom's friend Carolee's daughter), me, Friend/Sister Sara and Carolee (my mom's friend from High School)

We won the "Best Team Theme" award...we dressed up as pirates and won! We got a traveling trophy and hope to take it home again next year as well!

Thanks again to everyone for their support! I truly appreciate it. I can't wait to participate next year!

Sorry this update has taken me so long to get on here. It's been a crazy few weeks around here!

First Dentist Appointment...

Amelia had her first dentist appointment yesterday. I wanted to take her in to get her use to what they do during an appointment. She did great when we got there. We came in the back door and typically she sticks right by me when we stop at my work, but yesterday, she marched right up to the front. I stopped in the hall way to visit with Dr. Winn and she kept on walking. I was shocked...usually she's shy when we ware at my work! She played with the toys for a minute and then Julie (the hygienist) brought her back into the room, with Paul and I in tow of course! Amelia did great---in my opinion anyway! She sat in the chair and let Julie look in there a little bit, she held the big mirror while Julie looked in there with the little mirror. Julie just brushed her teeth a little (as seen in the picture above) with a toothbrush instead of a prophy cup. Amelia didn't like the idea of being tipped back in the chair...I think just because it was something new for her. So we ended it there, so she wouldn't be scared for her next visit. She did great, and she even came home with a brand new Tigger toothbrush!

The New Pool...

Friday night we bought the kids a pool! We just got them a small one. Big enough for the two of them and me if Paul isn't in his pool float! Amelia was really anxious to get in there Saturday after her nap! It was a nice hot day too and it had warmed the pool up great too! It was almost like bathwater in there. I sat in it a short time and held Paul a little, then I put him in his pool float.

Just getting into the pool...

Paul enjoying the new pool!
Amelia keeping the ball away from her brother!
My little water babies!
Having a great time in his floatie! Goofy girl!

Floating around the pool!

Both having a good time!

Bathing beauty!

We'll probably head out to the pool again this afternoon when Amelia wakes up from her nap! We emptied it this morning and filled it with fresh water! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Happy July!!

Richfield's 4th of July Parade

Paul hanging out at the parade!

Since it is now the 5th of July, I can't wish everyone Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone had a great day yesterday and remembered the true meaning of our Independence. What a wonderful country we live and oh how lucky we are to be free.

We had another busy weekend last weekend...as always! Friday night we had dinner with Mary and Ron, Mary had picked up the kids from daycare and took them to Annie's birthday party at the nursing home Friday afternoon, then brought the kids to our house until I got home. And we waited for Kev to get home from work because they had to swap vehicles, so she would have car seats. Then we just decided that we'd go grab a bit to eat, I was too tired to cook anything anyway!

Then Saturday we did a little yard work and the kids played in the front yard with the Sand and water table, all with water, no sand and Amelia now thinks it is a swimming pool! And I'm sure if Paul could have figured out how to get up there he would have been in it to. We are having to redo our landscaping by our driveway/walkway. We just did it last summer and it has become over grown with weeds. So we shoveled all the rock and dirt out and replaced the landscaping fabric with heavy duty plastic. And more rock was delivered Monday and now it's almost complete again, tomorrow night we're going to get another paver (one had broke) and some plants to put around the mailbox and up the walkway.

Ron had asked Kev on Friday night if he wanted to go golfing Saturday afternoon, him and Mary were going on Saturday morning and there was no way Kev was getting up to go at 7am! :) He loves to golf, but claims that is way too early to go! They had a 2:22 tee time in New Prague, so Mary came and hung out with the kids and me and helped me clean up the house. It was nice having the company and help getting things done that I hadn't been able to get done earlier in the week.

Sunday, my dad and Mary Jo came down from Stillwater to celebrate his birthday which was on Saturday. We had a nice visit, spent a lot of time on the deck and Amelia demonstrated to Papa and Mary Jo how she swims in her sand and water table. I guess we definitely need to get the kid a pool! We grilled chicken breasts and potatoes for dinner and had DQ ice cream cake for dessert, I was going to make my famous NY style cheesecake...which is one of my dad's favorites, but it was too hot to use my oven! So I think I owe him now!

Amelia demonstrating how she swims!

Paul isn't going to miss out on the action!

Pauly helping Papa blow out his candles...didn't have 44 candles to put on it!

I've had an awful rough week. So far I've worked one day! I had Monday off, as usual. Worked Tuesday, we were closed yesterday and today and now I have to work tomorrow. Yesterday we went with the Case's to the 4th of July parade in Richfield. We had a good time, even though it was very hot. Amelia really enjoyed it and Paul slept through most of it! Afterwards, we went over to Kelly's parents house to cool off before going to the park (which we never made it to), we ended up staying there and eating dinner. Which it was very nice of them to invite us over and let us join in on their bbq. After we ate, we came home quick, grabbed our swimsuits and head back to Matt and Kelly's to go swimming. Kelly's parents had bought Logan a pool, they felt bad that he didn't have anywhere to go swimming! It's one of those easy set blue pools with the blow up top ring. It's 10'x30" deep. It was nice to go over there and take a dip, even though the water was cold! Amelia really enjoyed it and really could careless how the water felt, the girl just loves to swim! Best part was she could touch the bottom and still be above water without her floatie, also she could be in her floatie and walk herself around the pool. We're keeping our eyes open for some sort of pool for the babies to swim in, they both like water! We'll see!

Goodnight!

What a great weekend!

What a great weekend we had! Friday after work we headed up to my mom and Tim's house. When we got there Amelia was all wound up and she didn't sleep at all in the car. We had a tough time getting her to bed. She was suppose to sleep on a mattress on the floor next to us, but she wouldn't stay put, she'd get up and run around and giggle! So finally we had to put her in the crib in the other room where Paul was suppose to sleep. Paul ended up sleeping on the mattress on the floor. He slept there just fine and he was sleeping right next to me so I could keep an eye on him, or at least know when he moved! I think it was about 12:30 by time we got the kids settled in!

Saturday, we all headed to the salon that Amber works at to get our hair cut. Amelia got her very first haircut! See the pics below! We only cut a little bit off the bottoms, maybe an inch at the most! It looks so cute as now she has even more curls than before! It really made it curl up without that extra weight on the bottom. They are more like ringlets. She sat pretty well during her haircut, it was hard to keep her still, since she kept getting distracted. I'm sure the next time will go a lot better!

During the haircut

After the haircut

My Grandma Jensen was having our annual Jensen Family "Golf Day" at her house on Saturday with my Grandpa's side. It was a tradition started many years ago as a way to celebrate my Grandpa's birthday, which was in May. Back in it's hay day it was a blast! They had set up a "Golf course" up and down their driveway and around the back of the house, they put metal coffee cans in the ground for the holes and my Grandpa's sister Norma had made him flags to go with each hole. We use to have a putting contests with a "pot of gold" and prizes for highest score and lowest score for both men and women, and they'd have prizes for us kids too. It's not as big as it was when I was a kid, but it was fun getting to see some of the relatives we only see a couple times a year.

Only the guys golfed this year, it was too hot out! The rest of us sat in the shade! Amelia and Paul had a good time playing with the kittens and with our Dog Abby who has lived at Grandma's for almost a year. Paul enjoyed crawling around and we had a tough time keeping him off the gravel driveway and keeping him from putting rocks in his mouth! We had a bonfire on Saturday night and that was a lot of fun! Sara and her fiance Adam came over for the afternoon/evening. And Sara asked me to be her Personal Attendant. I feel very honored that she asked me to be a part of her wedding day! She is getting married October 27 of this year! Everyone had a good time. We stayed up way too late though! I think it was about 1:00 by time we got back to Fergus.

Pauly and one of the kittens

Paul really liked our Fat Dog Abby!

Sunday we went over to my Grandma and Grandpa Gregg's house for brunch and to spend the day with them. After brunch we went out on the pontoon with Granny and Papa, and Terri and the girls. We spent the entire afternoon out on the lake, it was such a nice time. Paul didn't know what to think of his life jacket when I put it on him, but as witnessed in the picture below, he fell asleep shortly after we got on the lake!

Amelia was a bit grumpy when we first got on the lake, we had to wake her up!

Mr Paul sleeping in Granny's arms with his shades on!

Paul and Courtney after he woke up from his nap!

Britta (under water) Daddy and Amelia swimming!

Taking Pauly into the lake for the first time!

Just chillin' on the pontoon while everyone else swims. His hair is full of sunscreen, that's why it's sticking up! He won't keep a hat on so we had to put the sunscreen on his head!

We had a really nice time visiting with everyone yesterday. The kids had a great time out on the lake. In fact at one point when we stopped the pontoon to talk to someone on the lake, Amelia got upset because she wanted to go swimming and she kept saying "Water" "Water". So then we had to go somewhere that she could go swimming. There are no public beaches on East Battle anymore. There use to be one, but it is now privately owned. So we could anchor the pontoon off shore a little bit, just far enough so it wouldn't get stuck and then everyone could jump off and swim. Amelia really enjoyed that. She would be shivering in the lake, Kev would pull her out and put in in the boat and she'd say to me "Mommy, water?" And kept repeating until I put her back in the water with Kevin.

Kevin and I got completely fried out on the lake! So bad that I was freezing cold the entire ride home and I felt like I was going to get sick. We put sunscreen on the kids and of course neglected to put it on ourselves and it was the first time either one of had been out in the sun for an extended amount of time this year.

When we got back from the lake we had a bite to eat before we headed home. Jake and Luke joined us for dinner as well as Luke's girlfriend Joelle, who lives in Dallas and had flown in yesterday morning. Ron didn't get to join us until right before we were leaving, because he was bailing hay all day.

It was a nice weekend all around! It was great getting to see both sides of my family all weekend. It brings you back to reality and lets you know what's truly important in life!

I hope every one's summer is going well for them!

Until next week....