How we spent the day off

I love three day weekends! This time I was especially glad it was a three day weekend because we were so busy on Saturday that it felt like another day of the week so having Monday off just helped it to feel more like an actual weekend!

Monday morning I got up and went to a body sculpt aerobics class and when I got home Brian had made french toast for breakfast! Yum! Then, we finally opened a new Wii game my brother and his family sent us for Christmas. We were waiting until we were all together to play so it was finally the day! It's called Outdoor Adventure and it's a lot of fun plus physically demanding! So, after just doing aerobics I was starting to feel a bit wiped out and it wasn't even noon! Then, we decided that since we are experiencing a little bit of a heat wave right now with temperatures in the 20's it was the right time to finally do the sledding we've been talking about! After Ellie had her nap, we got bundled up and headed out to Turtle River (the same place we went for Ian's birthday back in August) that's only about 7 miles from our house - we'd heard there was a good sledding hill there. The only sleds we have are a metal disc one that was Brian's and a plastic one we got for Josh when we lived in Ohio so we weren't necessarily geared up sled wise but we were ready to have fun. It turns out the hill is quite a nice little hill and Ellie and I were the first ones to go down on the metal disc sled. We started from the top and as we were going down I had the thought of "I hope I didn't make the wrong choice going down with Ellie first without having done it myself!" We got a pretty good speed going and went over a few bumps that made us really bounce and I was so afraid I would lose her! BUT, I didn't lose her - just her boot and my hat! She said she wanted to do it again, though, so we went a few more times (not starting from as high up after the first run). After about the 4th time down she conveyed she was done so Brian took her to the warming house. I was very impressed that she did it and then wanted to do it again so she's got some guts! The boys had a good time, too, and of course the hardest part of sledding is going back UP the hill! Brian had taken a bad fall while ice skating with Ian on Sunday at the outdoor rink on base so he wasn't as interested in doing too much sledding but did finally do a run right before we left. I'd brought along hot chocolate so we all had a cup then did one more run and headed for home where I had a nice pot of chili waiting for us! What a perfect North Dakota day! Oh, and yes, I was hurting the next day after the aerobics, the Wii game and the sledding!

A note about the pictures - it turns out Ellie's hat is on backwards so that's why it looks a little awkward. The photo on the left is a picture of Ian going down the hill!

Eliana

Well, on Monday Eliana turned 19 months! I just can't believe how quickly the time is going. She's really starting to look more and more like a little girl and her personality is shining through more each day. She's a little on the stubborn side (can't imagine where she gets that from) and she is definitely getting more into the "I do it" stage!! She delights us daily with the cute things she does - from copying me doing aerobics to dancing to playing with Ian's light sabers. She is finally getting a top tooth and we're looking forward to that helping her eat some other harder to chew things soon. She's still as picky as ever but loves her carbs!! I've put together a little collage of recent pictures that I think really show off her little personality. Oh, and one more thing I love that her hair is finally getting long enough to put in little pigtails!!!

Make a Smilebox postcard

PS For those of you who might be having trouble seeing the pictures, press play on the smilebox thing and once the small pictures are up, just click on the picture and it will show up larger in the space where the "E" is!!

Laughing

Ever realized just how good a laugh felt and then had the thought - when's the last time I laughed that hard?! I hope my dad doesn't take offense to this but in some ways I feel I'm becoming more and more like him and there's some good and some bad to it. You see, I love my dad, he's a very loving man who would do anything for his family (I know because I've pushed it and seen it in action). He's a man who loves the Lord and would do anything for a friend - all things that make me proud to be his daughter. BUT, I also find him a little hard to crack at times. He can be very serious and seem aloof although I'm sure that's not how he intends it to be. I sometimes felt (growing up) like he didn't laugh at the funny stuff or seemed to be harder on me than I thought necessary (don't we all think that about our parents). The problem is, that's how I see myself now! I see myself yelling, yes I'll be honest YELLING, at my kids more, getting frustrated with them more easily and not enjoying their silliness but instead wanting them to be more serious. Today was one of those days (as has the last week) where I thought I would pull my hair out with my kids. I had a couple of meetings to go to, a work-out to get done, schooling to do with Ian, a shower, a little bit of business to do, and the last thing I needed was silliness from my kids! (Yes, I hear the unreasonable-ness in my own sentence and am convicted of it.)
Sidebar!!{Unfortunately, Ellie wasn't being silly she was crying it seemed like all day for no apparent reason. After being in the house Monday, Tuesday and most of Wednesday (to go to church) due to car troubles (don't even get me started on that) I thought it'd be nice to finally be out (in our -50 degrees with the wind chill weather) BUT I think I was wrong. It made me more stressed!}
Okay, here's some of the things Ian did today. We're trying to head out to the gym so I had asked him to get dressed. I'm getting Ellie's jacket on, my jacket, my shoes and getting ready to head out the door when I see that yes, he's dressed and what is he wearing? Clothes... but what's on top of his clothes?!!! His clone-trooper Halloween costume! I must admit I'm laughing about it now but I wasn't happy then but I didn't have time to do anything about it. So, we went to the gym, a meeting and met Brian for lunch at the club all in his costume. When I called Brian about meeting for lunch I told him, I haven't had my shower or anything yet are you going to be embarassed? He told me he loved me anyway. I guess I didn't mention Ian's outfit and Ian ended up waiting for him at the door of the place and Brian said to me - I was prepared for you but not for Ian's full costume at the club! Next, we're home and did school and we're getting ready to head out again for another meeting and this time I asked Ian to take off the costume. We get to the gym (for a meeting) and I asked him to carry the baby bag and he asks, can I take in my clone? Well, I thought he meant one of his little figures he has so I said yes. Well, I got Ellie and hurried inside (did I mention the -50 with the windchill?) and I turn around to see Ian carrying his big clone trooper helmet, lightsaber and the baby bag!!! I almost fell I couldn't believe it!!
Brian just told me this story but while at the gym for the meeting (Brian was at the same one) he took Ellie and was going into an open gym area and told Ian to come with him. Well, I had Ian "watching" my friend's two boys at the same time for the same meeting (which in case you think we're horrible parents the meeting was only about 5 minutes long and they were in the Fit'n'Fun area playing) but Brian didn't realize it. So, after a couple of minutes he looks to make sure Ian's coming and he sees the two boys coming too and asks Ian, why are they coming? To which Ian replies, "Dad, I'm watching them!!" What a good boy. He really is.
If anyone's in need of therapy, blogging really is a way to be able to work out some issues!!! In fact, what's kind of funny is I didn't even start to talk about any of this I was simply going to mention that after my crazy day I rushed out the door to go to a movie with a couple of friends. During the movie I laughed so hard and seriously had the thought, "When's the last time I laughed that hard?" Now, after rehashing my day I've laughed a lot and cried a little too. Aren't we, as humans, amazing? I'll tell you something even more amazing - God can have a day like this with us, too, where he wonders what were we thinking and then at the end of the day still be filled with such amazing love for us that it's incredible!! Why? Why would he love us in that way when we are so undeserving of it? He takes such delight in us. Lord, I pray that I would delight in my kids in the same way and that through my love for them, they will see YOUR love shining through.

Update on our snow

Snow drift in front of our front window.

Front porch.

I took some more pictures the other day and thought I should share them with you so you can see our scenery! I took these from inside looking out. Haven't been brave enough to get out and take a picture of the drifts. In the back yard there are about 2-3 feet drifts. One of the things that we've enjoyed in being here are the snowshoe hares. This summer when we arrived I saw one out of the corner of my eye when we were out walking and said to Brian, "What in the world was that?" He hadn't seen it but then he finally saw it and was like I don't know? The things are HUGE!! We thought they were jackrabbits but it turns out they are snow shoe hares and now they are white so that's pretty cool. There are a couple of them that must live around our house because we see them quite frequently. I'm gonna have to try and get a picture some time. As I sit here and blog it's snowing more so the snow is only getting higher!!

Sioux Hockey

We had the opportunity two weekends ago to go to our first UND Sioux hockey game. The Ralph Engelstad arena is the NICEST hockey arena around. In fact, even pros are jealous of it! Anyway, we were excited to finally have an opportunity to be able to go! Ian was excited because now that he's actually playing he enjoyed knowing some of the positions and taking notes on some things he should work on. It was a great game and UND won in overtime so it was definitely exciting! We, of course, took some pictures!

Can you see the "You are now in Sioux Country" sign in the background?

We were way up in the nosebleed section so we had a good view of the whole arena!

Josh and Ian having a great time!

During the 3rd period, the people sitting behind us left so Brian took Ellie up there so she had some room to walk around. At one point she started cheering and saying "YAY" and dancing and it was just too cute! I wish I could've gotten it on video. She drew quite an audience!

Ian's Room Redo

We have officially lived in North Dakota for six months now - I just can't believe it! Now that we've been here that long, we've finally been getting around to completing some of the tasks we set aside to get to one day. We had originally been "finished" in Ian's room but the more time I spent in his room, the more it bothered me. So, I had the idea to put one of his beds up on concrete blocks like my roommate and I did in college. Brian wasn't too keen on the idea and fought me all the way but I'm pleased with how his room turned out and Brian has even admitted it's pretty neat. Ian loves it and says it's his favorite room EVER!! Here are a couple of pictures!

He added the blanket to make the area underneath like a fort. His dresser and a new little cube organizer is under his bed. In the middle picture you can see Ellie kneeling underneath. His second bed is tucked in behind (under the window). The "Play" is on the wall across from the bed. It's from Uppercase Living and it's pretty cool - definitely give his room a nice touch!!

Happy New Year!!

I'm a little late in posting but Happy New Year 2009! I can't believe this is the year my oldest will graduate from high school! It just seems so crazy! I remember when he first started school and the thought crossed my mind of - what year will he graduate? I realized it was the year 2009 and that seemed a century away BUT here we ARE!! To celebrate the new year, a friend had us over for a get together. Kids were invited so we took Ian but left Ellie at home in bed with Josh baby-sitting. Don't feel too bad for Josh, though, he invited friends over and had quite a get-together of his own here at our house. Brian and I had a great time hanging out and watched the ball fall which means it's officially the new year!