Welcome to our World

The addition of Michelle to our family was a huge surprise. I'm also very surprised at how she still wakes up every night. We tried to move her into Kaelah's room a looong time ago & Kaelah began to complain. We moved her into Danny's room & he got ultra crabby. So I emptied my clothes out of our walk-in closet & her crib has been there for months & months. This spring Dan & I went looking for a 4-bedroom ranch style house with a walk-out basement big enough for my parents to move into but came up empty. Turns out people expect that if you want a house like that you want all the bells & whistles too. So, we decided to get our little half basement finished off & my parents are currently looking into buying their own house. Here are a few pictures from the night before the work began & up to where the basement is now (minus the texture they added yesterday afternoon). It is basically one room with a half bath in one corner & a play...

Nothing seems to stay the same around here for too long. Young Women graduated from high school, my best friend & one of our favorite babysitters moved away, I don't have a 1, 2, & 3 year old any more (now they're 1, 2, & 4), Danny learned how to make root beer (well, he helped), & Michelle acts like she's a big girl. I guess one thing will never change (here's the caption for the picture of my dad with the children): the love of family .

Being old enough to voice your opinion has its perks. I was originally planning on having a birthday party at the park like we did for Danny last month but Kaelah insisted that we eat cake at home with her friend, Bernadette. Made life a bit simpler & she seemed to enjoy herself! Her one complaint was that we sang happy birthday to her even though she asked us not to. Sorry, pal, that's the price you pay for your plethora of presents. I think the biggest hit was the lady bug release on our rose bushes. They sure do tickle, which led to a lot of squirming and giggling. A big thank you goes out to my mom, who provided the ladybug party supplies (per Kaelah's request), made the ladybug cake (so cute!) and spoiled my oldest with toys & books & real live lady bugs. Thanks to the L. family for joining my craziness for an evening too!

Kaelah was born on our friends' anniversary, making it one of the only anniversarys I can actually remember the date of (not just the month). When I heard it was their 20th anniversary this year, I was more than happy to help their daughters order the Dairy Queen cake for the party. Martin & Jane did a wonderful job hosting & making sure everyone had a great time on the water. This was Kaelah & Danny's first ever ride on a ski boat. It was funny to hear Danny talk about how he didn't like Daddy water skiing b/c Daddy fell down. Dan hasn't been water skiing since 2004, so I'm amazed he did as great as he did, with getting up the very first try & all! Me? I'm chicken. I've never even tried. I enjoyed holding Kaelah & Danny & watching Dan. (: Thanks, Alexann & Sabrina, for making this surprise party a big hit for everyone! P.S. This is Kaelah & her new friend, Brooke. Brooke turned 4 in June & this party was the ...

Both my mother's parents were born & raised in Wisconsin & retired there after living a very adventurous life, mostly in the Middle East. They retired when I was too little to remember, so trips to visit them have always been to Wisconsin. I love this area of the country. Having lived my early elementary school years in North Dakota, I smile at a lot of things other people probably aren't used to. Like all the hockey mom stickers & the rhubarb everything & Scandinavian horses everywhere. I thought a lot of things would be different since I hadn't been to Wisconsin since my Grandmother's death 4 years ago, but really, it's even better b/c I had Danny & Michelle to share it with for the 1st time. Danny & Michelle were fantastic in the airport & on the plane. Even security was a breeze. As soon as those TSA agents saw me walk up 3 of them waited on me hand & foot. I've never had a better time at DIA. My mother picked us up in...

Last year Kaelah started asking to take dance classes like her beloved cousins Addy & Ali. This spring I finally signed her up for the summer session & she loves it! She doesn't like me taking pictures, though, so this is the best one I snuck from the doorway using the giant mirrors. (At that moment they were stirring cake batter as part of warm-up.) While Kaelah dances Danny & Michelle & I either run an errand or go upstairs to the gym observation room, which also has a play house (pictured below). Here is a video the mom of Kaelah's favorite friend, Dayla, put on YouTube. Isn't that cute? Kaelah & Dayla? They rhyme & they are the only 2 that have been to every single class. One day Dayla was late & Kaelah refused to be dropped off. Then when her friend arrived she literally pushed me away. I feel so disposable. I'm just glad she gets so much joy from dancing!

It feels strange blogging about something I didn't do. I was going to ask Dan to do this one, but he's upstairs vomiting. I'm holding a sleeping (aka no longer vomiting) Michelle in my lap as I type. Would I really be away this early if it wasn't for one of my children? Anyway, long long long story short, Dan & I ended up taking separate trips over the 4th of July. We originally were all going to drive up in our mini van to visit my Great Aunt Hope in WI but felt that might just be too much to handle this year. So Dan & Kaelah went to his extended family's family reunion & had a blast! Kaelah adores her cousins & the new puppy Scott & Whitney got. What's not to love about a lab puppy? Ha ha ha... I hear Milo is a whole lot calmer than Meigo was. Good choice, guys. (; While out there Dan also got to play golf as a Father's Day present & run with some of his siblings & siblings-in-law in the Freedom Run on the 4th. I thi...