The tooth Fairy

I have wanted to post this for awhile. This is my tooth fairy costume that got a lot of use this year. It was a lot of fun to wear also. So I wore it to our ward trunk or treat party. I told the kids to eat all their candy, forget to brush their teeth and I would seem them in a few weeks. I wore it to a party my kids were invited to on Saturday. I wore it to pack meeting, not because it was my favorite character, but because I wanted to use my costume one more time. I handed out plastic fangs to all the kids. One two year old told me I wasn't the real tooth fairy. Then I handed out treats on Halloween. Some kids wanted money, but I said here's your candy. Then last Saturday, Mark and I went to a Toastmasters Halloween party, as the dentist and tooth fairy. We realized as we set out our food that we brought, that is fit our theme nicely. Fresh fruit and dips. I didn't even think about it as I planned. I was just tired of candy. Unfortunately, I still have some yucky Halloween candy left that no one wants to eat.

Busy lives

After reading my sister's post, I realized how life changes quicker than you realize. Our life used to be uneventful. Then we had kids. This year, our life has gotten busier with our first highschooler. We went and bought one of those big desk calendars to use because an 8x11 sheet of paper didn't cut it anymore. I'll review our recent week-end: Friday night we went to the Twin Cities to return a diversity display for Mark (related to his wood badge ticket). Then we went to the Mall of America for fun. Saturday began with driving Sam to a merit badge fair, picking up donuts for Cub Scouts who meet at our house for scouting for food, doing the paper route, running Noelle to tennis lessons, taking Noelle to the Stake center for a youth activity, going to the mall to get some things, taking scouts from one church building to the stake center for the youth activity, and going to a Toastmasters party. Sunday, I went to Albert Lea for their branch conference. Monday started with trips to each school because of a sick driver, a late bus, and I am the regular carpool driver. We are looking forward to this week-end because the scout camp-out got canceled. Yeah!!! But we still have the second round of scouting for food, pinewood derby car to finish, tennis lessons,....and life goes on. Our first snow fell today and unfortunately the lawn never got mowed before it snowed. So I guess that will not happen this year. I really don't think that it will warm up anytime soon to really be able to mow the lawn. Such is our life. But being busy is better than having nothing to do. It helps us keep our minds off of our problems and helps us appreciate all that we are blessed with in our lifes. We live in an area where there are a lot of church members. Our church leaders want to help our youth. We are close enough to drive our kids to schools. We have gas prices under $2. We have family and we have friends. The paper route gives this mom a healthy work-out on a Saturday and she earned $5.

So has begun the initiation of the parents into the life of teenagers going to high school dances. Noelle and I spent a hour or two looking for the perfect shoes to go with her hot pink dress, only to find out after we bought the shoes, that no high heels were allowed on the gym floor. So under her sparkly dress is a pair of hot pink flip flops. (I returned the shoes since she decided she wouldn't wear them anyways.) She had gone dress shopping with her dad while we were in Utah, which was a smart move if I do say so myself. Dad is better at saying "No, not that dress." Anyways, after a futile trip in Utah, she found the dress she wanted online. It was exactly what she had found in Utah, but was in her size. The kids didn't want pictures taken, but as you can see the parents overruled. It is hard to imagine that we are imbarking on a new era of life: high school. This is a great group of kids who have a lot of fun together. I have another hour and a half to stay up until it is my turn to go and pick up the kids from the dance......so I'll continue this line of thought another time.

Thoughts on an engagement ceremony

So, on Saturday our family went to our first ever, Cambodian-American Engagement Ceremony. It was interesting to see. We of course arrived a few minutes late, and joined in at the end of the procession. Everyone was walking into the house in groups of two, carrying a gift of food. The food was in pairs of two of everything: two plates of grapes, two baskets of fruit, two plates of 6-packs of Pepsi, two chickens, two pineapples, etc. We went into the house and were seated. The future groom's family on one side and the future bride's family on the other side. Then the future bride came out. She was dressed in her fancy clothes-silk skirt and white lacy top. We all clapped when she came out. The preacher spoke in both Cambodian and English. The ceremony is to bridge the two cultures. If you recall, in Cambodia the marriages are arranged. Here we get to date. So, this ceremony brings the families together. The future groom has given all the gifts of food to his future bride. Both sets of parents are asked if they give their consent for the engagement. Then the future bride and future groom both consent to being engaged. The future groom gives his future bride her ring. She then gives him a gold necklace to wear as a token of their engagement. I looked at it as a formal recognition of the couple being engaged. The ceremony takes places at the future bride's home. After that, we eat food. Which is really the best part. All the gifts that were given are used as part of the dinner for the family and friends who attended. Now on a side note, the missionaries from our ward were there cooking the egg rolls. The preacher belonged to the Church of the Nazerene. So this is truly a bridging of cultures. We have been to numerous family events and it is always amazing to me to learn more about the Cambodian culture and be one of a handful of white, English speaking people invited to attend.

Our next tourist stop

We stopped at Shoshone Falls near Twin Falls after going to the Twin Falls Temple Open House. This year the water was running over the falls. On a previous visit a couple of years ago, there was only a trickle of water.

West Yellowstone continued

Here are the kids on the rocks by the Upper Falls. I took the picture of the Falls from looking down. It was beautiful.

West Yellowstone

Here we are in West Yellowstone at a couple of scenic stops. The white stuff behind Mark and the kids is actually snow. (We were here in July!) The water was freezing cold. Here is an elk we saw along the side of the road. Look at those antlers!

Here are a few pictures of us at the Buffalo Bill Musuem in Cody. The kids area was the favorite part. Jacob liked the guns. And Mark liked the beaver lodge.

Here are Mark and Jacob standing by a Wyoming sign on a windy twisty road as we drove to Cody. The road gave us a chance to explain to our children the meaning of hairpin turns which there were numerous of these. And this was supposed to be the best way into Cody!

Scrapbooking Thoughts

I have been working on a scrapbook for our school secretary so scrapbooking has been in my thoughts recently. Putting together a 30 page album in three weeks time is a little intimidating. Especially when all your hard work is going for someone else while your own albums sit in limbo. It has helped me learn a couple of techniques for making albums go faster. I actually want to get my Disney trip album finished (started would be more accurate) because it suddenly seems more doable than in the past. Today I "had" to go buy a few more stickers to finish the secretary's album and walked out with a couple more sheets than I planned on because those school stickers can always work in my own albums. The reward for doing the secretary's scrapbook will be seeing her face as she reads the messages of love that people have sent. However, I believe the two best parts of scrapbooking are making an album with a friend and seeing your children look through the albums that you have created.

A new haircut and look!

I thought I better show off my new haircut before I come out West to visit my family. I decided to go for a new look and this is what we came up with. Straight hair which I haven't had in a very long time. I love the new look, even though I have to borrow Noelle's hairdryer to get it to look right.

My Spring Flowers

These are three of my spring flowers. The pansies keep coming up year after year. Spring has finally arrived here in Minnesota.

The April showers have brought May flowers.

Have a happy spring!

I think spring is finally in the air!

Okay, so we did have a little sleet mixed in with the rain last night, but I have flowers! I have a couple of pansies in bloom, a few crocus, and some other purple flowers just about to bloom. I won't see leaves on the trees for a few more weeks, but there are finally signs of spring! Sam heads out for a camp-out tonight at the state park. I feel sorry for him because it rained yesterday, last night, and today. The ground is going to be soggy. Mark heads out next week-end for his Wood badge training and has to be prepared for anything. Snow or 90 degree weather. (Like it will hit the 90's in a week).

A Comic Book Hero

Here is Jacob in his play. He is wearing red. He still is singing the songs from the play.

Ramblings As I Wait...

So, I have about 30 minutes before I leave to pick up my mom from the airport and here are some random thoughts... 1. If International Falls has a registered trademark to be the icebox of the nation, do I live in the refrigerator compartment because Rochester sure has been cold this year? We will be dipping below zero in temperatrues again this week. Actually I think it has to be a side by side freezer. Instead of a freezer/refrigerator it is a icebox/freezer, if there is such a thing. 2. How come somebody always gets sick when company is coming? Case in point-child number 3, who is supposed to be in a drama play tomorrow, is sick. 3. Why can a recipe look so delicious in the picture and taste so incredibly yucky when you make it? We tried a tomato and sausage rigatoni recipe that ended down the disposal because it was just too tomatoey. 4. How come it only takes my kids five minutes or less to figure out something on the computer but they still can't hang up a coat on a coat hanger? 5. Why does the airline sell tickets for a flight that it routinely cancels because it is not full enough? Then sends everyone from the cancelled flight on the next flight which leaves three hours later and the later flight is full now.

This is our new car that I picked up on Halloween night. The snow is from December!

We love snow! Here is our snowman sitting upright. Sam built the bottom snowball and we could barely push it to where he wanted it. It ended up in the boulevard where it is looking a little pathetic these days. We would much rather have snow than wind chill warnings of which we have had 2 within the last 3 weeks.