Future Pianists??

Maddox and Phebe wanted to play a duet at Jenna and Andy's last weekend. They really look like they know what they are doing! Is it almost time for piano lessons??

Welcome, Phebe!

It's hard to believe it's already been 3 weeks since Phebe arrived in Minnesota! We've had so much fun getting her settled into routines and started in school here in Minnesota. The time has just flown by! She's doing great and seems to be adjusting very well! Yeah, Phebe!

Here she is arriving at the airport on Sunday, Aug. 31. It's Daddy!
Remember Jenna?
Off to get the luggage.
We made cookies the first night, since Jenna and Andy and Corey, Heidi and Maddox were all coming for a picnic on Labor Day.
Phebe was great at helping Grandpa shuck corn. We set up the little pool for Maddox and Phebe, but somehow the swimming pictures didn't upload. They had a great time jumping into the whale pool.

Phebe's first day of kindergarten! I had to follow the tradition from Kyle, Corey, and Jenna, and take a picture before we left home on Tuesday morning. She was up and ready to go before I even woke her up!
She lost her second tooth on the 2nd day of school. The tooth fairy still remembered where our house is. Imagine that, after all these years!
We went to the CF First Thursday Festival, and Phebe had her hair "done" at the kids area.
Wacky hair! Too bad we had to take out the wired braids and wash out the colored hairspray so soon!

We borrowed a bike from a friend, and Phebe has been zipping all over the driveway - no training wheels!
She has to wear a helmet, though, so she doesn't lose more teeth!
We stand in the middle of the road and guard against cars coming into the cul-de-sac while she rides around the circle.
She loves spending time on the computer, and really does a good job navigating a few web-sites for kids. Maddox was kind of a distraction during this session, especially since he was trying on her shoes and dancing around on the chair behind her!
She and Maddox are becoming great buddies, and they played and played during our rained out golf outing (see the wet deck??). They were both very disappointed that they couldn't go golfing.


Phebe is also a great colorer! She printed out these color sheets from the computer.


Good job, Phebe!

We spent some time this weekend at a viewing stand for the 3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer, and it was really fun to cheer for some of the 3000+ walkers as they made their way past Lake Josephine in St. Paul. While we waited for Auntie Heidi and her team to arrive, Maddox and Phebe had fun at the nearby play area. Actually, Phebe ran/walked a 5-K herself last weekend here in CF - she was a real trooper, although she finished up with Jenna pushing her in a stroller. I don't think she's quite ready for the 3-Day!
She had fun "hanging out" with Corey, too - he's really strong! We're hoping to make it tomorrow to the final ceremony for the 3-Day at the State Capital in St. Paul.

I just realized I've been taking so many pictures of all of our activities the last few weeks, and I'm not in a single picture with Phebe. I'll have to correct that tomorrow, and hand off the camera to someone else for a change!

Second Annual Family Golf Outing

And the winner is......the RAIN!! We tried to hold our 2nd family golf outing on Sunday, but unfortunately, we were totally rained out. Everyone showed up in the early afternoon for munchies while we watched the Vikings game (another wash out as they lost 18-15). It started sprinkling as we loaded up the cars to head to the Summit Par 3 course, and by the time we got there, it was pouring and a cold wind had come up. Corey, Andy, Phebe, and Maddox wanted to go anyways (go figure), but the rest of us voted them down and we headed back home for more football and food. We drew names for teams before we left home. I wonder who the winners would have been?

Team 1 - Andy, Pat, and Paul

Team 2 - Ted, Jenna, Phebe, and Chuck

Team 3 - Joyce, Corey, Maddox, Jane, and Heidi

Corey, Andy, and Paul did head out for a quick round later in the afternoon when the rain subsided, but they still looked pretty soggy when they returned.

Maddox and Phebe entertained the rest of us all afternoon. They had a great time playing, and we all took turns hanging out with them.

Aren't they cute??

Well, we'll try again next year!

Happy Birthday, Kyle!

Yikes! Our oldest "child" turned 31 last weekend! Kyle came home from Minneapolis on Friday night and found a huge birthday present waiting for him in our living room. What could it be??

Hmmmmm.....

Surprise!! It's Phebe, the best present ever! Phebe and Chuck planned this during the week, and we told Kyle to call when he was about 5 minutes away so Phebe could climb into the box and wait for him. She even wanted me to tape it closed, but I only used a small piece. She had a pillow in there, and plenty of room to curl up, but that was probably the longest 5 minutes ever! It was soooooo hard to wait!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

It's not too hard to blow out 3 candles, but Phebe was a great help - 1 candle per decade!

We weren't able to get the whole family together for dinner yet, although Jenna and Andy came down Saturday night to help Kyle celebrate with Dudley's Pizza. We'll get everyone together soon!

Maddox Goes to School

I've been doing a little babysitting for Maddox this summer so Heidi can get in some extra shifts while daycare is available, and he's been so much fun! Last week, I had "work to do" at school (Maddox's phrase as we drove to Cannon Falls), so he spent some time in my classroom while I tried to take care of some of the many piles that accumulate during beginning-of-the-year prep.

He looked so cute sitting at a first grade desk as he had a snack and watched Barney on my TV.

I took out a variety of toys for him, but he had the most fun with a fly swatter (don't worry - never touched by dead fly parts) and some magnetic letters. He was serving me an O and M for supper while I was cutting out some laminating. How does he balance like that?

He also had fun at the chalk board, but it was quite a stretch! He loved all the playground balls, too, and found it very entertaining to use a foam bat like a golf club to hit a soccer ball around the Commons area - kind of mixed sports equipment, but he didn't care. I'm afraid he'll be ready for kindergarten before we know it!

North to Alaska!

We just returned from a fantastic trip to Alaska to celebrate our 35th anniversary. The weather was cool and Chuck got skunked fishing, but...

the scenery was beautiful,

the glaciers were awesome,

our friend's home and float plane on a canal in Anchorage were amazing,

our ATV ride at Denali National Park was great fun (don't we look professional?),

and hanging out with our old friends, Janice and Greg, was the best!

More pictures and details later!

Happy Birthday, Heidi!

Another birthday - Heidi is turning 27 on August 6th! Summer is definitely the time for birthday celebrations in our family. We got together at our house on Monday night for a birthday dinner (minus Kyle and Andy - we missed you, guys!), and we had a great time eating and hanging out around the kiddie pool. Funny how your activities change when there's a 1-year old around.

Heidi is not a fan of cake, so we had brownies and ice cream for dessert.

Maddox loved the corn on the cob!

He also loved the whale pool, once we added a few buckets of hot water.

"Swing me, Grandma!"

"Oooooooh - that's cold!"

Once again, I went digging for some "young Heidi" pictures, and I came up with a few good ones.

June, 1997 - This is the first one I could find that wasn't from prom or drumline. Corey is barely 18, and Heidi is 15, almost 16 - still just a baby!

July, 1998 - 4th of July parade. Corey, Heidi, and Jenna dressed up crazy for drumline, one of their main activities in the "old days."
August, 1998 - Quite a catch at Beacon Shores (Heidi or the fish?). This picture is actually in the fish photo album at the resort.
Christmas, 1998 - Hanging out at Ted and Pat's. I'd say you guys haven't aged much in the last 10 years, although you've maybe matured a bit (I would hope!)- still lookin' good!

Congratulations, Heidi, and we're looking forward to helping you celebrate many more!

Another Birthday :-)

Wow, these birthdays seem to roll around faster and faster. This year, my birthday started VERY early in the morning. I've been occasionally helping Heidi and Corey with some babysitting this summer, and when I do, I have to be at their house at 5:30 am when Corey leaves for work. Heidi works nights, so she gets home around 8:00 am, checks in with Maddox, and then heads to bed. I stay until around 1:00 pm when Maddox joins her for a nap. Anyways, I agreed to help out on my birthday, and when I arrived, Corey had a cake waiting for me. Now I love chocolate, but 5:30 in the morning is way too early even for me to start eating cake! Maddox and I each had a piece later in the morning, though, and he even sang "Happy Birthday" to me - how sweet!

I set the timer on my camera and snapped this birthday picture of us reading a book. I don't know why it turned out fuzzy - I sure didn't move the camera since it was sitting on a shelf. Oh well - you get the idea, and the wrinkles don't show!! Maybe fuzzy is good...

As Maxine says, "Wrinkled was not one of the things I wanted to be when I grew up!"

Since I've been posting baby pictures of everyone else in the family for their birthdays, I decided to go on a search for the very first picture I could find of me.

I'd say this was probably taken on my first day home from the hospital, so I may be a week old (moms stayed in the hospital longer in the olden days). Big brother Ted doesn't look too impressed!

July, 1949

This was a Christmas card picture of all three kids:

Teddy - 4, Janie - 2 1/2, and Joycie - 6 months

December, 1951

Fast forward to this year's family celebration at Olive Garden. We had a great dinner, and Maddox entertained us all, as usual. Chuck surprised me with pearls for my present this year, and also a pink bike helmet. Hmmmm, I wonder if I should wear them together? That would be a real fashion statement as I bike down the trail. Too cool!

I can't forget our annual July friends celebration. We got together on Tuesday (Linda's actual 60th birthday!) and since it was a really hot day, we went to MOA and stayed nice and cool inside. We had lunch at the California Cafe - yummy! We were short one this year due to Jo's unexpected gall bladder attack and surgery. We'll just have to go again when she's all recovered.

On Wednesday, I went to a workshop in Minneapolis with 9 other teachers from Cannon, and Maureen brought along a carrot cake for me. We went to Culver's on our lunch break, and she brought in the cake, along with paper plates and napkins, and served us all. I was glad they passed on singing!

Thanks, everyone, for helping me celebrate another year. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family and so many great friends!
And again, as Maxine says, "Being 'over the hill' is much better than being under it!"