The only cousins that are young enough to trick or treat now are Nathan, Connor and Megan. It's a little sad that they're all growing up so fast! I did grab some shots of them while they were here trick or treating however! Sol is really enjoying helping me pass out candy too!
What a cute shot with their beautiful mother-Connor, Megan and Amy
Sol LOVED Meg as a witch!
Here's Sol getting ready to pass out some candy.
The little slugger Nathan. He forgot his helmet in the car...
The witch and the ninja with their vampire teeth in...
Happy Halloween from Luna, Sol and me! Tony's enjoying Halloween at work...
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Paper
Tony and I wanted to do "traditional" anniversary gifts for each other. The first anniversary is paper.
I made Tony an "exploding" box. It looks like this...
and then you take the top off and it "explodes". There were 20 different places I could write notes or put pictures on the inside. I wrote out our vows, our song and a few other sentimental things.
Tony nailed it on the card he got me. He's very good at finding the right cards. I was in tears before I finished reading. It could be the hormones, or it could just be it was very sweet. He then took me downstairs, and on our kitchen table was this:
a giant world map!
On it he put post-its where we have talked about wanting to travel together.
and he put dots to the places we've already traveled together.
It was so much fun to give such sentimental gifts.
Next year is cotton...I better start planning now!
I made Tony an "exploding" box. It looks like this...
and then you take the top off and it "explodes". There were 20 different places I could write notes or put pictures on the inside. I wrote out our vows, our song and a few other sentimental things.
Tony nailed it on the card he got me. He's very good at finding the right cards. I was in tears before I finished reading. It could be the hormones, or it could just be it was very sweet. He then took me downstairs, and on our kitchen table was this:
a giant world map!
On it he put post-its where we have talked about wanting to travel together.
and he put dots to the places we've already traveled together.
It was so much fun to give such sentimental gifts.
Next year is cotton...I better start planning now!
Monday, October 29, 2012
Date Night!
Tonight Tony and I celebrated our first anniversary in style! We started with a trip to the bank, so we FINALLY are truly joint in our bank accounts.
We then went to the Redwood Room for supper. It was absolutely DELICIOUS! I had Apple Cider Pork and Tony had Chicken Milanese. We both were quite crazy for our food. I even had a delicious N/A Ginger Beer. I enjoyed it very much. We were going to head to Victoria's, since that is "our" restaurant, but we decided to try something new. We'll use our gift card from my parents at a later date night.
After dinner we were planning on going to Cherry Berry's for dessert, but we were way too stuffed. So, we walked around the mall for a bit. After we found some room, we went and enjoyed some delicious frozen yogurt, courtesy of Laur and Jill. I'm pretty sure I had more toppings than yogurt!
We got home and thought we should take a snapshot or two to document our one year together.
One year later...
21 weeks, and I'm really feeling it. Baby K is making himself/herself known!
Sol was jealous of our photo shoot, so I took one with her. Luna ran off like the little sassafras she is!
We then went to the Redwood Room for supper. It was absolutely DELICIOUS! I had Apple Cider Pork and Tony had Chicken Milanese. We both were quite crazy for our food. I even had a delicious N/A Ginger Beer. I enjoyed it very much. We were going to head to Victoria's, since that is "our" restaurant, but we decided to try something new. We'll use our gift card from my parents at a later date night.
After dinner we were planning on going to Cherry Berry's for dessert, but we were way too stuffed. So, we walked around the mall for a bit. After we found some room, we went and enjoyed some delicious frozen yogurt, courtesy of Laur and Jill. I'm pretty sure I had more toppings than yogurt!
We got home and thought we should take a snapshot or two to document our one year together.
One year later...
21 weeks, and I'm really feeling it. Baby K is making himself/herself known!
Sol was jealous of our photo shoot, so I took one with her. Luna ran off like the little sassafras she is!
One year down.....
Today marks the one year anniversary where I walked into the church with my dad and left with my husband. It has been one fantastic year, if I do say so myself. There have been adjustments Tony and I have had to make, as a couple always done when starting out a life together, but it has all been worth it. I can honestly say I love him more today than I did one year ago!
Here are some highlights from our wedding to refresh some memories:
Here is the first time we saw each other on our wedding day.
We exchanged rings with Pastor Anjannette officiating.
We lit the unity candle to symbolize how we are now taking our two lives and forming one life with God as our center.
We cut the cake and nicely fed some to each other. (Even though I don't like cake, I still did the tradition....)
We were introduced as husband and wife as we walked up the steps of Willow Creek Golf Course!
We had our first dance as husband and wife to "You Take me the Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson
and we danced the night away!
The other day I was commenting on how this year sure went fast, and Tony replied in an exasperated tone: "It feels like forever". That's my sweet husband for you :)
Here are some highlights from our wedding to refresh some memories:
Here is the first time we saw each other on our wedding day.
We exchanged rings with Pastor Anjannette officiating.
We lit the unity candle to symbolize how we are now taking our two lives and forming one life with God as our center.
We cut the cake and nicely fed some to each other. (Even though I don't like cake, I still did the tradition....)
We were introduced as husband and wife as we walked up the steps of Willow Creek Golf Course!
We had our first dance as husband and wife to "You Take me the Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson
and we danced the night away!
The other day I was commenting on how this year sure went fast, and Tony replied in an exasperated tone: "It feels like forever". That's my sweet husband for you :)
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Wild Weekend!
My weekend started with a bang. A student teaching seminar to end the week of all weeks! Luckily, the seminar only lasted 2 hours, and by 6pm I was on a date with two very fun kiddos, Meg and Connor!
I told them we could go anywhere in Rochester to eat for dinner (I was secretly hoping for Chuckee Cheese, since I needed a little Skee Ball action...). They chose the Apache Mall food court! Subway for them and Manchu Wok for me!
Connor wanted to stop by Barnes and Noble to check out the poster for the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book to come out November 13. We found a fun Lego area to play at for a while. We also checked out the new mall candy store and sampled some fudge! Yum!
When we got home, Megan read a goodnight story to Baby K and we snuggled up to watch some Phineas and Ferb. Unfortunately, we had to watch on my laptop since our tv is waiting to get fixed.
Saturday morning, I hit the road by 6:30am to get to the Augsburg Minneapolis campus for an 8 hour ENVoY training. ENVoY is a training for teachers on group classroom management. It was an interesting seminar, but it was hard to relate to special education small group settings. Nonetheless, I had a fun day with my student teaching buddy Rachel!
When my seminar was finished, I met up with Kelly and Jenna in Woodbury. We wandered a few stores and met Liv and Torben for supper at Applebees. After we were stuffed, we headed to our home away from home, River Falls. We booked a hotel room for the night! Becky, Nicole and Lizzy joined us later, and we all got dressed up and headed out to the fine downtown establishments. We saw a few former alums that we knew, but we mostly felt a little old. Baby K was raising the roof during the loud club like songs...Here's my costume! Thanks Mindy for giving me the idea!
I made it back to Rochester in time to go to the 1:30 Confirmation service at Bethel. I have been a confirmation mentor to a young girl, Amber, for the past year. It was a very nice and meaningful service. I'm so glad Tony and I attended. Here's the youth band playing during the offertory. Amber is the electric guitar. It's hard to see because my iPhone didn't zoom in enough. She's the one farthest left with the dark hair and white robe on. Her twin sister is the one in white singing.
Tonight I've been working on Tony's anniversary present. All of a sudden, I looked up, and there was Sol, on top of the curtain rod. What a goofy cat! She jumped from her cat pole to the top!
I told them we could go anywhere in Rochester to eat for dinner (I was secretly hoping for Chuckee Cheese, since I needed a little Skee Ball action...). They chose the Apache Mall food court! Subway for them and Manchu Wok for me!
Connor wanted to stop by Barnes and Noble to check out the poster for the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book to come out November 13. We found a fun Lego area to play at for a while. We also checked out the new mall candy store and sampled some fudge! Yum!
When we got home, Megan read a goodnight story to Baby K and we snuggled up to watch some Phineas and Ferb. Unfortunately, we had to watch on my laptop since our tv is waiting to get fixed.
Saturday morning, I hit the road by 6:30am to get to the Augsburg Minneapolis campus for an 8 hour ENVoY training. ENVoY is a training for teachers on group classroom management. It was an interesting seminar, but it was hard to relate to special education small group settings. Nonetheless, I had a fun day with my student teaching buddy Rachel!
When my seminar was finished, I met up with Kelly and Jenna in Woodbury. We wandered a few stores and met Liv and Torben for supper at Applebees. After we were stuffed, we headed to our home away from home, River Falls. We booked a hotel room for the night! Becky, Nicole and Lizzy joined us later, and we all got dressed up and headed out to the fine downtown establishments. We saw a few former alums that we knew, but we mostly felt a little old. Baby K was raising the roof during the loud club like songs...Here's my costume! Thanks Mindy for giving me the idea!
I made it back to Rochester in time to go to the 1:30 Confirmation service at Bethel. I have been a confirmation mentor to a young girl, Amber, for the past year. It was a very nice and meaningful service. I'm so glad Tony and I attended. Here's the youth band playing during the offertory. Amber is the electric guitar. It's hard to see because my iPhone didn't zoom in enough. She's the one farthest left with the dark hair and white robe on. Her twin sister is the one in white singing.
Tonight I've been working on Tony's anniversary present. All of a sudden, I looked up, and there was Sol, on top of the curtain rod. What a goofy cat! She jumped from her cat pole to the top!
Friday, October 26, 2012
One Talented Kitty
I'm not sure if I posted this on the blog before or just to Facebook about our door climbing kitty. But I just got a text from Tony with the following picture. It made sense that Sol could get up on the front door because she starts higher up on the planters by our front door. But the bathroom door? We sure have one talented kitty!
Pomegranate
I'm not sure why the "How big is your baby" is off from the actual website, but on thebump.com it says our baby is the size of a pomegranate this week and not a banana....Banana seems like a very odd way to compare our baby anyways!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
My Husband?
I have to note this as a day in history: When I got home from school today, I asked Tony what he did on his day off. He replied, "read". Read? He's been reading The Hunger Games all day today! He's almost half way done!
This is the first time he's ever read for fun since I married him!
Our TV went out, so that could contribute to the fact that he's reading....
This is the first time he's ever read for fun since I married him!
Our TV went out, so that could contribute to the fact that he's reading....
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Recipe Request
I just had a request from Mindy to post the recipes I used for my last blog post. Here you are!
The recipe for this bread was found at http://simplysogood.blogspot.com/2010/03/crusty-bread.html, but here it is typed out for you!
In a large mixing bowl, add 3 cups of white unbleached flour.
To the flour add 1 3/4 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp yeast.
Whisk together.
Add 1 1/2 c water.
Mix in the water (I used a spatula to mix)
It will look messy, but that's ok. Now cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-18 hours.
After 12-18 hours (I only did 10), preheat oven to 450 degrees.
After oven is preheated, place your pot with a lid in the oven for 30 minutes.
When you place the pot in the oven, put your dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap.
After 30 minutes, put dough in pot. Be careful, pot is HOT!
Place in over with cover for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes remove cover and bake for 15 more minutes.
Carefully remove from pot and cool completely on a wire rack. ENJOY!
Here is my mom's recipe for Cheesy Wild Rice Potato Soup--her words exactly!
The recipe for this bread was found at http://simplysogood.blogspot.com/2010/03/crusty-bread.html, but here it is typed out for you!
In a large mixing bowl, add 3 cups of white unbleached flour.
To the flour add 1 3/4 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp yeast.
Whisk together.
Add 1 1/2 c water.
Mix in the water (I used a spatula to mix)
It will look messy, but that's ok. Now cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-18 hours.
After 12-18 hours (I only did 10), preheat oven to 450 degrees.
After oven is preheated, place your pot with a lid in the oven for 30 minutes.
When you place the pot in the oven, put your dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap.
After 30 minutes, put dough in pot. Be careful, pot is HOT!
Place in over with cover for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes remove cover and bake for 15 more minutes.
Carefully remove from pot and cool completely on a wire rack. ENJOY!
Here is my mom's recipe for Cheesy Wild Rice Potato Soup--her words exactly!
Ingredients:
carrots- as many as you like( I know you don't like!)chopped semi fine
celery- 2 or 3 stalks- chopped fine
onion-one-small or medium if you like-chopped fine
Potatoes-8-9 peeled quartered and then requartered
1 stick of butter
milk
Box of Uncle Ben's Wild rice( minute works)
1lb. of bacon chopped into small pieces
1/2 box Velveeta cheese-cubed
Put chopped carrots, onions and celery in large kettle.
Just barely cover with water. Add a little salt and pepper if you like.
Bring to boil and cook for 10 or so minutes on medium heat so they become semi soft.
While the above is cooking, peel 8-10 potatoes
Cut
potatoes into eighths. Put cut potatoes into carrot, onion, celery
mixture. Add enough water to the pot to cover the added potatoes. Bring
to boil and then cook for about 1/2 to 3/4 hour or until potatoes are
soft. ( cut easily with knife.) Stir occasionally to mix the other
veggies with the potatoes as they cook.
While potatoes are cooking or even before you start the whole process:
1.
Cook 1 lb. of chopped up bacon pieces. When bacon is done spread the
cooked bacon pieces on pieces of paper towel to drain excess grease.
Leave the bacon to drain. You will add to soup later.
2. While cooking bacon, made a box of Uncle Ben's
wild rice. The minute style works fine. Just follow package directions.
You will add to soup later
3. Cut 1/2 of Velveeta Loaf into very small cubes to add to soup later. the smaller the cubes the easier it will melt later.
When potatoes have cooked and are soft:
1.
Drain 1/2 of water still left in pot but not all!. Be careful when you
do so...it's a hot job to do and the steam can be bothersome.
2. Stir 1 stick of butter into the potato/veggie
mix. You can add more butter if you are making a larger amount of soup.
You also shake pepper into
3. Add milk and
begin to mash the potatoes. leaving some potato chunks. Keep adding
milk a little at a time as it will thicken when the potatoes are mashed.
Don't be surprised if it ends up to be several cups of milk. Season
with just a little salt (not too much- there's a lot salt in the bacon,
Velveeta and the rice mix seasoning) and as much pepper as you like.
When it looks like the right soupy consistency you want it to be, return
to the stove and heat on medium low to low heat. (Be careful-don't let
it boil hard from this point on-the milk can curdle! It will still taste
ok but will look weird. It will make you sad to have the milk curdle.)
4. When the soup is warm again, slowly add the
Velveeta cubes and continue to stir until the cheese melts into the
potato soup. YUM!
5. Once the cheese is melted
into the potato soup,fold in the bacon pieces and the wild rice. Stir
slowly. Add more milk if you think it's too thick.
6. Let this cook over very low heat for a while before serving.
Hope this make sense!
Yummm
Bread is one of my guilty pleasures. I must have inherited it from my Dad. We both could eat an entire loaf of homemade bread in one sitting. Now that I have my own kitchen, I've been experimenting with baking bread. I've made many different variations, but Monday, I made my first hard crusted artisan bread. It was DELICIOUS! I only got one slice because Tony, Will and our friend Michael ate it all!
Here it is fresh from the oven! (I sure do love my Rachael Ray casseround...Thanks Amanda and Will!)
While I'm at it, I'll show you the delicious potato soup I made to go with the bread.All we had leftover was one little bowl for Tony to take to work with them. Those three boys really ate large Monday night! This is my mom's recipe for Cheesy Bacon Wild Rice Potato Soup. YUM!
To top this blog post off, here's a pic of Luna being her same sassy self. She let Natalie pet her on Sunday, so maybe she's turning around. Usually just Tony and I can pet and snuggle her!
Here it is fresh from the oven! (I sure do love my Rachael Ray casseround...Thanks Amanda and Will!)
While I'm at it, I'll show you the delicious potato soup I made to go with the bread.All we had leftover was one little bowl for Tony to take to work with them. Those three boys really ate large Monday night! This is my mom's recipe for Cheesy Bacon Wild Rice Potato Soup. YUM!
To top this blog post off, here's a pic of Luna being her same sassy self. She let Natalie pet her on Sunday, so maybe she's turning around. Usually just Tony and I can pet and snuggle her!
Sunday, October 21, 2012
A First for Dad!
Every time the baby kicks, Tony tries and tries to feel it move. He hasn't had any success...until tonight! The only way I can describe Tony's reaction is to say he was like a little kid who just got a new puppy! He was so excited. I have to say, it was pretty darn cute to see him like that!
We're already at week 20! Wow, time flies!
We're already at week 20! Wow, time flies!
I was there too!
Since I was the paparazzi for our fun vacation, there is not much proof that I was actually on this trip. I stole some great photos Mindy took, so I can prove I did go to the Dells!
I had a special treat for story time last night. I got to snuggle with Natalie!
Tony and I met Wiley...
I love this picture!
Today's our last day here. Tony will be swimming, and I'll be in the lobby doing homework I neglected to do throughout the trip...
I had a special treat for story time last night. I got to snuggle with Natalie!
Tony and I met Wiley...
I love this picture!
Today's our last day here. Tony will be swimming, and I'll be in the lobby doing homework I neglected to do throughout the trip...
Saturday, October 20, 2012
A Day at the Water Park!
A good chunk of our day today has been spent under and in the water. I joined in for the morning swimming. Luckily, there are no pictures to prove this. No one wants to see a pregnant lady in a swimsuit floating around the pool! I did enjoy riding the waves with Natalie in the wave pool though!
This afternoon, I went back and documented the fun!
Natalie and I headed to the pool while the others went down water slides. She swam out to the log all by herself and hopped on up!
I promised Natalie I'd video her doing the "tires" as she calls them since I shared a video of Harvey doing it. Here she is!
Tony hasn't quite mastered it like Natalie!
Harvey looks like a little froggy jumping around out there!
Natalie is always ready to pose for a cute picture for me!
We headed over to the wave pool, and Tony walked Natalie right out to the big waves! She was getting thrown around quite a bit!
Jon and Tony had some fun with Natalie when the waves were crashing. The first time it scared Natalie, but then she loved it!
Natalie and her boys :)
Harvey and Mindy enjoyed the waves together.
Then they posed for a sweet picture!
Mindy's high school friend Anna and her family came today! Mindy went on a crazy water slide with her!
So far it's been a great day! We're heading to the Moose Jaw for supper, and then who knows what kind of mischief we could get into!
This afternoon, I went back and documented the fun!
Natalie and I headed to the pool while the others went down water slides. She swam out to the log all by herself and hopped on up!
I promised Natalie I'd video her doing the "tires" as she calls them since I shared a video of Harvey doing it. Here she is!
Tony hasn't quite mastered it like Natalie!
Harvey looks like a little froggy jumping around out there!
Natalie is always ready to pose for a cute picture for me!
We headed over to the wave pool, and Tony walked Natalie right out to the big waves! She was getting thrown around quite a bit!
Jon and Tony had some fun with Natalie when the waves were crashing. The first time it scared Natalie, but then she loved it!
Natalie and her boys :)
Harvey and Mindy enjoyed the waves together.
Then they posed for a sweet picture!
Mindy's high school friend Anna and her family came today! Mindy went on a crazy water slide with her!
So far it's been a great day! We're heading to the Moose Jaw for supper, and then who knows what kind of mischief we could get into!
Friday, October 19, 2012
Day 2 at the Lodge
Today was a little different day for me. I woke up feeling a little off, so I decided I would just wait to go to the water park. I headed over to the Tanger Outlet Mall. It's just across the parking lot from our resort. I was walking through the Nike Outlet, the first store I went to, and I started getting a strange rushing feeling in my ears. Oh no, I knew this was how the low blood pressure feels when it first starts. I headed straight to the check out. There's a bench outside the store, and I knew I needed to get there quick! Unfortunately, my body decided it wanted to lay down earlier. The clerk asked if I was ok just as sweat started pouring down my face. I muttered something about pregnant and low pressure, and I was out. The clerk caught me and brought me safely to the ground. I woke up there to some very concerned clerks. They got me some water and a whole ton of candy. They went to the break room and searched through lunch boxes to get sugar for me. After I laid there for a while, they sat me up in a chair. I stayed there for a while. The man who initially helped me said his wife had the same problem, so he knew just what to do. Unfortunately, Jon and Mindy were at the water park without cell phones, so I didn't have anyone I could call. I stayed until I felt better then sat outside on a bench for 30 minutes drinking water and eating the candy the Nike store gave me. I called Tony at work just to alert someone to the situation. I made my way back to the hotel, text the K2s to come check on me when they were back, and I took a lengthy nap. Mindy came and checked on me and made sure I had a good lunch. I took another nap this afternoon, and now I'm good as new!
Tony arrived here around 4! He got off work a little early! We went with Harvey and Natalie to trick or treat around the lodge. One of the stops on our trick or treat route was the spa. Tony and Jon enjoyed a relaxing wait in the lounge.
There's our little tooth fairy getting a treat at the kid's spa, Scoops.
After the tricks and treats, we went to Buffalo Phil's for supper. They deliver our food on a train! The kids thought that was pretty sweet! Here's Harvey playing on the train while we waited for our table.
Mindy and I while waiting for our table.
Can you tell we were a little tired tonight? Natalie and Harvey spent hours swimming today! They were just exhausted!
But not too exhausted to get some play time in!
The kids got their second wind during the Monster Bash Dance in the lobby after story time tonight.
Goodnight all! This tired mama is heading to bed early tonight! Tony's resting up for a day of water slides tomorrow!
Tony arrived here around 4! He got off work a little early! We went with Harvey and Natalie to trick or treat around the lodge. One of the stops on our trick or treat route was the spa. Tony and Jon enjoyed a relaxing wait in the lounge.
There's our little tooth fairy getting a treat at the kid's spa, Scoops.
After the tricks and treats, we went to Buffalo Phil's for supper. They deliver our food on a train! The kids thought that was pretty sweet! Here's Harvey playing on the train while we waited for our table.
Mindy and I while waiting for our table.
Can you tell we were a little tired tonight? Natalie and Harvey spent hours swimming today! They were just exhausted!
But not too exhausted to get some play time in!
The kids got their second wind during the Monster Bash Dance in the lobby after story time tonight.
Goodnight all! This tired mama is heading to bed early tonight! Tony's resting up for a day of water slides tomorrow!
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Hannah Banana
21 years ago, I distinctly remember jumping up and down on my parent's bed screaming " I HAVE A BABY SISTER, I HAVE A BABY SISTER!!!" My mom had to calmly explain that she was my baby cousin.
I've always thought of her like a little sister though. I spent lots of weekends at her house in Iowa. We played and played and watched movie after movie. She came and visited me at college every year, and I was able to visit her this year at her new college.
I wish I could be down in IA helping her celebrate, but I'm sending all my love her way!
Happy 21st birthday Hannah Banana! Love you!
I've always thought of her like a little sister though. I spent lots of weekends at her house in Iowa. We played and played and watched movie after movie. She came and visited me at college every year, and I was able to visit her this year at her new college.
I wish I could be down in IA helping her celebrate, but I'm sending all my love her way!
Happy 21st birthday Hannah Banana! Love you!
Here we are at her high school graduation almost 3 years ago now!
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