What a wonderful day for sleding!

Last weekend was a bit relaxing with some scattered fun activities. Aaron went up to "the farm" with a friend to hunt pheasants with our dog Willow. They were there pretty much all day. So I had the kids all to myself. I took them to my Saturday Coffee with the girls and they were somewhat well behaved. As long as the batteries for the iPod didn't run out.

Later that afternoon we went to do crafts at my friend Karla's house. I finally finished a wine cork wreath that I started last holiday season. (I still need to add a nice bow so it isn't completely finished)

The kids watched a movie and ate popcorn and candy in Scott and Karla's fine theater. After that they played with Mr. Scott's immense Lego collection! Alice found a tiny Lego pirate knife and dragged it across her face several times. She had 4 red scratches on her face! It took me a while to figure out what had happened. Her injury didn't seem to phase her. Silly kid!

Sunday was our fun day! It was a foggy morning but a great day for SLEDDING!

I had lunch with my wonderful Coffee girl friends and we celebrated Christmas with a secret Santa exchange. It was fabulous and everyone got such lovely gifts.

We are now getting ready for more snow and I need to get moving on our Christmas cards. So stay tuned to your mailbox for our yearly update.

What inspired this insanity you ask...

Here is the post my friend posted that inspired my whimsical Christmas Beanie Baby mayhem. I can't say if I agree with his thoughts about the Elf or not, I don't have an opinion either way honestly, but calling out the Beanie Babies went to far:

But look how cute! (Seriously, I don't think they are that cute, kind of cheap looking to me)

Elf on a Shelf - There is a new big thing and craze for this year!!
Yes, it's almost time for the fad and the genius of marketing consumerism fostered upon us sheepish parents, that just hasn't, as yet, gone the way of the Beanie Babies (oh no he didn't!), to appear. The day after Thanksgiving parents will be hunting the box that holds the magic.

And here is how to make the magic this year; trust me, this is the new, big idea. - when you find the imp, take him magically and directly to the dumpster. It's been 11 months since your kids saw him last, maybe they will forget.

What does the Elf teach our kids? He teaches them that a nanny state and the total lack of personal privacy is just fine. Hey, I spy on you and report back to Santa just like the trusty NSA. It's the new normal kids. He is preparing you for a sheep like future.

It's a crutch for parents, an excuse to use lax parenting skills. It's a fake tradition wrapped up in the cloak of consumerism that we have fallen for. It's been here since 2005, lightening your pocket book in the mistaken belief that this is a new holiday tradition. Kids how cool is it that your parents bought a spy to spy on you?

Think about what the imp has done to you as a parent. In the First Stage, you think it's cute and hide him in all kinds of interesting places for your kids. In the Second Stage you no longer care about the kids and you are staging the elf in provocative posses like bending over with a Hersey Kiss coming out his ass (this has become trite and boring). In this stage you have gone round the bend in parenting all the way. In Stage Three, your spouse growls at you about 11 pm asking if moved the damn thing yet. You walk over and kick/swat him a few feet and call it good. Stage Four is either throwing him out or the kids matured out of the nonsense and you thankfully no longer have to participate. This is the salvation phase!

Please join me - take the elves directly to the dumpster and STOP posting about them on FB.
You know how you occasionally still meet that one nut that collects Beanie Babies? You know how you tilt your head to the left, fake smile, shake your head up and down (knowingly) and say, "that's nice". Meanwhile your mind is screaming to you to back away slowly, because this person is insane. Folks it's time. It's time to look at elf folks just like Beanie people. It's crazy... (Is this how people really feel about my collection?)

Go directly to the dumpster, do not post, do not go past Go! It's the new, big craze. Really it is...

So, I've now taken to barraging this friend with photos of my Beanie Baby antics and tagging him in the photos. Because, you know, that is how you use Facebook and pick on friends who live too far away to annoy them in person.
Here is day 3:

Miles berated the monkey for making such a mess with cutting the tags off the other Beanie Babies. Then he asked how he got the scissors. Probably because we put them way out of his reach. I told him that monkeys are good climbers. Heehee!

A Christmas experiment

A few years ago I made a Christmas countdown calendar for Miles out of toilet paper rolls and put little prizes in each tube that he opened each day in December. Last year was a bit of a cluster with two kids wanting to punch open the tube and trying to get them to share was a bit of a fight.

So this year I made 2, one for Miles and one for Alice. I think they turned out rather nice and I found lots of little trinkets to put in the tubes. I believe this is the year for miniature. I found tons of miniature toys in the store perfect for this project. I remember struggling last year to find stuff to fit in the tubes. So this year they are getting a lot fewer Hershey's kisses and more trinket toys to aggravate Aaron!

In addition I have taken on a certain challenge to spread Christmas cheer in our household. It was spurred on by a Facebook post of a friend of mine who was dissing the "Elf on the Shelf" phenomenon. Now, I'm not into "Elf on the Shelf" but this particular friend decided to drag Beanie Babies into his argument and I just couldn't stand for that. So I have started a whimsical parade of Beanies that I think the kids are really going to have fun with.

It started with a mysterious present under the tree that showed up on December 1st. Miles, loving presents and surprises was immediately drawn to it.

"It doesn't have a name or anything on it!" he said. "Well it is a mystery I guess," I told him. All day and that night he was constantly asking me if he could open the present and when are we going to open the present. It really occupied his thoughts to the point of when he woke up this morning the first thing he said was, "can I open the present?"

Well....I told him, why don't you go check it out. This was his reaction (sorry the video is so dark, it was early in the morning)

We were awesome Christmas presents once, weren't we?

They played with the Beanie Babies all morning until it was time to go to school/work/day care. It was fun to see them so excited about these toys, even though they have seen and played with them before. Maybe I should just do that for Christmas this year, wrap up all the toys they have now and put them under the tree.

See how happy they are!

Getting ready for the holidays

We are a busy family with little time to sit down. But we need to make sure the loved ones in our lives are up on what we are up to.

Miles and Alice both wanted to be Scooby-Doo for Halloween. (Miles is the taller one)

Aaron and I got the opportunity to attend an award ceremony at the Playboy Mansion!!! in Los Angeles. The Grato is right behind us.

Alice got her first hair cut on Monday. She sat so well for the stylist.

She has bangs, now she can see. Miles got his hair cut too.

I got a new hair cut too.

New layers

Miles finished up a swimming lesson session and I'm going to sign him up again in January. He is progressing, but not quite swimming without a flotation device yet. His swim instructor assures us he will get there.

Our cinnamon roll morning

I attended a Lamaze Childbirth Educator seminar in Madison last October and am working toward my Lamaze certification. I will take the certification exam in April, and right now I am building a curriculum and working some connections to see where I might be able to teach.

On my drive back to Jamestown I met up with my friend Melisa who was traveling through. We crossed paths at the wind turbine outside of Valley City.

Aaron is getting all the hunting in he can these days. I'm a little sad that I haven't been able to get out this year, but as it gets colder I'm more apt to forgo sitting out in the cold.

This is us on Halloween. I was a sparkler and Aaron was a Price is Right contestant.

Grandpa Sam and Nana Linda are coming for Thanksgiving and we are cooking a great meal to give thanks and celebrate.

Kids playing in the first snow of the year.

Some sad news, we lost Aaron's Grandmother Mary Lou early this month. We traveled to Kearney, Nebraska to attend the funeral and be with family. Grandma Lou has a large family and there were many people who came out to say goodbye and share stories of their fond memories of her. We will all miss her dearly.

Miles and cousin Carter playing in the snow outside the church where Grandma Lou's service was held.

Summer time fun time

We have been having lots of fun this summer. It seems like every weekend if filled with things to do. We love being outside and we have had more sunny days than rainy ones it seems. We have been up to Grandpa Sam and Nana Linda's farm, we have been to the outdoor pool, we went to the Dakota Zoo, to Storybook Land,  and on a big road trip vacation to Colorado.

Our garden is growing so we have been eating a lot of chard. The tomatoes and green beans aren't ready yet. But the RASPBERRIES are getting ripe. We are picking them every night. It may be time to start canning.  

Here is just a glimpse of what we have been doing with our weekends. 

Two in the bed

Miles and the cucumber he grew

Walking in the park

Slide time

 

Swinging with Dad

Yes he is in his pajamas at the park

Sunday Dinner with Mom's culinary experiments

Sunday dinner!

Shaking up our routine

Well, the kids keep growing. That's what they do right? We had a bit of a shake up last week when our daycare closed down. She told us on Wednesday that we needed to find a place by Monday. VERY short notice, but that's life in the child care business I guess.

Warmer day in January we got outside to play in the snow.

Snow flower.

So we had to find new daycare which is always a chore and automatically trusting someone new with caring for your kid is nerve wrecking. Luckily, I have this great friend who has always given me great tips on finding daycare. She helped us find our previous provider too. We found a place for now for Alice, but I am exploring a few other places and keeping some options open if the current place doesn't work out. Bonus though, it is just one street over from us.

Miles on the other hand will start preschool early. We were planning on sending him in June, but with this development I called and luckily they have an opening now. So next week he starts at the Learning Center, going all day. I hope he can handle the transition. I think as parents we worry about that stuff, but kids are more resilient than we may give them credit for.

My pre-schooler

We had a wonderful weekend outside last week. The sun was shining melting off the last of the snow. We played outside pretty much all day on Sunday. Spring is here! We took down Christmas lights, set up the swings, cleaned up the back yard (i.e., picked up dog poop), and trimmed the dead flowers and raspberry bushes.

We got out to play this day in March, it was beautiful out. Alice rode her tricycle and didn't want to take her helmet off when she came inside. (Hayduke in the back there)

Dad and Alice taking a snooze after a fun day outside.

We watch YouTube videos every once in a while and we do have some favorites. The Muppets top the list. "Mahna mahna" is a big favorite but this one is quickly rising to the top. Alice is so funny, she says "I'm a bunny" in her best monster voice. I haven't been able to capture it on video, but I'll keep trying.

In February Aaron and I went to Mexico with some friends to get away from winter up here. Grandpa Sam and Nana Linda came up to watch the kids. It was 6 days of full throttle children for them. I think that was just enough time to bond and be exhausted by them.

Our time in Mexico was great. We loved spending time in the sunshine, salt and pool water, and at the swim up bar. 

Mexico! This was an eco-park we went to. It was amazing! We loved it!

They made us do silly poses with these birds. They seemed harmless enough.

We are anxiously awaiting spring. Although last weekend was beautiful, this week has been filled with random snow and cold. It has been hovering right around freezing temperatures. Arg!

This was March 14, the Running of the Green. It was a beautiful day. After this weekend, the weather turned on us.

We like to have fun together.

So here is hoping for warmer temperatures and lots of good walking weather. Until next time...

Freedom? Are we really?

I'm going to use my "Miles Ahead" venue to discuss something that gave me pause when I read an email from the director of the company I work for today. It was a Thanksgiving message to everyone in the company. I must preface that this person is a white male and I believe he has a military background (although I can't be sure) or he could potentially have children who have served/are serving in the military.


The message started out benign enough, we should be thankful for our health and salute our military who are fighting on the front lines to fight for our freedom. Then it just got...well, I can't say I wasn't incensed by his description of the freedoms we have in the U.S.

"The freedom to live our lives the way we choose is quite possibly the greatest gift this Country has given us.  Thanksgiving is a dedicated time to reflect on our freedom to pursue love, happiness, creature comforts, joy of family, safety and the ability to worship as we please without fear of reprisal or government dictation." 

Is he blind to what is going on in this country? Do we really have these freedoms? In light of recent events in this country I have to ask are these statements true? Are we really and truly free to do these things without persecution or discrimination because of our race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

It is a fact that women in this country still don't get equal pay for equal work.Women in the work force are chastised and experience career detriment when they take time to have babies and tend to them. This country's maternity policies are ridiculous! Women who don't have family close by rarely receive the help and support they need with raising a baby. Especially single moms.

Racial profiling still goes on to where a young black man can't walk the streets for fear he may be shot down for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There is no deigning that racism still exists in the U.S. and people confront it every day.

Voter ID laws exist where a person who can prove who he/she is and where he/she lives is still denied the right to vote! Is that freedom? To be prevented from voting in a democratic election? These voter ID laws by the way discriminate most against women, minorities and young people (read university students).

I don't have first hand experience with religious dealings, but I know of stories of Muslims in the U.S. being discriminated against for their beliefs. Where protests and heavy handed redirection have been employed in regards to the location of a Mosque. Other religions face their own forms of persecution should they not fit the Christian standard ubiquitous in this country. Plus, you are expected to have a religion and worship a God. 

A woman is not free to do what she wishes with her own body! I heard of a law passed (I forget the state) where if a woman is raped and becomes pregnant she is forced to keep the pregnancy. Medically necessary abortions where the mother's health is at stake are becoming more and more restrictive. Adoption options for adoptive parents can be limited and extremely expensive. Birth control is a constant fight with insurance companies. According to some laws women must buy additional insurance to be covered for standard health care procedures associated with women's health. Birth control, medically necessary abortion, pregnancy and birth of a baby, mammograms, pap smears. Not having equal access to health care? Is that freedom?

There is a perpetuating rape culture in this country. There is a story from University of Virginia about a woman getting gang rapped at a fraternity. THEY BLAMED ALCOHOL FOR THE ASSAULT! NO! It was the men who rapped her! A woman should be free to wear, act, and socialize however she desires without fear of assault or harassment.


A person is not free to die how they desire.


"...we will thank the Creator that has given us these gifts, pray for those voluntarily in harm’s way so we can continue to enjoy them and ask for help for all those around the world who look at the United States of America as the great beacon of freedom but find themselves oppressed and persecuted by their governments." 

I commend Mr. Director for his praise of our military and their sacrifice, but I have to ask, what is your definition of Freedom? Is it military freedom from the oppression of other governments? Well the U.S. may have that. But as far as these other freedoms you speak of Mr. Director, I think you need to think about that for a while. I am sure that the U.S. is far from the "beacon of freedom" to most other nations. We persecute anyone who tries to come into this country, i.e., immigration. When did that become a dirty word? 

I must also say I am not a religious person, I don't go to church and I don't pray to a God. I consider myself agnostic and put a lot of my faith in science and things that can be proven through evidence. So, that being said, I have never agreed with people who "witness" to me thanking "the Creator" or other deities for the glories and good fortune bestowed upon them.So, sometimes general messages like the one sent by Mr. Director that assume I pray or worship or have a similar faith as the purveyor often turn me off. I am not saying this is severe discrimination, but some consideration would be nice. Throughout life I have just shrugged these messages off and thought that the beliefs that people have are their own and it brings joy to their lives. So if it makes them happy so be it, just as long as they don't force it on me and they can understand (or maybe acknowledge) that my beliefs also make me happy.

Despite my criticism of this message from Mr. Director I must commend one of his final statements.

"Many criticize us because we bear open for all to see our disagreements and debates. But I submit that this openness is our strength and our love for freedom will, with the help of God, always bring us together when it counts the most."

And that is why I feel free to discuss my thoughts and concerns in this open forum. This is one freedom that I know not everyone feels comfortable exercising for fear of repercussions. But here, I do this to vent a little about my current frustrations with this country and to acknowledge there are problems that we must continue to fight to truly be free.

This Thanksgiving, I will be reflecting on the things that I am so fortunate to have and the love I am surrounded with. My health, my family's health, a warm home, loving pets, wonderful friends, a career, there are many. But I will also be reflecting on the oppression in this country and how there are people here who do not know true freedom and who fight against oppressors every day.