Friday Foto

In this photo Beatrice looks a little bit like one of those plastic surgery gone wrong victims. This is what happens when "say cheese" is taken to the extreme. And Maggie and Obie are wearing scarves with their fleece jammies - you can never be too warm in an old house in Minnesota in December! One week until Christmas, are you ready? You can see that our stockings are hung - and stuffed - and the presents are wrapped under the tree. We're all ready to celebrate!

Real Snow Cones

When the Keehns came for Thanksgiving, Aunt Betsy sent with them a three pack of fruit-flavored syrup to make snow cones with. Every day since then I've heard one of the following questions about every hour:

"Mom, is it going to snow today?"

"Mom, when will it snow?"

"Mom, can we make snow cones?"

"Mom, did it snow while we were asleep?"

"Mom, why didn't it snow yet??"

Until finally last Tuesday we got snow - enough to make a million, billion snow cones!

Thanks, Aunt Betsy!!!

St. Nicholas Day, Celebrated!

Here are the girls with their St. Nicholas Day shoes and treats. It was a great success!

Beatrice agrees with her mother that gift shoes should be filled with socks. Unfortunately I didn't think of it until the night before, but next year they will be hand knit socks!!

Yes, Maggie does have chocolate on her face at 7:15 in the morning!! Hooray for the the Holidays!!

Now we can get ready for Christ's Birth and the real reason to celebrate the Christmas Season!!

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Santa doesn't come to our house, but we do like to pay homage to St. Nicholas the patron saint of sailors, merchants, and children, and the model for the American Santa Claus. St. Nicholas was a fourth century bishop known for his extreme generosity and kindness to those in need and is said to have performed miracles through prayer. Every year on December 5th children celebrate St. Nicholas Day by leaving their shoes out in hopes that they've been good enough to get treats.

My children are always good enough for treats!

If you're interested, you can learn more about St. Nicholas Day on wikipedia or with a google search.

Friday Foto

An Apple A Day

We've been trying to incorporate more raw fruits and veggies into our diet lately, so when the kids asked for a snack today I led them in the direction of the bag of fresh apples from our local orchard. They get some sort of weird kid pleasure out of holding a sticky, juicy apple and eating it whole instead of having boring old slices. When Obie saw the girls munching and crunching into their apples he squealed until he got to have some, too.

Meanwhile, I snuck into the kitchen and ate potato chips and dill dip. Yes, I'm ashamed. But, those kids sure love to eat apples. Let's focus on that!!

Christmas Tree Time

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year in the Keehn Household. Grandma and Grandpa Keehn were able to come all the way up here for a visit (finally!! YAY!) and we spent T-day cooking and eating wonderful food. The star of the day was the pumpkin pie, which we made not only from scratch, but from ultimate scratch - all the canned pumpkin was gone at the grocery store, so we hauled the massive jack-o-lantern pumpkin off the porch and made a pie out of him! This is the pumpkin that was larger than Obie! I still have about 10 pounds of cooked pumpkin that I haven't decided what to do with, along with several bags of puree in the freezer! Along with the pie we had ham, a turkey breast that came from a local hunter Rob works with, mushroom stuffing, green bean casserole - also from scratch, no funions for us! - mashed potatoes, gravy, acorn squash, Brussels sprouts, and of course can-shaped cranberry sauce. It was an amazing meal and only slightly topped by the ribeye steaks that Rob and Roy grilled for us the next night.

We spent our holiday eating, relaxing, knitting (for some of us), and watching Dr. Who. What more could a person want? On Friday we took the family up to see the town of Red Wing, which actually gave me and Rob a greater appreciation for the place, too. We walked around to all of the little local shops, did some Christmas shopping, and found a great chocolate shop. Did you know that people eat chocolate covered potato chips? I tried one and wasn't impressed. Chocolate covered pretzels are much better. We did remember that evening to take a Friday Photo, but I didn't post it then, so here it is now:

The girls are holding the turkeys they made at the library. Beatrice has her trade mark attitude going on, but I really like Maggie's smile in this one. She has the fluffiest hair!!

Roy, Lynne, and Laura left early Saturday morning which disappointed us all, but we managed to squeeze a little more Holiday Cheer into the weekend by getting our Christmas Tree. We drove up to a little tree farm up past Red Wing and let the girls run around a little bit and we picked out a great tree.

There were two black sheep in this nativity, but they weren't interested in being photographed, let alone petted. I love Maggie's smile in this picture, too. Again, Beatrice: Attitude.

Then we took a ride on a crazy motorized sleigh. The front had "eight tiny reindeer" flying up to the sky. They wobbled perilously as we bumped along over the back roads, but it was still pretty idyllic, especially with a few little snowflakes tumbling down.

I hope you had a wonderful Thankgiving, too. Oh, and did I mention that I got up at 4:30 to go get a steeply discounted gift for the girls? But that was enough Black Friday for me. I was back home and making breakfast by 6:15! I have the rest of the month to do my other shopping.

Bee-isms

Shouted from the bathroom:

"Mom!!! Why can't we bring the TV in here??"

Well, Beatrice, it's a matter of hygiene, mostly...

Old

Beatrice (to Maggie): You can't make [a little snowflake] because you're not old like mom.

Maggie: How old are you, Mom? Are you twenty?

Me: No, I'm not twenty. I was twenty.

Maggie: How old are you?

Me: I'm thirty-two.

Maggie and Beatrice: Gasp!

Maggie: Thirty-two. Are you old?

Me: Not too old.

Beatrice: That means that you're almost old.

Maggie: Are you almost old?

Me: Yes, I'm almost old.

Friday Foto

Outnumbered

We had a get together last Sunday evening at our house. It was a little attempt to start getting some of the couples our age with children together on a regular basis. We met one new family and there was also our pastor and his family and a young couple expecting their first child. It was a very loud evening, 8 adults and 8 kids! After dinner I sat down with Obie, and Carrie, from the family I had just met, sat down with Mia who is 7 months. She mentioned that Bailey, her four year old daughter has started going to twice a week preschool and it's helping with her shyness. (Bailey was upstairs ripping and running with the other girls at this point, which delighted her mom!) I asked her about the school, how many kids were in the class, and if Bailey liked it. She said she did like it and that the ratio of teachers/aids to kids was one to four. I said, "Wow, that's a pretty good ratio. None of the adults should get too overwhelmed."

Then I realized that our previous topic had been that I've been going back and forth on when is a good time to have one more baby. And if I have one more baby, I'll also be at a one to four ratio. Good grief! I'm right on par with the local school system!

Ninja Halloween

For Halloween this year we went with an Asian theme: Hiiii-Yah!

Maggie as a Teal Ninja

Beatrice the Asian Princess

Obie should have been a Panda, I suppose, but I already had the Teddy Bear costume.

I have no idea who this guy is, but when Beatrice saw his costume she asked why he was dressed as a puffy, pink candle. I laughed so hard I snorted!

Here are the girls with their beloved cousin Beth (dressed as Coraline) a few moments before hitting the Trick or Treat trail!

Tired Ninjas!!

I hope you had a great Take Candy From Strangers Day, too!!

Southern Illinois, October '09

We spent last week back home in Southern Illinois. We especially wanted to go because all of the cousins would get to be together, but it is always wonderful to be down south in October. Here's a quick photo tour of our week:

All of the "trifecta of terror" love to play with Grandma's rock and fossil collection. And yet not one boy got his fingers or toes smashed!

Aunt Betsy brought over cookies to decorate. Unfortunately they tasted a little like chocolate cardboard, but the kids loved putting candy and icing on them.

Not that you can tell Beatrice's level of enjoyment by her expression. (I love this picture. Beatrice gives me this look waaay too often!)

Wiley took his candies off several times to reposition them. Or just as an excuse to eat them.

I told Evelyn where to put her candies to make the best Jack-O-Lantern face. She put them in her mouth, though, mostly.

Here's a picture of Stanley. He's always excited to see a camera out! He also really liked his Uncle Rob - I think it was the beard. And Rob likes to make funny faces and funny noises.

We saw this miraculous rainbow one evening as the sun was setting after a rainy, rainy day. This picture doesn't do it any justice, though; it was truly the most beautiful rainbow I've ever seen. We could see it go all the way across the sky from one side to the other. On the left side it was a double rainbow and on the right we could see several colors beyond the "roy g. biv". The extra bands of colors were narrower than the first set. It was amazing!

On Saturday we stopped by the Hope Church Fall Festival. The girls got their cheeks painted. We didn't get to stay much longer after that, though, because that red cup of water there in the picture was blown over by the wind... right into my lap, all over me and Obie. What a mess! I would have loved to spend the afternoon there with all our friends, but I just couldn't do it with wet pants!

Here are the girls with their faces painted back at Grandma's house. Maggie found a wooley caterpillar crawling around in the kitchen.

He was much coveted!

We had a great time in So Ill. The week was very restful, but it also blew by. In fact, it went so fast that I was already planning my next trip before this one was over! We'll see you back there in January!

Friday Foto

Here's a picture of the flowers Rob brought me for our anniversary.

(Baby included to show actual size!!)

It's only Obie this week because the girls are at Grandma and Grandpa Supan's house. I've had three days of just me and Obie and it's been pretty great. There's been lots of cuddling, tickling, and nap taking. And I've gotten a little bit of the house cleaned and organized. Most exciting is that my "Yarn Armoire" is now in the house and full of yarn! Hooray for organization!!

We're leaving Frontenac in a couple of hours to pick up the girls and head on down to Carbondale for a week of catching up with family and friends. And of course, TRICK or TREATING!! YAY!!! See you next week for an update.

Maggie Loves Gymnastics!

Margaret also loves going to her gymnastics class. She loves the swinging and tumbling and jumping, but her favorite part just might be that her teacher, Sylvie, has some of her hair dyed pink. She talks about Miss Sylvie all the time. Sylvie is the tall girl here in the video. The other teacher is Sonja and I think they might be sisters. At the beginning of class all the kids stand in line and get put into groups. Maggie's been with Sylvie all four times and I'm worried she'll be heart broken if she gets into someone else's group. (A little part of me thinks that Sylvie secretly picks Maggie's group because she likes Maggie as much as Maggie likes her!! I mean, come on, Maggie's great!)

Mags is best at the vault. You can hear Sonja say, "That's the best one I've seen all day!" after Maggie's third vault. It's awesome. However, she's too timid to let go of her teacher on the high beam. I'm thinking we need to set up a balance beam here in the house so she can get used to the idea. Surely there's room in here somewhere for a high beam, right?? It's a little bit (extremely) cacophonous in the gym, but you can hear Maggie say, "Taa Daa" after almost every thing she does.

The little girl in the half colorful, half black leotard is Anja. She and Maggie are gym friends. They've been in the same group almost every time. In this video Anja was a little wound up. The girl in the purple long sleeved leotard is Hannah. Last week was her first week and she doesn't really seem too interested in the finer points of gymnastics. But she's very enthusiastic! The three of them share crayons while they wait for the 3-year-olds to finish class before them and they stick together. I think it will be interesting to see how they get better over the next few months and I wonder if they'll become friends enough to request play dates. I could certainly use a few play dates now and then!

Beatrice Loves Gymnastics

My girls are enrolled in gymnastics at the local YMCA this fall and they LOVE IT! Here's a video of Beatrice at her last lesson. My favorite part is when she jumps up on the uneven bars and flips her toes right up between her hands. Some of the other kids can barely even swing, let alone monkey around to the point that Bee does. I love to watch her. She vaults, balances, and summersaults with the dauntless abandon of a true three-year-old. I'd take her to gymnastics every single day if they offered it! (I might just have a little vision of Olympic Gold floating around in the back of my head, too!!)

Up next, Maggie!!

Friday Foto

Here is the last Friday Foto for my little baby Obie. His birthday is tomorrow and after that he'll be a big boy.

All I can say is, "Good Grief!!!"

Yup, Pun Intended

Today is the Tenth Anniversary of our wedding! This momentous occasion has been rather overshadowed by Obie's Birthday and also the trip we're taking to Carbondale at the end of the month. We have no plans for a big dinner, no weekend get-away, no over-priced box of chocolates, jewelry, or electronics. It's just like us to be so nonchalant.

However last night as I was knitting I realized that I did have a great gift to give Rob:

After knitting up great things for everyone else for more than half of our marriage, last night on the eve of our decade mark, I finished up his first pair of hand knit socks. Now he's had several socks knit for him over the years, but this is the first pair. That match. And they fit him, I've already made him try one on. He harasses me every time I cast something new on the needles that I've still never knitted him anything other than a boring gray scarf - a very useful and warm, but in no-way-sensational, gray scarf. Now brown socks aren't really that sensational, either, but they take a lot more devotion and skill than a scarf does. Socks are a sign of affection, every knitter knows that. I've knit dozens of pairs for the children, and for the children of our friends, but this is the first pair for my husband. And of course I have a ton of affection, love, and devotion for him!

So, Happy Anniversary, Babe! We make a great pair!

Monday Movies!

Well, we woke up to snow showers this morning and the kids instantly began bugging me to go outside. So, here's a video of all three of them enjoying the flurries. I apologize in advance for the segment with Obie's really runny nose. Yes, it's gross and snotty, but he's such a cute boy I'm sure you won't even notice!

(PS: Please say a quick prayer that Autumn comes back to Minnesota. My sanity may depend on it!!!)

Friday Foto

Friday Foto

Please note that Obie is wearing a tutu.

Monday Movies!

Here are my two favorite Little Guys!! Aren't they cuties??

With Help Like This

I really need more help.

Perhaps some helpful help.

Maybe by the time he's eighteen.

Then he'll run off and get married!!

(Then I'll have no sweet diversions from filling the dishwasher.)

Friday Foto

This week we have a special guest: Fluffy Love the Monarch. We got her as a caterpillar at the Minnesota State Fair and she just hatched from her chrysalis today. Now we'll release her into the crisp fall air and hope she makes it down to Mexico before the freeze comes! (We have seen other wild Monarchs here in the last few days, so I think she has a sporting chance.)

What's Faster Than Flying?

To say that time flies is like saying that the sun's a little bit warm. Case in point: In one month this guy will be one year old.

How is that possible when he was just born last week???

Beatrice Believes in Capital Punishment

I can usually find Little Bee playing with an assortment of fuzzy stuffed animals and don't usually pay much attention to it, but today as I was sitting on the couch with Obie I overheard a conversation she was having with her stuffed friends.

Evidently they were gathering around a campfire, which she represented with a small blue plate. She put each animal beside it and whispered to herself what it was doing. Things like "Freckles is going to make marshmallows" or "Sondra's baby kitty is sitting by the fire" or "Then all the Petshops came". She placed each of them around the fire and whispered them their duties or instructions. Then she took the giraffe and said, "You go ON the campfire!"

She had no idea I was listening in until I laughed out loud at her. She looked up inocently and gave me a big goofy grin. "Why does the giraffe have to go on the fire, Bee?" I asked.

"He's been naughty. He stole stuff and he gets a punishment," she told me.

"I'll bet he's sorry, though isn't he," I asked, hoping for a little good will towards this pilfering animal. "Shouldn't we forgive him?"

"Umm, no," came her reply. "He needs to get burnt."

Monday Movies!

I finally got a movie up on a Monday! Yay, Me!! In this clip we see Obie eating his favorite vegetable, Corn, and we can also hear the non-stop jabber that comes from my girls at meal times. (All the time, really!) Enjoy!!

Friday Foto

I just bought this rug and I dearly love it! Isn't it beautiful?? It looks wonderful with our woodwork and our furniture. And it's soft and comfy for sitting or crawling, as a certain portion of our household tends to do. I thought it deserved a special appearance in this week's Friday Foto!

Ten Month Top Ten

ime's been flying by lately. Obie turned 10 months old last month and I meant to get this little list up at that time, but at least it's here before he's 11 months old!

1. His favorite current game is "bonk" where he leans in and bonks me or the girls on our head with his head. Sometimes this gets carried away and one of us ends up in tears, but mostly it just causes Obie to erupt in laughter. He loves smashing his face into mine and especially loves it if he has a chance to bite my nose in the process.

2. Every morning when he wakes up he goes straight for the sleeping cats at the end of the bed. He lays on them, smacks them, pulls their ears, chews their tails, rubs their fur back and forth. Dalilah will lay there and take it but Oscar waits for his chance and runs away. (Eifel doesn't sleep on the bed, so she's safe. Unless he finds her at some other time of the day.)

3. He clearly says , "Uh Oh" whenever he drops something. He also meows at the cats. There are a couple of other things that he says but I'm not sure he's grasped that they have meaning. He says "Mum" a lot, but not every time he sees me, so I'm not yet ready to say it's his first word. I'm trying to teach him "Up" so he'll lift up his arms when I'm trying to pick him up.

4. He absolutely loves bathtime. He stands by the tub and tries to lift his foot over the side until I finally put him in. His favorite bath game is to stand up and then let go of the side - after a second of anticipation - and then splash his nakey booty into the water. He'll do it 30 or more times during one bath. Eventually he'll slip and get his face under the water and this usually ends bathtime. He also likes to crawl around the tub occasionally dipping his mouth in to taste the water.

5. His giggles are contagious. And he loves to giggle.

6. At his last doctor's appointment he was 28 1/2 inches tall and weighed 19 3/4 lbs. Nurse Katie said he just needed one more good meal to make it to 20 lbs! He's not quite a fat little baby anymore - he's looking more and more like a toddler everyday. He's wearing size 12 month clothes and size 2-3 shoes. Every so often he'll stand alone for a moment before gravity and a lack of skill sets him down.

7. He loves his sisters. Especially Maggie because she plays all those silly baby games with him and her voice is generally squeeky, which babies love - and mothers hide from.

8. He would really like to climb the stairs, but I won't let him.

9. He eats real food now. He recently had his first Olive Garden bread stick followed by the traditional Andes Mint. He also likes non-real food and has tasted "mayfly", "junk mail", and "fur". (Oh, and real food brings real stinky diapers. Ick.)

10. No matter what toys are in the room he always finds the hammer. We have several from our Bob the Builder days and also several from the play dough paraphernalia, along with lots of other hammer-type things. Wooden spoons. Flip flops. The Wii controller. A flyswatter. If it will successfully bang against something else and make a noise, it's in his hand... and making a noise. He especially likes to beat on the metal folding chair and the heating vent. And me. He really likes the noise I make when he hits me. He's all boy.

Butterfly House

We went to the Minnesota State Fair on Friday and were totally overwhelmed by the crowds. But the girls loved the Butterfly House. We're not sure if we'll bother to go to this fair again next year, but I think we'll be planting milkweed in our yard and trying to increase our butterfly yields next spring!