Surprise! Remember it was your B-day?

My son turned 10. Yes...he turned 10 in December. Yes...I have felt the guilt that his birthday was skipped over. I felt the guilt multiplied when I read blogs about other people's kid's birthdays.....usually accompanied by a list of why they love the kid.
Ryan had given up. There would not be a party (which is sad because I told him last year that 10 would be his last official birthday party). But, I had some tricks up my sleeve. I decided that if we were going to have a party, it HAD to be Friday. I decided that this would be a good chance to have a surprise party...he was so not thinking birthday anymore.

I decided we would embrace Minnesota winter and go tubing. The plan was to hit Trapp Farm tubing hill in Eagan. Invites out. 13 kids coming. Biggest snow storm of season scheduled the day before. PERFECT! Ry has no idea. HOORAY. As I am blabbing to everyone I see about the surprise party, I am told that Trapp Farm is closed for the season. What? Feb. and March are the snowiest months around here...what? Panick! We decide that Buck Hill ski and tubing hill would be better anyway. Especially because it is OPEN.

The party worked! Ryan was so surprised. In fact I don't think that he really understood why all these people were jumping out at him until they started singing Happy Birthday.

The cake helped set the theme.

I had never been tubing at Buck Hill. It was wonderful. We got there early, so it was not to crowded yet. We didn't even have to carry their tubes up the hill. We just attached the tube to a rope tow and rode up and down the hill. The kids seemed happy and had fun.

Here is Ry with his friend Trevor. Trevor has been to EVERY single one of Ry's parties. Here are some more of the party goers. That is the strap used to attach to the rope tow.

Quote of the day: "I should have been susupicious because you WERE cleaning the house." "That was the best day ever!"

Beach Day

It is February. There is snow on the ground. I have been neglecting the laundry (not a lot of choices of clean clothes around here). What better time for a speech sponsored beach day? We found Andrew's Nemo pajamas, put a shark shirt over them, grabbed some glasses, socks, sandles and a hat, and swim suit...Ta Da Minnesotan beach bum.
I am all about the beach! I love it. I cannot wait to get back to the beach...so we embraced this theme. (Andrew is supposed to be swimming in the picture)
As he gets on the bus..I chuckle at the sandles and snow. I also have a mini-panick. I hope I got the day right (I have been asleep a lot lately). It is beach day right? If not, he is going to get some funny looks.
PS..Andrew just got home with a surf board and asked for surfing music so that he can show me his moves. I think I got the day right. Phew!

Disappeared

I have disappeared for a week or so...I thought I would tell you guys. In case you are wondering I have been a sleep. I kid you not. I have been going to bed around 5pm and then getting up the next morning. Back to bed by 9:30am. Probably averaging 15-20 hours of sleep a day for a while. I would wake up, go to work or church and then hit the pillow again. I only went where I had to go.. it has been bad. My living room mess tells the best tale. Layers of days of tiredness. I have been so tired I even took a pregnancy test (that was the answer last time I was this tired)...of course it was negative. Erik finally talked me into going to the doctor today. She told me I had a virus and gave me some pills. She basically told me what I already knew..but I think now I will let myself have some resting time. Hopefully I will be back to regular life soon. (Sorry yellow team...haven't really exercised and yes candy helps me get better)

Time to get EXCITED

You see the hamster...you know what I am going to talk about. I am on the yellow team for the Greatest Loser contest at the Y. I show up every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 am to get my butt kicked by our trainer Stephanie. I will admit that I am probably the weakest on the team when it comes to strength training. But, I show up each morning and try a little harder. : ). So the numbers came out for last week...drum roll....I tied for first in % weight loss. Hooray! Now I just hope those pictures of me at Chinese buffet don't get leaked out. We don't want another Michael Phelps situation.

Winter isn't going anywhere

Winter isn't going anywhere so we thought that we might as well enjoy it.
After school today we decided to put off homework and go to Trapp Farm for some tubing action with the Littles. The day was amazing. Good temperatures and clear skies.
Unfortunately or maybe fortunately the hill was closed because of icy conditions. We showed up not knowing this small fact. It turned out that no tubes were needed and we had the hill to ourselves. All we had to do was get to the top of the hill...

...which sometimes was easier said than done.

Once we got to the top we had to hold on to the fence or we would slip and go sliding down the hill before we were ready.
When we were ready all we had to do was sit and go. We got some good speed too. Of course we ended the outing with some yummy hot chocolate from McDonalds (and cheeseburgers, nuggets and some fries).

Emily gets Baptized

Emily turned 8 this past summer. She had a fabulous slumber party to celebrate her birthday. Then the next question quickly followed. When was she going to get baptized? The long awaited event has now happened. Yesterday.
We had a wonderful program. Grandma Ginger gave a talk about baptism. She even had part of the wall of Jerusalem with a strait gate representing baptism. Emily wore the dress that I wore when I was baptized. She looked beautiful : )
Emily was lucky to be baptized and confirmed by Robert Burgoyne, such a good family friend. He did a great job of explaining how to be baptized and helping her feel comfortable.

Here is Emily with the entire Burgoyne family. They have pretty much known Emily her entire life.

Even though the Littles had friends in town for the weekend, they still made it top priority to be there for Emily. This is another family that has known Emily her entire life. I can remember Lori bringing Adriana over for a visit. Em was peacefully sleeping in the baby swing! Thanks for coming guys! That really made Em feel special.
Here is all the local family. It is great to be able to be part of each others lives. Thank you for supporting her!
Many times during the program the question was asked, "What happens after baptism?" One answer is Chinese BUFFET! We started this yummy tradition after Ry's baptism and continued it with Emily's.

Here is one end of the table. As you see Andrew enjoyed the yummy chicken on sticks.
The other end. Louise is behind mom...that is her hand coming out of mom's shoulder. (I am such a good photographer!)