Shirley Temple

I LOVE these pigtails.  They melt my heart. ;)

Easter 2011

I met Steve and the kids in Arpin for Easter weekend.  Friday night Darrell and Judy took us out to a wonderful fish fry where Braden discovered he LOVED fish.  He ate more than I did!!  Norah also loved it. :)  

Saturday Steve played in an alumni Basketball Tournament.  Then we played around the house with Uncle Marc and had a delicious Easter dinner.  We dyed Easter Eggs and then went to sleep dreaming of bunnies and chocolate!!

Easter morning we awoke to Braden whispering in our ears.  He couldn't wait to get started on his treasure hunt that the Easter Bunny left.  He and Olivia maneuvered through the house from one clue to the next, discovering surprises along the way.  The end of the hunt had them in the garage reaching for Easter baskets sitting on the hood of the car!  The rest of the morning was spent playing with their goodies, eating a ton of gum, and flying kites.

 It was such a great Easter.  Darrell and Judy were wonderful hosts as always - and the kids can't wait until we can go back. :)  

Rainy Day Projects

So in February of 2010 Olivia started a home improvement project for us.  If you were following our blog at that point you read a posting with the picture below.  She tore off some wallpaper from the bathroom on our first floor.  Thank you Olivia!  I had the best of intentions of doing something about it in either June, July or August of 2010 but you can all guess what happened.  LIFE!  It is now April - almost May of 2011 and we are finally getting to this project.

Yesterday Olivia and I ripped off the rest of the wallpaper - which came down quite easily I might add.

 Then I spent nap time yesterday and part of this morning taking the paste off with warm water and a scraper.  

We have lovely purple walls underneath! 

So the paste is for the most part down.  I now need to spend some time washing them because they still have a film on them.  I am going to use soapy water unless someone has a better suggestion. I have never done this before and I am super glad it is only a SMALL space!  

Now... to figure out flooring, paint colors and a new light and mirror......

Missing Meg

I was able to stop by and see Meg on my way out of town last week.  We had a wonderful visit reading books with the kids, eating yummy taco soup for lunch, and catching up.  It was far too short but we'll be up in the cities a few more times this summer so will be able to spend some more time together then.

Love you SMEGS!

I am always amazed that we can pick up like we were living on State Street in Eau Claire just last week. :)

Visiting Baby Lincoln

I had the privilege of spending a few days in Minnesota last week visiting baby Lincoln.  Sam and Emily graciously welcomed me into their home to witness his first few days of life.  It was such a special visit where I tried to be helpful when needed and step back when it seemed appropriate.

 Proud Nana!

 And a proud Papa!

 A beautiful baby boy!

 What a difference 32 years makes!

 Emily's Dad - and a beaming new family.

 Emily's Grandparents and her mom - Lincoln is the first Great Grandchild.  

 His eyes are the most beautiful gray color!

I just can't get enough shots of those cute wrinkly feet!

The time went way too fast and I was sad to leave knowing that the next time I see him, he'll be so much bigger.  Sam and Emily are wonderful parents - already!  They are confident, loving and patient.  Lincoln seems to have a very calm demeanor.  Hopefully he continues that as Sam ventures back to work. 

My heart feels warm and happy following my visit.  I can't thank Sam and Em enough for sharing their lives with me last week.  I will treasure it forever.

Welcome Lincoln John Snyder!!!

It's a BOY!  

Sam and Emily gave birth ... correction ... EMILY gave birth (with lots of support from SAM) to a beautiful baby BOY!  We are so excited to have another little boy in the family.  He was 8lbs and is nearly 20 inches long.  He is nursing well and is already very well loved I hear.  

Emily birthed him naturally - I am SOOOOO proud of her. I can't wait to hear all the details but it sounds like she was an amazingly strong woman who let her body do what it was created to do - birth a baby without intervention.  I have no judgement for those who choose to use intervention (honest to goodness truth) but I believe in the strength of a womans body and think there is nothing more powerful than laboring a baby.

I am headed to visit asap and cannot wait to give both Sam and Em a hug. It was really hard being so far away during this special time in their lives.  I wanted so badly to be there and be part of it.  I guess I'll have to settle for a few days late. ;)  

I also cannot wait to get some newborn baby time.  As I have moved further along in my mommy-hood I realize how fast it goes and I treasure it more and more.  In fact - I am a little bit of a baby freak!

Congrats Sam and Em!  He is perfect, and beautiful, and you will make the most incredible parents.  GREAT JOB EMILY!!!

Kitchen Fun & Missing Daddy

Steve has been gone again - it will be five days tomorrow.  The overnights are doable, the two to three night trips get a little long by the end and the five night trips (thankfully there aren't many of them) are hard on all of us.  We miss him being around. We miss his snuggles, miss his smile and energy.  We miss his help of course but most of all just miss his presence.

 We have tried to stay busy this time and last night we made homemade, stuffed pizza rolls.  Olivia and I made homemade dough, let it rise and then we rolled it out for the rolls.  We filled them with cheese and some pepperoni, then rolled them up.  The last step before the oven was brushing them with olive oil and sprinkling spices and parmesan on top.  They were delicious dipped in pizza sauce!  

 Norah was sleeping through a lot of it which was helpful - otherwise she walked around and fed Magnus.  That is one of her favorite things to do. :)  

Norah and I were walking down the stairs after her nap and she pointed to a picture on the wall and said, "Daddy."  I told her that daddy would be home soon and she pointed to the picture again.  She continued to point to pictures of him saying, "Daddy," each time all the way down.  She will be so excited when he walks in the door tomorrow. 

After making the rolls I put all the dishes in the sink and both kids "washed" them.  They spent almost an hour playing in the water.  It was a great way to pass the time. :)  

So one more day and our daddy comes home!!!  We miss you Steve and can't wait to see you tomorrow.