Tis The Season

It's lawn mowing time again. Emily was lucky enough to be the first kid to mow this year. It is nice to smell newly cut grass again, but that aromatic pleasure will wear out pretty quickly I'm sure. It is amazing how fast the grass has grown after the rain Friday night. I hope the mosquitos don't hatch anytime soon. It was so nice to not have many mosquitos last year, and I'm hoping that they have become extinct in the Campbell area (I doubt it, but a guy can always hope).

Orthodontia Begins

Alex went in today to get his headgear. What a lucky guy! He is supposed to wear it 14 hours a day. I remember the headgear days, but I can't say that it is a fond memory. I appreciate the results very much, and hope my kids do someday also. I think all my kids were blessed the orthodontia gene. I guess someone has to fund the orthodontics field.

Ferry Wanted

It looks like it will be a few days until I can drive across the bridge again. With the rain this weekend, the river rose 8 feet in about 12 hours.

Alex's Pheasant

Alex cooked the pheasant he shot tonight for supper. He shot it across the river in October and we are finally eating it. Alex picked out the recipe, cooked it himself and it turned out great! Way to go Alex, both on shooting the pheasant and cooking it!

Too Wet to Bike?

On the way home from church today, Sam got very sad. He said, "All I want to do is ride bike, and it is too wet", and he burst into tears. Karen said she could hold up the back of his bike and then he could ride in the gargage and he said "OK". Alex thought he should try that also, but Karen didn't think she could hold him up. By the way, we've gotten 1.6 inches of rain the past two days and it looks like more is on the way. The river came up about 5 feet overnight, so I guess I won't be putting plots in over there for a few days.

Ahhhh! Sweet Corn

Alex and Emily helped me plant our first sweet corn today. It is supposed to rain tonight and this weekend. If it doesn't rain, I hope to get started planting plots tomorrow.

Counting Seeds

Alex and Emily have been helping me by using my seed counter to put 60 seeds into each seed packet. Each packet will plant one row 20 feet long. The envelopes are pre-gummed so they only need to fold the flap over and then staple two packets together (for two row plots). Sam has even helped by stapling the packets together. I haven't actually added up the number of packets we need to count, but I think it is somewhere between 8,000 and 12,000.

Fun with Grandpa!

Dad came over today to help me finish hanging shelves in the kids closets. After we finished, he shot a little .22 with Alex. Grandpa outscored Alex 50 points(5 bullseyes) to 49 (4 bullseyes and one 9 ring). Better keep practicing Alex. Then Grandpa played catch with Sam and Emily. Thanks for all your help Dad.

Megan's Sophie

Megan doctored up this picture of Sophie and we thought it was cute.

Photo Shoot

Yesterday, our family headed to picturesque Staples, MN for a photo shoot with Megan Ellingson. She is attending Central Lakes College in Staples in photography and needed a shot of a group of four or more people for a class project. We thought it would be a great way to get some pictures of our family and help Megan at the same time. Thanks Megan!

Easter at Grandma JoAnne's

We had a great day at Grandma's. It started at church, then to Grandma's for ham, mashed potatoes and gravy and all the trimmings. For dessert we had French Silk pie or a lemon dish we had a lot growing up. It was all wonderful! Thanks Mom. The kids all love getting together with their cousins. They love to play all day and don't want to go home until everyone is way overtired.
Pam, the close-up of Mom is for you. Did you notice the necklace she was wearing?

Easter Chicks

Karen and the kids also made the chicks sitting on nests for dessert. They are made out of a Twinkie, licorice hair, Starburst ears, and are sitting on a nest of chow mein noodles. The one Emily is holding was made especially for Alyssa, because it has a pink tutu.

Easter Baskets

Every year, Grandpa hides a basket for each grandkid. They all want Grandpa to "Hide it hard", but not "Too hard".

Egg Hunt!

After the kids found their baskets, Don and I hid eggs for the kids. We wimped out and hid them inside, since there was still snow outside. Each kid was supposed to get a dozen eggs. Of course someone had to find too many, and it was that darn Sophie. If only she would learn to count to 12.

Teaching the kids to gamble

We played a lot of cards a Grandma's today. We even played Blackjack and Texas Hold'Em.

Moose's Tooth Rules!

The Moose's Tooth pizza was GREAT! We put all the green peppers on one half for Alex and I. We are wondering if Moose's Tooth wants to open a francise in Campbell. Dolly, next time you are there, let them know we are interested in a francise, but we need to taste all their pizzas before we make a final decision. So, if they could send us one a week, that would be AWESOME! Thanks again Pam and Tom, the pizza brought back good memories from our trip.

Painting Eggs!

Sam has been asking for days when he could "Paint Eggs" and today was his lucky day. The kids each had a dozen eggs, and Sam and Sophie were done in no time. Alex and Emily took a little longer on a few of their eggs.

Sophie Cleaning

Alex, Em and Sam went to a bible club in Campbell this morning, and Sophie was mad until we told her that she could help Mom clean. Sophie loves to clean! Now that's a trait we hope persists.

Tea Party

Alex and Emily each had a friend stay over last night, and the girls thought the boys would love to have a tea party. The boys weren't all that excited about it, but they were good sports and had a little tea(Gatorade).

PIZZA!

MY PIZZA IS HERE! Yesterday, Fed Ex delivered my Moose's Tooth pizza from Alaska. We can't wait to have it for supper tonight. Thanks Dolly (and Paul Gebhardt)!!

Winter Wonderland

Winter has returned! We received 8 inches of snow yesterday. School was cancelled, so the kids were happy about that. The good news is that the river is going down.