Callie QOTD

Yesterday Chris and Callie were working a little bit on her research project about the Canada Lynx. One of the questions she has to answer is if her animal is a mammal, reptile, insect, etc. Chris explained to Callie that Lynx are mammals because they have babies, so humans are mammals too because humans have babies.

Callie: Daddy you don't have babies, so you're not a mammal.

Chris: (looking at me, clearly trying to figure out whether or not he wants to try and explain the male's role in human reproduction...and whimps out) Yeah kiddo, I don't know what Daddy is.

Callie: Daddy is a reptile because he doesn't have any hair!

Me: Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Timehop Tuesday

First up: silly sisters.

Next up: Miss Maya.

Then: Miss Cal.

Lastly: Easter 2015 and Easter 2016.

Weekend Wrap-Up: The EASTER Edition

Happy Easter!

I'll be honest, Easter crept up on me this year just like St. Patrick's Day did.  Though if I'm honest with myself, I should probably admit that I was more just kind of avoiding thinking about it.  We didn't go Easter dress shopping until Friday night.  I didn't go Easter Bunny shopping until yesterday afternoon.  We didn't go see the Easter Bunny at the mall at all.

Today my Easter attitude started out pretty sour as I went for a 4 mile run that I struggled through.  I wanted to see the sunrise so badly but it was too cloudy.  I was thinking about my dad, and all the fun our family had last Easter at our house, and how none of us could have predicted what would happen in the days/months/year following last Easter.

At the very last (uphill) stretch of my run, I got a text from my mom:

HE IS RISEN! I LOVE YOU.

I finished the run and cried and called her and got my mind right.  Because that's the thing.  This day is the day that makes all of our hope possible.  Often when I don't know what to say, or need some validation of what I'm feeling, I will google "grief quotes" and see what comes up.  Today I googled "Easter quotes" and found this:

"Let every man and woman count himself immortal. Let him catch the revelation of Jesus in his resurrection. Let him say not merely, 'Christ is risen,' but 'I shall rise.'"
-Phillips Brooks

That about sums it up for me.  And as my mom said to me this morning on the phone, "Dad is having the most glorious Easter this year."

And that's all I can say about that, as the one year mark quickly approaches.

So before I recap our Easter, I must share pictures from our family zoo trip yesterday.  Callie has an animal "research project" for school due in a couple of weeks.  She has to research and present on the Canada Lynx (not to be confused with our dear Minnesota Lynx), so we went to the zoo to gather some information and get some pictures.  It was a fun family outing.

Research project subjects: top left

Stay tuned as we begin the research project process.  The instructions clearly say "LET YOUR CHILD DO THE PROJECT", so Chris and I will need to be careful not to get too controlling.  Ok, that is probably just going to be my problem.  Anyway, we need to let Callie do what she wants to do and be okay with however it turns out.

Back to Easter.

The Easter Bunny came and Callie was up EARLY because she was so psyched.

Maya ended up sleeping late (when does that EVER happen? NEVER. Except Easter apparently) so we had to wake her up.  She was a little bit bamboozled and clearly had some bedhead issues going on.

She came around quickly.  Then they got dressed and I bribed them with jelly beans to take a picture, like the first one I posted.  Here are some outtakes.

They weren't too bad this time.  Jelly beans helped.

We headed to G-ma and Pa's house for our first Easter celebration.  The girls went on a hunt for the Easter baskets, we had a delicious brunch, and the girls went on another hunt to find Easter eggs! Also, Chris and I had a nap.

From there we went to the condo for Easter celebration #2.  Boom made the girls a scavenger hunt with 20 clues, that ultimately led the girls to find their presents in her car!

The clues were cute and they rhymed.  For example:


IMG_3907 from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

"Maya, from diapers will soon be free,
She'll go to this place when she needs to pee!"

After a delicious linner (we ate around 3:30), we went to 5:00 church.  It was a small service and very different from the normal Easter services we were used to. That was a good thing, I think.  Callie did a great job following along.  She wanted to "do what the grownups do", so I had to sneak a picture.

We got home and Maya had bathtime and Callie watched basketball with Chris.  I noticed lots of light reflecting around our front door (we face west), and opened the door and walked down the street to see that the sun was FINALLY out.  And shining brighter than I have seen for awhile.

He is Risen.  He is Risen Indeed.  Happy Easter.

A Picture Update

I figure I'd start with sharing the video I tried to share on Sunday.  It is of Rachel Platten singing "Fight Song," which has been my jam this year.  And it has been particularly relevant the past few weeks, as I have needed some motivation to keep up with adulting (aka being a functional human).


IMG_3779 from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Callie was on spring break this week, so she and Mays got to hang out with Boom, G-ma, Pa, Auntie Cat, and Auntie Yoda! They were busy girls! I still have another week of work until my spring break.

On to the pictures...

On Monday and Tuesday the girls had downtown adventures with Boom.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the girls had fun adventures with G-ma, Pa, and Auntie Cat (who was also on spring break). At Como Conservatory, they found namesake plants (Maya palm and Calliandra). Maya also had an epic closed eye picture moment.

On Friday, the girls and Boom went to the library and to visit Auntie Yoda's office downtown.

Other than that, Callie spent the week wearing two different shoes.

And tonight we went shopping for Easter dresses, and the girls rocked sunglasses.

I'll leave you with the awesomeness that is Maya trying to tell knock-knock jokes and other funny things.  Happy Friday!


IMG_3823 from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

32-Months-Old!

Holy moly I think this is day #9 in a row of blogging!

Is is the 23rd and we are inching oh so much closer to the big THREE.

This girl, and her big dark blue eyes, are my lifeline some days.  She dishes out the "Love you Mama"s like a champ, and cuddling her is one of my favorite things.  Also baths.  Baths are a major favorite thing (unlike her sister who HATES wet hair).  She loves playing like a big girl (like her sister) and her vocabulary is ridiculous.

That is the view outside our front window today.  SO. MUCH. STUPID. SNOW.

One of my other favorite things about her is the fact that she now requests pigtails in her hair.  And one of her favorite things to eat are "SWAMWICHES".


IMG_3799 from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Also, she still shakes like a little leaf whenever she is excited.  There is so much joy in that little body sometimes, that she just doesn't know how to handle it.  It comes out by shaking all her appendages in the MOST adorable way.


IMG_3806 from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

She is truly my little LOVE BUG.

Timehop Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!  First up- lifelong friends. From climbing stairs to playing outside on their own, Callie and Charlie have always been buds.

My two-year-old girls are sweet and lovely.

Callie's Baptism-versary

Callie was baptized six years ago today.

We had a large crowd of people there to support us, and have found that to be true ever since. :)

God Bless Callie Joy!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Hello! Happy Sunday.

We had one of those weekends where the girls had clearly been (figuratively) drinking some kind of ridiculous CRABBY KOOL-AID.

Holy Moly. Anyway.

Chris' birthday was yesterday. We all took Cal to dance and then went to my mom's for nap time.

After nap we headed to a freind's house for a St. Patrick's Day party. The girls had fun with green hats.

This morning I got to indulge in Maya snuggles and wasn't complaining.

I took the girls to Target and let Chris sleep (happy belated birthday!). And then I went for a 6 mile run. I felt strong. And the sun was shining bright.

Our afternoon was spent bowling with G-ma, Pa, Uncle Dan, Hanna, and Auntie Cat. It was a blast!

Tonight Hanna and I went to see Rachel Platten in concert. Amazing.

 

I tried to upload a clip of her singing my favorite song, but I am currently having first world internet problems and it is 11:20pm.  I need to go to bed, so I'll say goodnight.  And promise to post the clip sometime later this week.

Happy Birthday Daddy, Uncle Dan, Auntie Yoda AND Elliott!!

March 19th has always been a big deal, since it is Chris, Dan, and Laura's birthday. This year is even a bigger deal, because Kitty Cat Elliott is ONE today!

Happy birthday to all!

A Picture Update

It has been a busy week! I'm posting this late after being in my school's talent show. There were lots of fun kid acts, and I was part of a Spice Girls tribute group. Thanks to Mari for the use of the blue athletic pants! I rocked it as Sporty Spice.

The rest of the week was business as usual. Maya hung out with Boom and had downtown adventures.

We went on a family walk.

Callie's reading ability got me in trouble when she picked up my bottle of vitamins and said "Mom! You are not following the rules! You are supposed to keep this out of reach of children!"

Hanna sent me a beautiful picture of the sunset earlier this week.

And finally, Fowl Language Comics posted a particularly relevant comic earlier this week, seeing as our 6-year-old takes any and every opportunity to argue with me that she can. It's like we have lawyers in the family or something...

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I have to admit this day snuck up on me. I didn't buy new coordinating shirts like I usually do. Last night I dug out Callie's shirt from a couple years ago and found some green leggings for Maya. 

But it was important to wear green for Nana!

 🍀💚🍀

In the process of taking the above picture, I also took this one, which made me giggle a little:

And, for fun, some throwback Thursday pics:

 

An Amazing Story

My sisters and I got this email from our mom this morning.  She gave me permission to post it here.

It is too cool not to share.

Also, a warning: possible tears and maybe chills or goosebumps ahead.

Hi girls,

I just returned home from a walk along the Mississippi. On my way back home, I walked under the Hennepin Ave. Bridge and sitting on the wall looking out over the river was a homeless man with flowing white hair and a beard. As I walked past him I made eye contact and said “good morning.” 

He started talking to me about the eagles he was watching. So far he had seen three soaring through the sky. We started talking about the eagle nests around and he told me about eagle feathers and how holy they are. He said you have to “earn” the privilege of keeping an eagle feather. I told him he probably had earned one. That made him smile and we continued to talk about things…places he’s lived (Wisconsin, California and Hawaii), the buffalo…Native American wisdom. I asked him if he was Native American and he said he was part Cherokee. 

I finally introduced myself and told him my name. His response was:  “My name is Lee.” 

I told him about how my husband was named Lee and he died last year and I was having a hard time. He told me he believed in angels and that my husband was in a good place and the angels were with him. His sister was murdered when she was 21 and his mother died and they were both cremated and are buried next to each other at Lakewood Cemetery. I told him about you girls and how we’re working hard to help each other. We talked a bit more (mostly about my walking sticks since they intrigued him) and then I said “nice meeting you.” The last words he said to me were “Take care of your kids.”

So it goes….

I love you.

Mom

Tears, right?  Chills and goosebumps?  HIS NAME, out of all the millions of names, WAS LEE.

I loved the imagery of soaring eagles, so I googled it.  One of the images that came up was of a soaring eagle with a very applicable verse:

Thank you, Mom, for sharing your story.  What a remarkable reminder that Dad is with us.

Timehop Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!

First up: Callie eating ice cream.

Next: Toddlers in the spring.

Last: Toddlers and Mommy

Weekend Wrap-Up

These weeks are flying by.  It is hard to believe it is almost mid-March.

We had a nice weekend.  I went for a run (back to my usual sunray spotting spot) and then the girls and I spent time outside on Saturday morning.

Sunrays during a 5 mile run.

I spent most of the walk chasing them.

As you may remember from my blog post from yesterday, we had a birthday party for Kona at G-ma and Pa's house.  It was nice to spend time outside, have a delicious dinner and walk during a beautiful sunset.

Today I met my friend Amanda for coffee and FINALLY met her baby Peter!  He is almost 6 weeks old and adorable.

Then, since I *think* we are finally over all the sickness from the past few weeks, we were able to see some friends for lunch.  Jenna, Andy, Charlie, Mabel and Sylvia all came over for a long overdue play date.

Tonight my mom, sisters and I went to church, dinner and then Paint Nite for our monthly girls night out event!

The painting was titled "Andromeda Flower" and we all think they look better from afar.... ;)

Have a good week!