Metamorphosis

My good friend gave us two Monarch Butterfly catapillars a couple of weeks ago. Kenzie was so excited about this. She's been wanting to do this forever! So we put them in Kenzie's bug hotel she got from Santa last year and fed them milk weed. We watched them get fatter then only about a week later we saw them hanging upside down in a J form. We watched one of them wriggle itself into its chrysalis or cocoon.

About 10 days later the chrysalis turned really black instead of it's brilliant green color and the next morning out came a beautiful butterfly.It hung upside down for a long time while its wings got bigger and its body got smaller. I wasn't sure when it would finally want to get out and fly so we took it outside and apparently it wasn't ready to fly yet. It hung on to our fingers upside down for a long time. It's legs were sticky and tickly.We finally got tired of holding it so I put it on our Clematis and let it sit there for a while until it finally flew a way.Our 2nd Butterfly emerged that night. So when we woke up in the morning he was ready to fly away. We opened the lid and off he flew...
(Thanks Amy! That was a lot of fun!)

Before and After

Handyman Bart took on the task of improving the looks of our kitchen. We've been wanting to do that for a long time and we finally got it done. Bart put in a floating floor and a new chandelier. Here is the before picture of the ugly linoleum and the ugly chandelier....and here is the nice new floor and nice new light. I love it!

He did the entryway too. I didn't get a great shot before he started working on it (just imagine the same ugly white linoleum that was in the kitchen) but here is what it looks like now...

Our Vacation-Part 4: Kirtland, OH

For the last part of our vacation we spent some time looking around Kirtland, Ohio. Here are a couple of pictures of the Kirtland Temple and a group picture of all of us on the steps of the temple.

Our Vacation-Part 3: Niagara Falls day 2

The next day we viewed the American side of the falls and met up with my sister and her family. We took the Maid of the Mist boat ride which goes real close to the bottom of the falls. Again, we got soaking wet--but we all agreed it was well worth it!

Our Vacation-Part 2: Niagara Falls, Canada

The next day we drove to Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada. We stayed at the Embassy Suites Fallsview on the 16th floor and this was our view out our window...I highly recommend the hotel, the view everything. It was gorgeous, breathtaking, really!

That day we took a tour that goes underneath the falls through some tunnels then out on to a viewing deck. We got pretty wet but it was a magnificent view. Here are some pictures from the rest of that day viewing the Candadian Horseshoe Falls.


More on our vacation later...

Our Vacation-Part 1: Chicago

The numbers: 2 Adults, 1 Grandpa, 3 Children, 6 days, 8 states, 2 countries, 1 Provence, almost 2,000 miles total and about 30 hours total drive time. We came out all unscathed and actually all had a really great time.
Our first day of vacation was spent in Chicago. First, we headed up to the top of the Sears tower. Currently, the tallest building in the U.S.10,000 people visit the Sears Tower everyday and I am proud to say we were the 1st ones in that day!

After paying $31 for 2 hour parking at the Sears Tower (GEESH! I still can't get over that) we went over to Navy Pier (and payed much less for parking!)We walked along the pier and ate lunch here. Grandpa treated himself, Bart and the two older girls to a Ferris wheel ride which took 7 1/2 minutes to rotate once. Kenzie kept wanting it to go faster. I ever so politely declined due to my extreme fear of Ferris wheels and my extreme fear of putting a two year old who can't sit still on a Ferris wheel. Summer and I went to get ice-cream instead (I think a much better option!)

The last part of the day was taking a trolly over to Millennium Park and we spent most of our time there admiring the Cloud Gate sculpture.That about did us all in for that day.
More on our vacation to come later....

Gary Bjorklund 1/2 Marathon!

Bart did it! He ran his first 1/2 marathon on Saturday morning in Duluth, MN. We are all so proud of him and his accomplishment. I'll post more pictures later when we get them but here he is (sorry it's a little blurry) with his medal he recieved for finishing the race. Also, click here if you are interested in seeing his statistics from the race.

We are off to Chicago and Niagara this week...I'll blog more when we get back.

School's Out!

Ainsley had her last day of school yesterday. Summer vacation started officially today with Ains and Kenz fighting over who got their privacy in the bathroom and who gave who a mean look. In the meantime Summer is downstairs on the kitchen counter playing in the sink and sitting in a giant puddle of water she created. I decided on the spot to make a motto for this summer. It is to "Be Nice". I've already reminded them of it about 20 X's today. I am either hopefully optimistic or deliriously optimistic that it is going to work.

Now, back to Ainsley...she did an amazing job in 1st grade. She LOVES to read, her writing improved tremendously and her teacher loved her positive attitude and her enthusiasm for learning. Even the lunch ladies said they just couldn't resist her big blue eyes and what a joy she was to be around. So we are all proud of her hard work and joyous attitude. Here are 2 pictures of Ainsley one from her 1st day of school and one from her last day of school.Sept. 2007
June 2008

1,2,3... JUMP!

Now that Kenzie is done with pre-school and Ainsley is still in school, I am having a hard time keeping her entertained. Today we had Kenzie's good friend come over and this is how they kept themselves busy....


Needless to say they had a blast!

Sunny Sunday!

We finally hit 80 degrees yesterday!

I'm having a BAD day!

I just found out last night that someone else reserved the land that I want for our new house! And if they choose to build with Severson (the lot is owned by Severson) they obviously get it and not us. We chose to build with a different company but Severson was willing to sell the land to us if they had no one else wanting it. UGH! I'm so ANGRY! We'll find out in a week if they get it or not. All I can do now is pray that the best thing will happen for us. The only problem is I don't have a Plan B. I REALLY wanted that piece of land!

And then this morning my 5 year old (who will remain nameless, but you all know who it is) just put up the worst possible tantrum at the zoo. She pulled on me and hit me all the way out of the zoo. It was soooo embarrassing! But I followed through and I'm proud of myself for that. I told her if she didn't stop fussing we were going to leave the zoo--guess what she didn't stop. So we left. She just spent 40 minutes in the spider bathroom (oooh I'm so mean). That's where she goes to be separted from us if she can't handle being around us without hurting. And don't worry its not really infested with spiders it's really just a bathroom in the basement that once in a while has a spider in it. The remaining nameless 5 year old coined the phrase "spider bathroom" herself I guess because she's spent alot of time in there. I won't go into anymore gruesome details but to say that the 5 yr. old and I have talked about her behaivor and we have worked out some consequenses.

What I am wondering now is are these kinds of tantrums ever going to stop? Come to think of it my 7 year old still pulls a few too. And come to think of it, I kind of pulled one myself when I found out about the land. I guess it's a never ending battle.

My Amazing Birthday!!

I had a really cool birthday this year. Turning 34 isn't all that bad when you have a wonderful family and fantastic friends to share it with. First off...on my actual b-day (May 20) I met with a big group of my good friends at DQ with all their hubby's and kids. I don't think our kids were quite as wild this time as they were at Rochelle's b-day so that was good. And of course, the Oreo brownie hot fudge Sundae that I splurged on wasn't so bad either! Thanks to everyone that came!
Then if that wasn't good enough my darling husband--who has known for years that I've always wanted a surprize party--pulled one off this year. I knew we were going out to eat at Buca's on Friday night but I thought it was just going to be with Bart and my dad. Instead Bart had arranged 4 close couple friend's of ours to join us. Friends that I love but don't get to see all that often. (Except the Stotts--we see you guys enough!) It was a really great night dining and visiting with everyone. The food was AMAZING! And the friendship I felt even better. And luckily, Jesse didn't eat all the chicken so I got the leftovers and had a great lunch the next day.

I just want to say to all my friends and family: You guys are all amazing and I really had a special birthday that I will always remember. Thank you!

Graduation!

Our little girl just graduated from Pre-school!Mackenzie receiving her "diploma" from her two teachers Mrs. Christianson and Mrs. Aadland
Kenzie, Olivia & Ava at the ice-cream social after the ceremonies
Kenzie, Mikell, and her teacher Mrs. Christianson
Mackenzie, Luke, Alan & Cap
Mackenzie and Rachel

Mackenzie made a lot of friends this year at pre-school which was a huge breakthrough for her. She had a great year and learned a lot! Here's Mackenzie back in Sept. 2007 on her 1st day of pre-school.

Jackson Street Roundhouse Train Museum

On Wednesday May, 21st I got to be a chaperone for Mackenzie's fieldtrip. I've lived in the Twin Cities almost my entire life and I love that there are always new places to see that I never even knew existed. I'd even driven past this place every week on my way to church as a kid and I always just thought it was an old warehouse. Turns out it's a train musuem. The kids had a blast blowing train whistles, eating lunch in an old dining car, taking a ride on a caboose and of course playing with all the toy train tables set up.Mackenzie and her good friend Olivia in a really old train car.On the caboose ride.Kenz in front on an old steam locomotive.This is the actual train used on the Casey Jones t.v. show.

SHHHH!

So, Summer and I are driving along in the van on our way to do some serious shoe shopping. I turn the radio on to my favorite station (KS95) and Summer says, "Noooooo" and points to my viser where all the cd's are. I gave her some choices and she lit up when I mentioned The Backyardigans. I thought, "OK, I can handle this." So, I pop that in for her. We start listening to Tasha, Uniqua, Tyrone and the others sing their catchy little songs and I start singing along. Then I hear Summer saying, "Shhhhhhhh." I look back at her and there she is with her finger over her lips shushing me! Hmph. So I wait a little bit and I start singing again (I mean, c'mon it's the Backyardigans!--their songs are catchy!). Lo and behold Summer is shushing me again! This went on about 5 or 6 more times (I don't give up too easily.) And eventually I did give up and let her have it her way with NO SINGING! I know I'm no Carrie Underwood but I'm not that bad of a singer.

I've been tagged....

How To Play This Game of Tag: Post these rules on your blog. List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog!


Yeah! My first tag.

3 Joys-
1- Obviously~ My hubby and my 3 girls.
2- The warm weather we are starting to have now and all the flowers and buds coming up.
3- Reading a good book.

3 Fears-
1- The circus (especially clowns).
2- Moths and Centipedes. I was always afraid the moths would eat my clothes and they fly at you so haphazardly. And centipedes because they move SO fast and having that many legs is completly unnatural.
3- The wind. When I was a kid I was always so afraid our picnic table was going to blow away. Don't ask me why.

3 Goals-
1- To get through each day.
2- To finish reading the Bible (I just have half of the Old Testament left and just Revelations left of the New Testament! Yeah!)
3- Be in a new home by the end of the year.

3 Current Obsessions/Collections- I don't collect anything but I am obsessive about a lot of things.
1- Crossword puzzles
2- Having all the toys in their correct places. I've let go on the girls room but believe me it hurts me when I look in their baskets and see their fairy dolls mixed up with their High School Musical dolls.
3- When I do find time to scrapbook, I obsess over each page.

3 Random Surprising Facts about ME.
1- Many of you know this...I lived in the bush (the African way of saying the boondocks or the middle-of-nowhere) in Namibia for one month living with a tribe called the Himba and I wrote a 50 page paper on their very native life style.

2- I've been to New Zealand twice.

3- I ate my first PB&J when I was 20 years old.

Now I'm going to tag--Amy Springer, Andi, Tamsen, Tricia and Lisa --you certainly don't have to do this if you've already done it. Everyone else on my blog has been tagged so you guys are the lucky ones!

I'm Baaaack!

Nope, I wasn't on some exotic cool vacation. And I wasn't sick. But I feel like I've been gone for a very long time. We are finally back to cyber world and I am now sitting here up in my bedroom staring at our new giganormous computer screen that Bart had to have. (But I'm backing off on my comments on it 'cuz my good friends told me to let the hubby be excited about his computer stuff). So, I just spent the last hour catching up on everyone's blogs from the past week or so and I am so happy to be back on the blog. What did we ever do before blogs? I know that was only like 3 months ago for me but I really love knowing what's going on in everybodies lives. Oh- that sounded a little peeping tomish to me. Anyway......you all know what I mean!

For those of you that don't know, our laptop died on us. It would have cost us at least $300 to fix it which is half way to a desk top (or so they say if you don't add anything on to it). Bart very excitedly got us a cool new top-o-the-line computer that'll probably be out of date in a few minutes or so. I'm still trying to get used to it. I do miss my laptop, even if it was old and out dated. I miss being able to work on it while laying on the couch, in my bed, at the kitchen table, or even outside while the kids are playing. It'll take me a while to get used to this new desk top and HUGE screen but I'm sure I'll adapt soon enough.