Anderson Antics

Flying the coop and other January adventures.

2012-01-29T21:04:00.000-08:00

January has continued to be relatively mild, although it seems more like winter than 3 weeks ago.

Little Rascal pauses to soak up the sun during a walk to the mailbox.

Ben and Jen came up to stay at my parents' new vacation lake home 2 weekends ago. Dane and Nora joined them in a "cuddle puddle" during a Culver's lunch break.

Two bluejays visited our birdfeeders the other day. I grabbed my phone to snap a picture of the two of them together, but I shot the picture through the screen. When I readjusted to get a better picture, one flew away.

Last weekend, we visited the cousins (and aunt and uncle). The kids had a great time making slime!

Ellie

Nora

This week we inherited a rooster to save him from a worse fate. Meet Emilio!

He likes to watch us out the window of his coop. We hope to find him some lady friends tomorrow to keep him company and provide us with fresh eggs!

A quick video from our ski outing yesterday. Listen for Nora's sweet giggle!

A beautiful winter

2012-01-08T20:01:00.000-08:00

Our mild temperatures and lack of snow make it hard to believe it's January here! Normally the first few weeks of the year bring subzero temperatures, and the ground would normally have a foot or two of snow! We took advantage of the nice weather yesterday and did some exploring and playing outside.

Three kitties up one tree!

Walking the frozen creek.

Racoon prints on the ice.

The kids loved this old willow tree with its broken branches falling back to the ground. It made a perfect little fort!

Mike thought it was perfect for climbing.

Looking back at our place from the "fort" which happens to be just a few feet over the line fence into the neighbor's land. Otherwise, most of what you see in this picture is our land. We have to pinch ourselves after living in a little suburban lot in Nevada!

Some folks are still brave enough to be out on the lakes after many days above freezing temps and some record highs. (Some towns in MN hit 60 degrees this past week!) I never realized what a culture the whole ice fishing scene is until moving here to Minnesota!

We went to Grampy and Grammy's new vacation/eventual retirement lake home yesterday evening to help them finish up some cleaning and moving in a few things. Nora helped scrub the fridge.

Dane found a doorway perfect for playing Angry Birds.

Nora loved the newly installed fireplace that we fired up for the first time last evening!

Pretty Miss Posey.

This morning's beautiful sunrise.

A little chickadee outside our window. The birds haven't flocked to my birdfeeders as much this year since the ground is still open.

Family

2012-01-08T12:31:00.000-08:00

My dad's father, Grandpa Stockwell, passed away December 22. While it is sad to let him go for good, it is so wonderful for him to no longer be confined to his failing body. It was so wonderful to see so much family at his funeral. It's sad that we couldn't get so many of us together while he was still with us.

Twenty-nine of Grandpa's thirty-three great grandchildren.

Eighteen of Grandpa's twenty grandchildren.

Grandma and all eight children.

Dad and his siblings.

'Tis the season!

2011-12-25T22:45:00.000-08:00

I hope each one had a lovely Christmas! Here are some random photos from our holiday and earlier this month.

Dane's Christmas concert at school 3 weeks ago. (Red sweater vest, front row, 5th from the right.)

The city of Alexandria is always so beautiful along its old downtown at Christmas.

Homemade garland.

More homemade garland.

Matching her baby, dress, tights and hat!

The closest we came to a white Christmas was this frost earlier in the week.

Teddy warmed up in the kitchen one evening last week.

Dane feeds the reindeer with the mix his teacher sent home. Pretty cute!

My parents and Ben & Jen came for a couple of days. On Christmas eve, we hitched up and went for a hayride over to visit Mike's parents. I love how Dane is upside down!

Along the way, we stopped to play on the ice.

Dane likes to practice his rodeo skills on the sleds!

Daddy and Nora get a tow.

Just one of many gifts, Nora loves her pink and purple guitar!

Kids in their Christmas PJ's checking their stockings this morning. Notice Nora's nightgown matches her baby's! The kids opened their new jammies yesterday around noon and finally took them off almost 24 hours later!

It was such a beautiful day (no snow, 40+ degrees) that I went out for an afternoon run.

Dane and Daddy even played croquet in the beautiful Christmas Day weather!

Dane's art

2011-12-08T10:08:00.000-08:00

I have decided to upload scans of some of Dane's work from time to time. I love to watch how his drawing and writing are progressing. The second picture is a snowmobile- I love his creative spelling. This way I don't have to keep all the papers which are so hard to organize, but I can still keep these precious memories.

Winter is (almost) here.

2011-12-05T20:24:00.000-08:00

Little bedhead Nora loves her hot chocolate!

Our neighbors at Andes Tower Hills have been making snow on a couple of their runs, so we hit the slopes for a few hours Saturday.

Daddy and Nora riding the lift together.

Dane is so fast that we don't get as many pictures or videos of him. We're too busy just trying to keep up!

Nora is finally getting the hang of things a bit more. Now I can take her down the hill on my snowboard. She hasn't quite figured out the stopping, as you'll note at the end!

Here she found the easiest way to stop after coming down the hill with Daddy!

Now Dane studies the trail map over breakfast and tells us about the runs he's going to take next time!

Thankful

2011-11-27T18:34:00.000-08:00

We had a very nice Thanksgiving weekend, but I took very few pictures. My brother and his lovely new bride and their new "baby" (picture below) came for Thanksgiving Day but went home Friday to prepare for their first Thanksgiving feast at their home on Saturday with her family. We also had Mike's parents, aunt and uncle with us for Thanksgiving dinner.

Here are a few random recent photos along with just a few related to our actual Thanksgiving. Regardless, I am so thankful for innumerable blessings.

Two dollies.

Dane in Uncle Benny's glasses. Reminds me of Ralphie from "The Christmas Story."

Nora and our neighbor girl wanted to be twins one day.

This is a little rocking chair I bought about 7 or 8 years ago because it matched the chair I had as a little girl and blogged about here. I really wanted to make it match Nora's room, so I recovered it last week. However, I was able to do it in such a way that I can easily revert back to its original covering for nostalgia's sake.

The finished product.

Nora loves it!

Dane went pheasant hunting (without any luck) with Daddy and Teddy last Saturday just as it started to snow.

Pretty frosty morning one week ago.

Just a bit of snow on the ground earlier this week. It all melted away by the afternoon of Thanksgiving Day.

Making snow angels.

My Thanksgiving cactus that I nearly killed this summer bloomed right on schedule.

Ben and Jen brought their sweet little Tupelo to visit for Thanksgiving. He's so lucky they adopted him after living his first few months of life as a "street kitten."

Our Thanksgiving table in the sun. We later added drinking glasses, lots of food, and some of our favorite people!

Pretty old barn bathed in a Thanksgiving sunset.

Beautiful colors to be thankful for on Thanksgiving.

Dane dressed up 50's style to celebrate the 50th day of kindergarten.

Nora playing doctor with her baby doll. Interesting choice for an exam table!

Another year luckier

2011-11-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

I celebrated the 4th anniversary of my 29th birthday at the beginnng of November. As usual, Mike spoiled me perfectly. The last weekend of October, he surprised me by taking me and the kids to a nearby resort for the night. The kids loved the indoor waterpark. I enjoyed not feeling guilty about laundry/dishes and the other necessities of keeping a home. I also must admit that I loved the spa treatment I was treated to as well!

As if that wasn't enough, he also got me a beautiful new kitchen faucet. I am very happy that I was finally able to get rid of the plain faucet and the nonfunctioning water spigot next to it.

Ahhhhh... much better!

The kids are now more eager to help wash dishes with the new sprayer!

My brother and his beautiful bride got me this fun T for my birthday. Perfect!

The rest of these pictures are unrelated to my birthday, but need to be shared!

My sweet morning kitchen helper making pancakes.

Celebrating Benji's 3rd birthday last weekend.

Nora wrote her name all by herself last week.

Evening jungle gym with Daddy.

Little mini ornamental corn ears from my garden.

Delicious pumpkin soup!

A piece of our 47 acres. Looks like a lot of mowing to me!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T20:11:00.000-07:00

I took this picture one week ago on a beautiful afternoon. We were out enjoying the weather when I decided on a whim that it would be fun to get a good picture of the kids in their costumes. So I quickly put their costumes together and this was our finished product.

Later the same evening, we decided to carve one of our pumpkins.

The kids had a great time trick-or treating this evening. The weather even stayed relatively mild, We went to a few neighbor places (couldn't forget Grandpa and Grandma's house!) and then headed into Kensington for a little while. My favorite thing about Halloween evening in Kensington is the Fire Department. The volunteers open their hall and serve hot apple cider and taco salad in a bag along with handing out candy. It's so nice to not worry about getting the kids fed a meal before we head out. We just sit and take a nice break and eat in the warm fire hall. Small-town living at its best!

Daddy got to visit Dane's classroom last week. They made "Humbug Witch" together.

Fall fragments

2011-10-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

Fall has been beautiful and fast. I have taken many pictures but don't have the energy to sort through them all. So here are a few of my random favorites.

A few weeks ago this beautiful lake caught my eye as I was driving home. So I quickly pulled off to the side of the road and snapped this picture on my phone. I wish about 360 days of the year were like this...

The view out my patio door. I apologize for the glare off the glass, but I didn't want to disturb these guys by sliding the door open.

Our prettiest fall tree. It got a bit prettier than this a few days later, but the wind came up that day as well.

A sliver of a moon rising through a clear sky.

All six cousins. Dane, Zack holding Olive, and Ellie in the back row. Nora and Morgan up front. Morgan and Olive will have a baby brother arriving in February!

Our evening entertainment- watching the corn harvest. Even the pets joined us!

My high school friend Kimberly and her lovely family visited last week. We subjected the poor unsuspecting city dwellers to a hay ride over to Grandpa and Grandma's house in the horrid wind that evening. I think they enjoyed it anyway!

I just can't get enough of this picture, so I'm posting it here. I often find myself staring at the loves of my life captured in this beautiful moment. And I count my blessings...

Take a hike

2011-09-26T21:58:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon was beautiful, so we took the opportunity to visit Glacial Lakes State Park- practically in our backyard! It was beautiful, although I think one more week would have really heightened the fall colors. We hiked about 4.7 miles total during our afternoon. The kids were real troopers, and we only had to carry each of them part of the way. Nora brought her baby with and carried her all afternoon!

We made a stop at our favorite Starbuck (the name of a small nearby town, not the coffee company) Dairy Queen for a treat. The biggest treat for the kids was calling Grandma from the pay phone. What a novelty!!

A princess

2011-09-26T21:44:00.000-07:00

Nora loves dressing up like a princess, playing with her princess dolls, and playing farm. (I know, it's not really related, but it's cute!)

The road less travelled

2011-09-18T20:34:00.000-07:00

It was an absolutely beautiful evening here. The smell of fall is in the air. During an evening run, I enjoyed concentrating on the many wonderful sounds: the crunch of damp gravel under my feet, the gentle breeze in my ears, the frogs and crickets singing, the flowing creek, the panting of (wo)man's best friend as he keeps me company, and the sound of him splashing through puddles from today's earlier rains.

Heading down a dirt trail.

Wildflowers frame our farm.

A nearby waterfowl preserve.

The soybean fields have turned golden after the recent frost.

Frost and a frog

2011-09-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

It certainly is starting to feel like fall here. Some of the trees have started to change, and Wednesday night we got a good hard frost. While I love fall, I'm not sure that I was done with summer yet!

Once again, I couldn't resist snapping some pictures during my morning run. I loved the look of the frost on these foxtails with the neighbor's frosty pasture in the background.

On Wednesday evening, after the kids were in bed, Mike called me to the kitchen to see something. Apparently this little tree frog felt the cold setting in for the night and had somehow found its way into the house. We have seen him clinging to our patio door other evenings, but we're still not sure how he got in! Mike was a bit startled when he felt something hit him in the leg as he walked into the dim kitchen! We put him in a jar overnight so the kids could see him in the morning. After it warmed up a bit, I let him out into the sun and snapped these pictures before he hopped away.

This picture is unrelated, but I just love it and wanted to share it. I snapped this picture the other afternoon as Dane was arriving home from school. I love how Teddy has his tail up and is running to greet his buddy. I wish I had a video of how cute Dane is as he's running home up the driveway to tell me excitedly all about his day. So far he has adjusted very well to school and continues to love it.

This morning

2011-09-12T21:39:00.000-07:00

A full moon set.

The sun rose.

The sky was beautiful. It never ceases to amaze me...

A Retro Camera post

2011-09-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

Wedding flowers I brought home and displayed in my own containers for a few days longer.

Making refrigerated dill green beans.

Our own little Fancy Nancy in Momma's boots.

Beautiful evening on the golf course.

Our scorekeeper.

Lovin' MN

2011-09-11T21:24:00.000-07:00

I can honestly say that I have loved every place we have ever lived, but here are some of the reasons I'm so happy we're where we are...

Mike and Dane decided to pull out the old fishing boat and launch it in our creek because the water was high enough and just because they could. Headed through the pasture to the creek.

The trolling motor doesn't work, but at least they weren't up a creek without a paddle! Nora and I joined them later and enjoyed just sitting in the boat watching the world float by as we drifted through the pasture.

Beautiful hazy summer mornings.

Lovey kitties. This is sweet daddy Sunny and two of the kittens (hard to tell them apart anymore!). Most male cats aren't so loving of their young, but we are glad he is since our beloved momma Rosie disappeared without a trace about a month ago.

Amazing seasons. The leaves are starting to hint of fall, and the September weather has been wonderful so far.

Clear. clean lakes in which we love to boat, swim, and wakeboard.

A scenic local golf course where we can head with the kids to play a few holes when the mood strikes.

Wildflowers that grow on the golf course and along the roadsides.

I could go on and on, but my pictures are depleted for now!

Dane's first day

2011-09-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday was Dane's first day of Kindergarten. He made it through the first week (4 days due to the holiday) with no problems and seems to love it!

He has to catch the bus by 6:50 am, so he was stifling a yawn as I took this picture!

We walked him down to the end of the driveway to wait for the bus. Our dog and a couple of the kittens followed us as well. I had given him a new watch as a "going to school" gift that morning, so he was checking to see if the big hand was almost on the 10 yet.

Here comes the bus.

Away he goes!

He arrives to school around 7:30 and they offer breakfast since classes don't start until 8:15. Nora and I went up to the school just to make sure he had done well, and he was happily eating breakfast with some of his new friends. We took this quick picture and left him to enjoy his day!

Nora can't wait to go to school too!

Later that day, Nora and I were outside waiting for the afternoon bus to bring Dane home. The bus pulled up to the end of our driveway and stopped briefly, but then it pulled away without anyone getting off. I ran down the driveway, and the driver backed up to talk to me. He said that Dane was not on the bus, even though his schedule said he was supposed to be. I panicked a bit but had him call on the radio to see if he could locate Dane. Sure enough, Dane was on the wrong bus. His teacher had kindly labeled his shirt with a big sticker with his name, parents' names, address, bus route and driver name. But he somehow hadn't switched buses midway as he was supposed to, even though there was extra help for the kindergarteners that first day. So Dane rode the bus for an hour and a half and ended up right back at the school where I picked him up. Luckily, he though it had been a grand adventure and couldn't wait to tell me all about his day! Since then, he has had no bus problems, even though he was picked up and dropped off at two different daycares the rest of the week.

Country Kids

2011-08-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

Cousins

2011-08-26T21:51:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago, my cousin Jenny and her family came to visit us for the weekend. We had a great time just hanging out on the farm together, watching storms roll through, taking the boat out to the lake, and launching model rockets.

The crew trying to catch the rocket as it floats back to earth under its parachute.

Last weekend, we visited the Smith farm to spend time with more cousins and help with my brother's wedding preparation. The kids so helpfully set up orange juice and lemonade stands to hydrate us as we worked.

And this picture is just because I loved the look of our shadows side by side as we walked along our driveway enjoying a perfect summer evening tonight.

A Tea Party

2011-08-11T00:07:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, Mom and I made a very quick trip to Jen's hometown in Iowa for a tea party bridal shower. Aren't the hats cute?

Jen with her grandma, mom, and two sisters.

Mom, Jen and myself.

The shower hostesses.

Morgan is 4!

2011-08-11T00:03:00.000-07:00

Summer flies by!

2011-08-10T23:52:00.000-07:00

How is it suddenly nearly the middle of August? How is it that my baby brother gets married in less than a month (although I've been waiting for the day for a long time!) and my baby boy starts kindergarten also in less than a month?

A Farm Boy and his dog

Nora helps Auntie Melodee brush her beautiful horse, Mack.

Posey and the sunflower that bloomed at our door from last winter's birdseed.

Bathing by the daisies.

Rascal the coffee drinker.

Last Friday we went to the county fair with Grandpa and Grandma. You might notice Nora's orange and pink hair from her activities with the babysitter earlier that day.

Arrrgh! Pirates!

Nora and her friend Sonja with braids and babies.

A big storm

2011-08-10T22:25:00.000-07:00

Most of you who read our blog probably see the pictures I post on facebook and know that we were hit by a strong storm of straightline winds and a possible tornado on August 1. If you haven't already seen the pictures, you can peek at them here. The insurance company totaled the playset and will be hauling it away in 2 days. Most of the trees have been cut up by friends who burn wood for heat in their homes. And we have a contractor scheduled to repair the minor house damage within a few weeks. It could have been so much worse.

Swimming

2011-07-19T07:45:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, the sky opened up and we got over three inches of rain within an hour. That means we've had lots of standing water and very hot and humid weather recently.

When I got home from work Friday evening, the kids came running to me in their swimsuits. "Momma, we're going to the beach!" They meant our personal pond which had formed during the downpour.

They played in this water for about an hour. True farmkids!

Normally, you would hardly be able to see the creek running through our pasture during this time of year since the water level drops and the long grass covers the little water trickling through. I really want to take a tube down this!

Our neighbor has almost completely lost his pasture to high water levels. Here are some comparisons of the normal water level pictures I took less than 2 weeks ago and the current water levels. You can also really see the haziness we've had with all the humidity the last few mornings.

We still have some standing water in our yard from Friday's rains, but it has become very stagnant and smelly. So we pulled out the portable pool for the kids to cool off, and they've spent so many hours here the past few days. This water doesn't look much better, does it? Between the rusty well water and the dirt and grass the kids drag in as they jump in and out, the water gets pretty ugly and needs to be changed frequently!

We've also hit a few local beaches recently and took our boat out last evening to beat the heat. Here are Mike and the kids at beautiful Lake Minnewaska Sunday evening.

After swimming, we had to have some ice cream from DQ along the lake.

The kids also love this hobo statue across the street from the DQ.

Hope you are all keeping cool and enjoying summer!

Over the river and through the woods

2011-07-14T21:30:00.000-07:00

I suppose technically, in our case, we go over the creek twice and through the pasture to get to Grandma's house. The kids love being able to take evening walks to visit Grandpa and Grandma! And Teddy always tags along, of course.

Sunset on the way home.

We had a pretty strong wind storm last Sunday followed by this beautiful rainbow. If you look close, you might see the double rainbow!

I completely forgot...

2011-07-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

When I posted this picture last week, my purpose was to point out the beautiful new handrails along the steps. Alas, it was getting late that night, and in my want of sleep I didn't mention that it was my very handy hubby who crafted and painted these rails. Thanks, Mikey!

If you want an old picture for comparison's sake, click here.

The trouble with going for a run around here...

2011-07-11T00:16:00.000-07:00

...is that I spend just as much time taking pictures of our neighbor's beautiful pasture and the beautiful flowers growing in the ditches as I do running.

Yes, I know this is an awful thistle, but I still love its beautful flower.

July 4th a week late!

2011-07-11T00:03:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a beautiful weekend with lovely weather. We had to stay around home since I was on call, but I only had to work a few hours here and there. We still got to enjoy time at home along with golfing, boating, going to the beach and a big family barbecue.

Watching in awe as Daddy tees off.

This trapeze is an extra for our swingset, so it hangs in the garage. We recently went to the circus, so Nora has been inspired to perform! We really should hang the trapeze from the swingset, but Nora loves to use the wall to walk herself up and over!

An assortment

2011-07-01T22:59:00.000-07:00

This is just a large post to catch up on pictures!

Wearing Daddy's batting helmet.

Dane with cousins Zach and Ellie.

So happy for the fun presents from the Shepherds!

Writing thank-yous.

Headed out to play on the bales at the end of our driveway.

The garden (and all of its weeds) keeps on growing.

I had so neatly labelled all of our rows, but most of the tags have since been blown or washed away.

The vine garden and Sunny.

The kittens also continue to grow. Poor Mr. Oranges didn't pull through his sickness...

Almost as big as Momma Rosie.

Rough and tumble.

More flowers blooming.

Three!

2011-06-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Nora's 3rd birthday this weekend, among other things. How did my baby grow up this fast?

Cousins and friends.

Matching dresses and tights from Daddy and Mommy.

I'm also throwing in a few more recent random photos since I'm too lazy to do a separate post!

Celebrating Grandpa's birthday

Looking up inside our old silo.

Our little town had its annual celebration last weekend. They had an activity where the kids planted flowers in a basket to take home. Nora took her little basket after planting her flowers and promptly swung it over her shoulder like a purse.

Another hit with the kids was the pedal tractor pull. I only got pictures of Nora and Dane, but all the cousins (except baby Olive) participated.

Celebrating

2011-06-09T21:50:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Mike and I began celebrating our 13th anniversary by spending a night at this beautiful B&B, the Heritage House in St. Cloud.

We had a large, delicious supper at Anton's and enjoyed watching the geese.

Beautiful Sauk River.

The Theodore Wirth Golf Course clubhouse where Mike played with my brother Ben and some other friends on Saturday.

The kids celebrated by spending the weekend with Grampy and Grammy. Dane kept Grampy busy playing baseball.

Out for a nice evening walk.

There happened to be a track meet for little kids on Saturday in Milnor, so Dane participated and won a couple of running races. That's my farm boy, preferring to wear jeans instead of shorts!

We celebrated Ben and Jen's upcoming wedding with a couples picnic shower Sunday.

Along the banks of the Mississippi.

On Monday, our actual anniversary, we enjoyed the gift of a very calm lake on our boat.

Kicking off the wakeboard season!

Grammy found the perfect suit for Nora. It says,"Happiness is being a princess!"

Nora thought it was pretty fun to go fishing for Dane. (No hook on the line!)

Tuesday night, Grandpa and Grandma invited us over for pie to celebrate. The boys had to play a little baseball as well!

Tomorrow marks 6 weeks since the kittens were born. They are now very playful, eating solid food, and even using the litter box. They have been moved out to our cat shed and like to play outside as well.

Over the past 10 days, little Oranges became noticeably smaller when compared with the other kittens, so I've been babying the little runt back to health.

Little kitten, big world.

Oranges

Posey thinks she's too cute for the camera.

Ferocious Sammy!

Rascal

Four playful kittens!

These beautiful purple flowers are everywhere right now!

A monarch enjoys the flowers as well.

Grandpa and Grandma's silos visible across the corn field which has sprung up and become so beautiful and green recently.

Beautiful sky this evening.

On to June!

2011-06-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

Summer, won't you please come and stay for a while?

Last week, the kids created their own water park in our yard. They both started out fully clothed and then stripped down as their clothes got wet. This resulted in a midday bath and load of laundry!

Our Memorial Day weekend weather was nicer than predicted, thank goodness. My parents came for the weekend, and we enjoyed our time together. On Saturday, Dane went to a friend's birthday party, and the rest of us, along with Mike's parents, loaded up our bikes and headed for Runestone Park.

Grandpa, Mike, Grandma and Grampy heading our way on their bikes.

My dad still loves to swing!

Three generations of Andersons on the swings- Paul, Mike and Nora.

This didn't last long! A couple of times around, and Grandpa and Grandma had to get off!

Mike got our boat out to ready it for boating season, and he found these baby robins up in our wakeboard tower. Sadly, they didn't survive our attempted transfer.

Of course, I have a few kitten pictures as well!

The kittens are much more mobile, finally. I caught this cute video of little Sammy running after Dane in the yard.

Another week gone by...

2011-05-22T21:03:00.000-07:00

...and more pictures taken, of course.

It looks like there are some kids living on this farm!

The plum blossoms opened up beautifully early this week and then blew away in the wind this weekend.

I had to clip a bouquet for the kitchen.

Dane can now start and stop by himself on his big bike! He loves to ride really fast on our gravel driveway and then brake fast to skid to a stop. No big wipeouts so far, but I'm sure he'll have his share!

Morgan and Olive spent Friday evening with us, so we took a picture of the four kids and the four kittens. The kittens weren't so cooperative for pictures.

I think baby Ollie likes the kittens.

I think she really likes them!

The kittens were quite interested in her little wiggly baby toes!

Morgan and Oranges.

Cute little Sammy.

Mr. Oranges.

Precious Miss Posey.

A sweet pile of kittens.

I take too many pictures.

2011-05-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

Or maybe my kids are too cute, or spring is so lovely, or we live in such beautiful surroundings, and my phone camera is just too handy in my pocket. So I go crazy, and you are subjected to various photos and ramblings.

Saturday started out very rainy, but it finally cleared up by evening.

The tulips are almost blooming.

Dane and Nora love to swing on their swingset. Nora has been riding a non-toddler swing since last spring, so she holds on tight and Daddy gives her high pushes.

Brother too!

We went to Uncle Mark's fire department today for their pancake lunch fundraiser, and Dane got to try on Uncle Mark's helmet.

The weather got very nice this afternoon, so we spent many hours outdoors.

The tulips finally burst open. They are at least 3 weeks later than last year due to our cold spring.

My little farmer. He thought he should pose like this for a picture.

We brought the kittens outside into the sun for the first time.

Pretty Posey.

Cute little Sammy.

While we were over at Grandpa and Grandma's this evening, Nora found a little block of wood in their yard and started carrying it around like a little baby. Such a mommy!

Plum blossoms.

The two brothers tilled up two garden plots for me this evening.

My garden helper.

Garden plot #1 is planted. Onions, radish, swiss chard, beets, carrots, sugar snap peas, green beans, potatoes, sweet corn, ornamental corn, and some zinnias so far. I will add tomato and pepper plants later. I hope to plant my vine garden tomorrow with watermelon, canteloupe, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, gourds, and pumpkins. I feel like my Grandma!

One fine day

2011-05-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

The temperatures finally reached the mid 80's today, and we greatly enjoyed our time outdoors.

Nora likes her new hula hoop.

Dane ditched the training wheels today! He has been picking up so many new skills recently, like jumping rope (below) and learning to tie his own shoes a week ago! Such a big boy!

We pulled out the sprinkler, and the kids played in it for a good 45 minutes!

The leaves are finally here!

We had a picnic supper. I promise I served more than just the water you see on the table!

The morning was very windy, but this evening was so very calm.

Pelicans, geese, and egrets in the water by Mike's parents' place this evening.

Spring blooms

2011-05-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

Recently

2011-05-10T21:30:00.000-07:00

Nora hanging from the "cranberry tree" as she calls it because of its pretty red buds.

I had to take a picture of this face. After enjoying a bonfire and eating sticky roasted marshmallows,she ran to me Saturday night looking like this and saying, "Mommy, Daddy says I need to have a bath!" I can't imagine why, little peanut!

We went to the metal recycling yard yesterday with Mike's parents to drop off some old scrap metal from their farm. The kids were so enthralled by watching these cranes unload the metal.

Making mud pies after the inch and a half of rain we recently received.

Chicks in the local farm store.

The kittens are growing!

2011-05-09T21:45:00.000-07:00

The kittens are now 10 days old, and their eyes began opening this past Friday. The kids just love them! It appears that we have 3 males and 1 female, but I am not the expert by any means! The kids have named them. From left to right: Oranges, Rascal, Sammy and Posey.

Rosie, the mama, is very tolerant of the kids handling her kittens.

Sunny, the most likely father of the kittens.

Curls

2011-05-02T20:21:00.000-07:00

The past couple of days, Nora has been asking to have curlers put in her hair after her bath. Her hair dries in them as she sleeps and leaves pretty little curls. The first morning, she thought she should leave the curlers in. I had to explain that it was the curls, and not the curlers, that made her hair pretty! So, I have taken too many pictures because I think she is adorable.

Long sleeves necessary under her pretty spring dress due to flurries yesterday.

She's a pretty lucky girl to have some old china to play tea party out in the "Grandma House."

Is it any wonder she's a bit spoiled? Who could resist?

Amazement

2011-04-30T11:53:00.000-07:00

As any of you who have read our blog recently know, our cat Rosie was expecting kittens.

As of Thursday evening, this is how she looked. Such a sweet and forbearing thing to put up with being hauled around the house by the kids.

We had been keeping close watch on Rosie with hopes that kittens would soon make their appearance, and yesterday was the big day. I was home, and she had kept quite close to me all day. I'm told that most mother cats are very private about having their kittens, but she seemed to want my company. Yesterday afternoon, she laid on the living room floor in a different position, and I could tell that the big moment was near. I took her down the basement, and she hopped right into a box filled with newspaper shreds that she would previously have nothing to do with. She lay there calmly and purred as I stroked her. I left her be, and when I returned 10 minutes later, a slimy little calico kitten was with her. I brought Dane down to take a peek, but he wasn't too impressed by the wet mousy-looking creature. I stayed there and watched her have a little black kitten within a few minutes. I could swear Rosie purred right through its delivery and then calmly went about cleaning the kitten up. Another hour and a half passed before an orange kitten arrived. We had been invited to our friends' for the evening, so we left, and returned to find one more orange kitten. They are all thriving and precious.

I am so in love. Oh, I think the kittens are nice, but I'm really talking about this sweet momma. She wasn't my favorite of the kittens last summer, but she has now won me over. From her patience with letting me feel her squirming kittens in utero, to her allowing me to witness their birth, I have developed this amazing bond with her. She loves her kittens and has purred constantly since their birth. She will not leave them to eat or drink, but waits for food to be placed near her. I tried to get her out of the box for a moment to eat, but she was so distraught by their crying that she hopped back in without taking a bite. She is patient while we all sit and admire these squirming little miracles. If all goes as planned, she will never have kittens again, but she will always hold a very special place in my heart.

So far, we are not sure which are males or females, so names are pending. I'm sure this won't be our last kitten post!

Farm kids

2011-04-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

And for the sake of randomness, here are my beautiful hyacinths. I wish I could make your screen scratch-and-sniff; they smell wonderful!

Waiting for May flowers

2011-04-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

They should be wonderful after our many April showers, both snow and rain! We braved the wet weather to walk to the mailbox and pick up the mail this afternoon. The kids enjoyed the puddles!

We were all sick over the long Easter weekend, so we didn't do anything very exciting. Easter Sunday brought nice sunny weather, so we enjoyed a big Easter lunch of tuna sandwiches (sorry, I was pretty under the weather) on our deck.

Nora played tick-tack-toe with Daddy and her new sidewalk chalk.

Both kids were finally feeling much better today, but still spent some time lounging inside since it was so rainy outdoors.

Waiting for kittens

2011-04-26T21:11:00.000-07:00

Our cat Rosie is about to have kittens. I was hoping they would be born on Easter, but no such luck. We are keeping her in the house (in our basement most of the time) until the kittens are born and get a bit older.

Enjoying some attention from Nora

Profile picture

She patiently lets me feel her kittens kick and squirm.

Faces that I love

2011-04-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

Spring?

2011-04-17T18:45:00.000-07:00

Hello??? Are you there, spring?

(No reply but the sound of falling snow.)

Saturday morning, we awoke to a winter wonderland. Except that's it's really not so wonderful when it's the middle of April...

Tulips poking through the melting snow.

The snow was melted by today, and I spied these hosta buds (and dead ladybugs).

Nora helping to paint the shelves of her new wardrobe earlier this week.

Dane tries out the new putting green.

Swinging diva.

Tea party with Daddy.

Shots of Early Spring

2011-04-09T18:16:00.000-07:00

After a long winter, I think spring has finally sprung. We have been spending many hours outside the past few days. Our snow is nearly gone after today, and the driveway is finally firming up from the muddy pit it had become.

It was warm enough to have a picnic lunch on the deck earlier this week. I haven't gotten our patio furniture out of winter storage yet, but the kids didn't mind sitting on the deck. You can still see the big snow drift in the background that has since melted.

The sun was so nice, and the deck was dry, so they played for quite a while.

Mike "inherited" this batting cage and pitching machine recently. He rigged it all up in his dad's shed, so now his has his own personal batting cage. Dane loves to feed balls into the pitching machine, and Mike is living his dream!

As I got home from work the other day, this was the sight I saw as I was driving up the driveway. The whole crew (pets and all) out gopher trapping. They have only caught one so far this spring.

Dane somehow got onto this swing over the water the other day. He thought it was great.

We had our first bonfire last evening.

The kids got more of their toys out today.

Gardening

Sunny

Rosie. We are awaiting the arrival of her kittens in the next few weeks.

First snake sighting of the season.

Isn't Teddy beautiful?

Baby Olive

2011-04-03T20:40:00.000-07:00

We got to babysit our nieces this afternoon, and I couldn't resist taking some pictures of this little dolly. She is perhaps the calmest baby ever...

These chubby cheeks and big baby blues remind me so much of Nora as a baby.

Pretty big sister Morgan, too!

Hints of spring

2011-03-29T19:37:00.000-07:00

I am going to apologize in advance- I found the Retro Camera app for my Droid and got a bit carried away. I love the look of these pictures though, and I didn't have to do anything but point and shoot! No further editing needed!

The very full creek is running under our driveway once again after a quiet winter.

A pair of geese enjoying the open water. (Look closely!)

The seeds are here!

Monday with the kids

2011-03-29T17:39:00.000-07:00

I feel so fortunate to have many Mondays off of work. It's pretty great to have an extra day off while most people are back to the grind, and I enjoy my time with the kids so much.

Yesterday, we took our two outdoor cats, Sunny and Rosie, to the vet to be "fixed." It seems that we may have missed the boat with Rosie, so kittens may be in our future. We will keep you posted!

Dane wondered why our male cat needed to be "fixed" since only girl cats have kitties. I told him it was so he didn't make any girl cats have kitties. His response: "What?!? You mean he's got MAGIC in him?!?"

Rosie rode nicely on Dane's lap in the car.

We went to the cafe next to the vet's office and shared a couple of caramel rolls.

When we got home, we played outside for a while. This large puddle had frozen nicely overnight, so the kids decided to give the skates a try.

We also spent a lot of time playing with Dane's expanding train set.

Dane turns 5!

2011-03-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I have been a Mommy for 5 years now! Here are some pictures from Dane's robot-themed party this year.

The invitation

A cake based on this picture I found online.

Some of our "robot snacks."

Party favors

Coloring robots

Our goofy 5-year-old!

All the Anderson cousins. It's such a privelege to be close enough to celebrate with family after living so far away!

No girlfriends!

Snowboard from Daddy and Mommy

Zach read Dane his cards.

Ellie read a few too.

Now it's time to clean the playroom to make room for all the fun new toys he got!!

Bowtie

2011-03-20T20:30:00.001-07:00

Boots and flip flops

2011-03-18T19:05:00.000-07:00

Baby Olive and Nora

Ending another season

2011-03-18T19:02:00.000-07:00

With higher temps this week, the snow is disappearing from the slopes of our local ski area. We may attempt one last outing tomorrow if time permits.

The Cannonball was Dane's favorite run this season because it had a big jump at the bottom. It was so big that 50% of the time he would actually not make it all the way to the top of the jump and instead would end up sliding backwards down it. That didn't stop him from trying!

At the top of the Cannonball run was this large "cannonball" which was covered in snow by the end of the season.

This shows a bit of Nora's progress on the skis this season. Pardon the rough video as I was running backward down the hill in my snowboard boots.

Just in the nick of time...

2011-03-17T21:26:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patty's Day!

This Old House Tour- Main Floor

2011-03-13T20:49:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have wanted to see some of the inside of our home, here it finally is. Almost 1 year ago, Grandpa and Grandma moved into their new house, and we moved our things into this house. We have made quite a few changes but still have many that we hope to make in the future. Our house has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms (after we added one upstairs last winter). Part of it is over 100 years old and used to be a log cabin. It is old, a bit uneven, and very loved!

This is our entryway/laundry room. I wish that we had a more formal entrance, but this is certainly practical.

The old bench was a school desk at the old Nora Township School down the road. It works wonderfully for the baskets that hold all our hats and mittens and hides all our boots and shoes nicely below.

Our big old farm kitchen. Grandpa and Grandma remodeled it about 6 years ago. Until then, it didn't even have a dishwasher. We spend lots of time in this room!

Looking from the kitchen into the dining room. You might notice that the door frame between the two rooms is very wide. That is because the wall between the rooms is an old log wall from the original house.

This old kitchen cupboard came from my grandparents when they moved off their farm last spring. It also holds many old kitchen utensils from them. The little electric "fireplace" helps keep the kitchen warm when the winds blow. The big sliding door to the deck lets in lots of nice light, but it gets a bit drafty in the winter.

The dining room looking into the living room. This flowered carpet needs to be gone as soon as possible, but we haven't tackled the flooring in this house yet. The old sewing machine came from the family that lived here before Mike's parents bought the place. Apparently it was in the house when that family bought it back in the 1950's.

Our computer hutch that looks like a pretty china cabinet when the doors are closed.

Off the dining room, there is this uninsulated front porch. In the winter, it makes a great walk-in freezer! On my to-do list is making curtains to replace the unsightly blinds hanging from these windows.

Our recently painted living room.

Pretty old piano from my grandparents.

The main floor bathroom. We recently had all the trim boards (window, door and floor) replaced with these old trim boards Mike's dad salvaged from the house Mike and his dad grew up in before they tore it down a few years ago. I think this trim gives it so much character, plus it has some sentimental value.

As a side note, if I may pat my own back, I sewed this curtain as well as the ones in the living room in the last 2 weeks. I don't do much sewing, but I really like to make my own curtains so I can get exactly what I want.

The guest bedroom. The old desk is from Mike's grandma, and the chair (and the matching one in the front porch) are from my grandparents' old house.

I'm rather slow at putting things up on the walls in this room. It has been painted for almost 10 months now. Note the floral carpet here as well that needs to go!

So that's the downstairs for now. Our next big project is to redo the walls in the stairway. Currently, they have at least 7 layers of wallpaper on them. Stripping them would be nearly impossible, so we are looking at other options. There are 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, and an old attic converted to a playroom/guest room up there. All bedrooms have wallpaper that needs to come down and painting to be done. The stairs have the same lovely floral carpet that must go, and Nora's room has some even more interesting carpet with a large pink tropical floral/fern pattern. (We call it her casino carpet!) I wouldn't count on that update for another year, but here's hoping it might be sooner!

Hopefully the last big storm of the season...

2011-03-12T18:17:00.000-08:00

Are you sick of seeing pictures of the snow? Me too. Yesterday was almost 40 degrees and we could see the snow piles shrinking. Then a storm set in last night and lasted well into this afternoon. We didn't get much new snow, but it all blew around like crazy.

Mike standing on what should be our driveway.

Another big drift across the driveway.

Looks like we better get the snowblower out.

Weekend with cousins

2011-03-11T20:50:00.000-08:00

We spent last weekend visiting Hugh, Melodee, Zach and Ellie. The weather was much more pleasant than our weather so far this weekend, so we spent a considerable amount of time outdoors.

They have a great sledding hill!

Ellie mastered the shovel.

Not gonna budge!

I can't believe he will be 5 years old in 2 weeks...

Hugh and Melodee made these great finds this winter! They even both run well. The red, white, and blue one is a 1972 Polaris Charger, the same model that Mike and Melodee remember having at home when they were very young!

From February

2011-03-11T20:38:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple videos I took in early February right before our trip to Hawaii. The first is a toboggan ride down a hill in our pasture with the kiddos in front of me.

I couldn't resist this one. I promise that only her feelings were hurt!

We stayed home to celebrate our Valentine's Day. Homemade steak and fettuccine with chocolate fondue!

NicoleAnne's

2011-03-11T17:51:00.000-08:00

A friend of ours recently came to visit along with some of the beautiful clothes she sews for little girls. She has recently started her own business, NicoleAnne's, and she asked if Nora would model them for some photos. The clothes were beautiful, and Nora loved them. She wasn't super cooperative, but some of the photos turned out pretty well despite my lack of photography skills.

After many pictures, Nora was tired of the process, so she just laid her head on her hands. I know this picture doesn't show the beautiful clothes she was wearing, but it was too precious to leave out.

Check out NicoleAnne's!

http://www.nicoleannes.com/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nicoleannes

Hawaii 2011

2011-02-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

Waiting to board Hawaiian Airlines at LAX.

Flying off into the sunset.

Arriving after 21 hours of travel. Aloha!

The kiddos woke up bright and early the next morning, so Grammy took them out the back door to the beach.

Nora was so excited to finally be in Hawaii, wearing her summer clothes!

Dane didn't want to waste any time getting to the water, so he still had his jammies on!

My newly engaged brother and future sister-in-law taking on the waves. Sadly, they had to leave soon after we arrived, so I don't have many pictures of them.

Our accomodations in Kauai. There were 8 bedrooms and bathrooms, so all 20 of us could spread out nicely. 20? Yep! My grandparents, my parents, my mom's 3 sisters and their husbands, and many of my cousins.

Some of the critters on the island of Kauai:

A feral rooster

A gecko (yes, in the house!)

One of the many spiders hanging out on the garage

A feral cat

Beautiful Anahola Bay behind our rental vacation home.

Mike and the kids with a coconut that they found along the beach.

No shoes were allowed in the house, so there was always a large collection of shoes near the door, often larger than this!

Grandpa and Grandma

Waimea Canyon

We took a hike with my cousin and her husband through the Waimea Canyon and up to an area called the Alaka'i Swamp on top of a mountain ridge. Here are some pictures of the trail, mostly boardwalk for ease of hiking through the soggy land. We ended up in lots of fog and rain, so we didn't get to see the famous view of Hanalei Bay from the top.