Tag: grandparents

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Napkin please

Tonight while I was preparing dinner, the boys were preparing their own once again in their play kitchen.  They were doing so minus the food because it was in the closet, but that didn’t seem to phase them.  The large cardboard building blocks made for tasty pieces of pizza.  At one point, Nolan informed me that they needed napkins.  Rather than give them the paper ones (because I know they would end up getting shredded,) I asked if they would mind using washcloths.  They emphatically responded positively, so I gave them each one.  Lincoln insisted on having me tuck his into the collar of his outfit while Nolan opted for putting his on his knees.  It was quite amusing to watch them talk back and forth (or have Nolan ask Lincoln yes and no questions) while they “ate.”  Nolan is really big into imaginary play lately.  I love it!  And it’s great that he likes having Lincoln play along too.  In fact, the other day he told my mom, “I love my brother.”  So sweet!

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Smells like orange

My mom likes to give the kids clementines as a treat.  (Lincoln LOVES them!)  When we left my parents’ house today she gave each boy a clementine to hold during the trip home.  As I was driving, I thought I could smell citrus.  It wasn’t until I was unloading groceries from the back of the suburban and Nolan said to me “Lincoln is eating his orange!” that I knew my suspicion was correct.  The kid took the peel off of the top 1/3 of the orange and dug in.  By the time I got to him, he was almost done with the entire thing.  He was so proud of himself.  I was pretty impressed, too.  Once we got inside, he felt the need to repeat his achievement with another clementine.  I really should buy stock in fruit.  My kids love to eat it!

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Mom’s birthday – the first of 2010

My mom celebrated the first family birthday of the new year.  Several years ago, my dad started a birthday dinner tradition to commemorate her special day.  He prepares his now famous, Beef Wellington, every January 3rd.  This year we had twice baked potatoes (made by Tony), julienne carrots, asparagus and chocolate vinegar cake for dessert.  I think everyone looks forward to this meal each year.  The boys were more interested in the veggies and cake, but I’m guessing if they’re anything like their dad and uncle, it won’t be long until they go back for 2nds from the main course.

It wouldn’t be a birthday without opening gifts.  The kids helped Nana find her presents inside the birthday bag.  I think they pulled everything out in less that 20 seconds.  🙂  My mom hardly had time to see what they pulled out before they grabbed something else.  After opening gifts, I tried to take a picture with Nana and all of the boys, but Nolan decided to pout.  (That’s him behind the railing in the green sweatshirt.)  To round out our visit to Nana & Papa’s the boys had to visit Taz & Gwen (Uncle Tony’s bearded dragon & gecko.)  They love going upstairs to say “hi” and feed the lizards.  It was an extra special treat to have Uncle Tony with them for tonight’s visit.

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New Year, New Decade, Same great relatives!

We piled into my parents’ “giant marshmallow” as Nolan has started calling it (thanks, in part, to my mom :)) and pointed north to the Iron Range.  Our “normal” family gathering was pushed a week later due to the Christmas snowstorm.  It actually worked great for us, since we usually can only make my dad’s family’s celebration every other year.  Once again, my Aunt Ann, Uncle Gene & cousin Amy were exceptional hosts.  They always have an amazing spread!

My cousin Cory and his wife Renee brought their 3 kiddos from ND so Nolan and Lincoln had a few playmates.  I think the kids had a good time with one another.  We should try to get them together more often!

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The Twin Cities

My mom and I took a trip to the U of M Bookstore today to find Gopher gear.  On our way to campus, we could see downtown from the freeway.  I asked Nolan what city was in the distance.  He responded, “It’s Saint-apolis!”  Jake and I have been telling him about St. Paul and Minneapolis and how they’re Twin Cities.  I guess he decided he’d come up with his own name 🙂

Once we made it to the bookstore, the boys had a blast checking out all of the maroon and gold shirts, hats, balls, and toys.  Anything with Goldy on it made them shout, “Go Gophers!”  Or in Lincoln speak, “Go, Go-Go!”  We received a lot of smiles from the bookstore workers thanks to the fact that class is not in session and the place was pretty quiet – except for our little Gopher fans.

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Christmas 2009 – take 3 & take 4

We woke up Christmas morning to snow and rain…yes, rain on December 25.  Jake  started a fire in the porch so we could open presents without freezing around the tree.  We gave the boys sleeping bags & cots this year.  It was pretty funny watching them practice taking naps.  It’s the first Christmas morning in several years that we didn’t have to load ourselves into a car to travel to a morning or out of town gathering.  What a gift that was!  We spent time as a family, the kids napped in the afternoon, and in the evening, we headed to Jake’s grandparents’ house for the Settergren family Christmas celebration.  35+ of us were able to make it this year.  Believe it or not, we were missing a few due to the weather.  I forgot to pack the camera for the big family shindig.  Maybe that was a good thing though – I didn’t worry about capturing all that I could, digitally.  Instead, I just enjoyed the evening as it unfolded.

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Christmas 2009 – take 2

Christmas Eve was a snowy one.  We woke up to a driveway full of light, fluffy flakes.  After breakfast, Jake and I traded our “normal” jobs – I went out to snow blow the driveway and he stayed in and watched the kids and cleaned up the kitchen.  After he was done, he dressed the kids in their snowpants, etc. and brought them outside.  We dug out the sled and tried to make a path down the hill in the front yard.  Several attempts were made to blaze a trail, some successful, some not so much.  But fun was definitely had by all – except for the one time that Lincoln got white-washed.  He called it quits after that episode.  But Nolan, our neighbor D, and I continued to play for a while.  If lunch time hadn’t closed in on us, we would have stayed out longer.

After lunch & naps, we went to 4pm Christmas Eve mass.  Thankfully, my parents beat us to church and reserved half of a pew – they saved us from standing.  From church, we headed to my parents’ house for dinner, presents and a birthday cake for Jesus.  (This is one of the kids’ favorite things about Christmas.  Ok, and mine too :))  Part of dinner consisted of turkey drummers for the boys to eat.  Nolan first had one when he was about 9 months old.  This go-around he made much more progress.  Lincoln did quite well with his first drummer.  Actually, he looked like a natural.

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Christmas 2009 – take 1

Sunday afternoon, after the kids took much needed naps, we headed to Jake’s parents’ house to celebrate Christmas.  Unfortunately, Stacie wasn’t able to join in the fun – she was studying for finals.  We played a little Mexican Train, watched football, had a great ham dinner complete with cheesy potatoes & orange jello salad, and of course, opened presents.  The boys were very excited to help pass out the wrapped surprises and open them 🙂  I think they assisted everyone in opening at least one gift.  After the wrapping paper was picked up, we snacked on all sorts of sweets – ice cream, fudge, chocolate crinkles and dipped pretzels just to name a few.  The boys were more than happy to sample just about everything they could talk someone into giving them (or sneak!)

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Gym kindness and a Christmas program

When I went to pick the boys up from childcare at the gym this morning, the department head was holding a little boy as she scanned my membership card to check my kids out.  She told me the little guy in her arms had just been pushed down by his older brother in the gym.  My sweet Lincoln apparently went over to him, kissed his own hand and then patted the little boy’s back with that hand.  What a sweet gesture from my little guy!  It makes me smile just thinking about it.

Tonight was Nolan’s 1st preschool Christmas program.  Each class stood in the front of the church and sang two songs.  I think standing in front of the audience of parents, siblings, grandparents & friends was a bit overwhelming for a handful of the kids, including Nolan.  He stood quite nicely and looked out at everyone while most of his classmates sang.  At the end, when the audience applauded, he clapped excitedly too.  It was really cute!  Tonight, as Jake and I were getting the boys ready for bed, Nolan started singing one of the songs his class performed.  Maybe we’ll get a front row seat to a personal performance in the coming days.

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Bullet list

We went to mass this morning for a holy day of obligation – it was 1 adult vs. 2 boys.  The end result teetered close to disaster, but I somehow maintained my sanity.  I don’t care to repeat the solo event any time soon.  Man to man defense is definitely the way to go when it comes to church.

The 1st decent snowstorm of the season hit us today.  We will have to check out the end result tomorrow – if it is anywhere near warm enough.  Speaking of warm, here’s hoping I can find Nolan’s boots in time for me to take him to preschool tomorrow…oh the things I think about late at night.

I’m currently working on the 2010 family calendars for both sets of grandparents.  Good times.  As a result, I’m still not getting to bed before midnight.  Guess who will be needing caffeine in the morning?