The Great Christmas Get-Together 2012

The biggest present of this Christmas was having all five kids in the same place at the same time. I just hate having the kids spread across the state lines or in another country. Emily flew home from Guanajuato on December 12th to stay for almost 4 weeks! She was followed by Hannah on December 22nd from Albany who can stay for 2 weeks! I bought their tickets for them, but actually it was a present for me and Bob.

We hosted a family party at home for Emily's arrival. We served Bob's, Molly's and Twylla's famous homemade soups, Diane's famous salad, and bread topped off by Sarah's famous chocolate fondue. ( I am giving credit where credit is due.) Not to be outdone,the next week when Hannah arrived we wore our gaudiest Christmas outfits and descended on Mama's Pizza like a pack of lunatics. And we have the blurry cell phone pics to prove it!

My cousin John took a picture of all of us, but it seems to be stuck in my phone. You think we would be embarrassed, .....but we were NOT! We have no shame.

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On Christmas Eve, we celebrated with my entire 4 generation family at my Dad's house. As usual, Twylla laid out quite the spread including ham, cheese potatoes and all the fixings. We opened presents for hours, and needed desserts to refuel when we were finished! Everyone left fat and happy, full of Joy, and weighed down by presents!

Thanks Dad and Twylla!

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Christmas morning the kids came home to have brunch and open presents.The amount of calories consumed has to be against the law. We had everyone's favorites including fresh pineapple, spinach rolls, baked french toast, two baked egg dishes,and caramel rolls. And that certainly didn't keep anyone from breaking into Bob's Xmas present when they were finished - a 5# Hershey Bar!

And look what Santa left under the tree for me. Grandma's got a brand new ride! Thanks Bob Santa!

We continue the celebrations on Saturday when we go to my dad's for the second time to recreate Christmas Eve for Sophie and Luke who couldn't be with us this year. And then follow that up with our annual Kippels' family pronto pup fest around New Year's. I say Bring...It....On!

Wordless Wednesday

Thanksgiving Tuesday?

We went to St. Peter's today to celebrate Thanksgiving with the 2nd graders. Jake was our host, and seemed genuinely happy to see us. We had a school cafeteria turkey lunch, which was surprisingly good. Jake was pretty shocked that I knew the prayer that begins, "Bless us Oh Lord,...!" He turned to me and asked ,"Where did you learn that?" like it was a secret school handshake or something. LOL. We then spent an hour with Jake doing crafts and games related to the Pilgrims and Indians unit that they just studied in school.

Jake tries to fool Grandpa with 'hide the bean under a film canister'. I, for one, really doubt that the pilgrims played this game.

Jake is missing so many teeth, I am surprised he can eat. He literally doesn't have two teeth that rub together! He drew Indian symbols on his canoe for man, woman, and scout to represent the three of us. Cute!

Jake and his friend string dyed macaroni to make wampum belts and necklaces.


*********************************************************************************************************** As we were walking Jake back to his classroom, he pointed to Nathan through the school window, playing on the Jungle Gym. Bob and I went over there to try to find him afterwards. Bob had walked away when I spotted Nathan climbing up the rock wall. I ran and grabbed his foot from behind. He screamed like a girl! We gave him hugs and left.

Fun on Friday

Luke and Sophie had the day off school, so they came to spend the day while the parents were at work. We don't have the chance to see them every week now that they are in school full-time, so we had a lot of activities planned. First thing, they drew pictures for Aunty Hannah's care package. When Sophie drew flowers, Luke knocked her for not being "seasonal" enough. I had to unruffle some feathers after that. Then she drew a turkey, and he drew a flower. Whatever! He also had my phone and was taking a picture or videotaping himself everytime I turned around.(The videos are apparently too long to email, so here is one of his snapshots. IMHO, he needs to work on his photography. But his videos are darling! You'll have to take my word for it.

Next up was a craft for Thanksgiving. It was originally planned as bookmarks, but the kids decided they made pretty cool puppets. Insert spooky voice," I foresee a puppet show in your future. "

They then baked a pan of brownies. Luke thought that greasing the pan was pretty cool as long as his hand was in the baggie. Cool trick. They both took turns licking the spoon. We sent the brownies home with Patrick since we didn't trust ourselves around them are so generous.

We gave the kids a choice of a nature walk or the Como Zoo and they picked the zoo. Surprise! Luke commandeered my cell phone again and took pictures. This is one of them. The tiger was lying right next to the glass and gave us a chance to admire her up close. Photography is not his forte. But that's okay. He told us "he wants to be an Astronomer. Because he loves learning about the galaxy. And some astronomers have said that our solar system is going to burn out in about 5 billion years. But I shouldn't worry about it because it is only an estimate." And a bunch more about "white dwarfs" and the sun "imploding" and things like that. What I heard was the Mwa mwa mwa sound of the adults in a Charlie Brown cartoon. But I am sure Boy Genius is right!

We went to McDonald's before heading home. Or as the kids call it, Mickey D's. Not our first choice. The afternoon was spent reading books and sitting in laps. Not a bad day. Not a bad day at all.

We're (Almost) Famous

I was published in today's edition of the St. Paul Pioneer Press Bulletin Board:

"Snatchuralism

My cousin Diane and I went out for a long leisurely lunch where I enjoyed 3 Diet Cokes. As we were walking into a store afterward, I told her that I needed to use the restroom...AGAIN.... ASAP.

She replied, "Well, you shouldn't drink so much....."

Just then , we looked up and saw a woman approaching us, her eyebrows arched and her eyes open wide in surprise. As she passed us, she averted her gaze.

When she was out of earshot we immediately started laughing, because we knew what she was thinking about me.

 "Bulletin Board" we said in unison!

 I have been on the other end of an eavesdropped conversation before, but from now on I promise not to jump to a conclusion quite so quickly.
Humbly,

Grandma Jody"

Almost Wordless Wednesday (Halloween Edition)

 Trick or Treat bags for Grandma and Grandpa's five little monsters. Treats include vials of blood, boogers,spider eggs and legs, and Zombie nails and phalanges.

 BWAAA-HAAA-HAA! Chilled and ready to drink.

 Nathan wearing the costume that Hannah painted from her anatomy books. LOL. It glows in the dark.

Snow White and Iron Man.

Sophie and Luke came to visit us on their special night.

Max the Dinosaur and Jake the Vampire.

Fun at Fort Luck

 Bob and I spent the afternoon at the Audette's land in Luck, Wi. We picked up the boys and took them to Bean's Country Griddle in Frederic where they ate their weight in grilled cheese with tomato soup, and burgers and fries.We left $50 lighter, but fueled for a walk in the chilly woods.

 Back at the land, Jake and Nate walked us around the property while Molly and Jeff worked on planking the walls in the coop.

 A whole lotta leaves! And Nate still managed to point out many hidden deer tracks for us. They were almost impossible to spot.

 Nate, waiting for Daisy to catch up with us before we continue.

 Grandpa, Jake and Daisy climb to the crest of the hill to scout for wildlife. Count: One Squirrel, Zero Deer.

 Bones collected in the woods make an appropriate decoration for Halloween when displayed on a mossy stump!

 A tiny skull from a ?

 Annie Oakley, AKA Molly, taking aim. Dead on every time. Watch your back, Jeff!

 Jake is also a great shot. He hit a swinging water bottle 5 out of 10 times.

 Target practice includes a blue plastic bucket lid, a rusty pail, tin cans and a bottle cap. I shot the BIG BLUE BUCKET LID! Whoot!

 Nate took us for a spin on the 6-wheeler. He is a speed demon. Next time, I am driving!

I am fascinated with the Fungi that grow in assorted shapes and sizes all over the woods.

Road Trip - Minnesota Style

  Bob and I went on a road trip this week to Duluth. The fall colors were amazing.

 The first day we spent in Duluth's Canal Park. The bridge,the beach and the boardwalk.

 Watching the 850 foot Roger Blough leave the canal.
 I will miss the foghorn long-short-short toots as the bridge and the barge say hello.

 The view of the canal  from the boardwalk is impressive even after seeing it many times.

 The second day was spent driving Highway 61 along the North Shore to Beaver Dam.

 The wide open sky is beautiful to behold.

 A tug moored in Two Harbors bay looks like it was painted to match the fall landscape.

 The loading docks are massive! It would be awesome to see them in use this close.

 Two Harbors Lighthouse on Agate bay was built in the 1880's.

 The view from the bluff above Gooseberry Falls State Park goes all the way to Lake Superior.

 One of three Gooseberry Falls in the state park - upper,middle and lower.

 Iconic North Shore Split Rock Lighthouse was an engineering feat when built in 1910.

 The moody cliffs and waters on Lake Superior.

 Fall colors in Split Rock Lighthouse State Park.

 The island is attached to the shore by a spit of rocks that we hiked to explore the area.

 A northern Minnesota sky at it's best.

 Day three is spent cruising the 25 miles of Skyline Drive above Duluth.

 Beautiful fall color was still to be seen although it was past it's peak.

 The hills above Duluth.

 The view to Lake Superior from Hawk's Ridge. And yes, there were hawks!

Duluth in the background with the inner harbor behind it.