Where has August gone?

I think August has went by faster than July. Hardly seems possible! The first weekend in August we spent in the Cities for Dale and Meg's wedding. It was so nice to see many friends and family. My family and us stayed down there until Wed. sightseeing. We saw Minnehaha Falls, went to Como Zoo, and of course we went to the Mall of America.

Matt, Susan, and I at Minnehaha Falls.

The Four Ladies

Grace and I at the zoo.

We took Grace to an Old Fashioned Studio in the mall. She cooperated quite well as long as money was in her hands!

On Wed. we all came back to our house. They decided since they were so close and hadn't seen the remodeling, they would like to see it. I think they had fun watching Grace while Rustin and I worked. Dad got in on a truck unload. It is quite an operation. They left Sat. morning to head home. The next weekend was the Stevens County Fair. It is similar to the Turkey Festival and the 4-H fair combined. Rustin really enjoys the fair because he sees all sorts of people he hasn't seen in a while. I, on the other hand, could spend one night at the fair and be happy. (We compromised for a night and a day.) Rustin took Grace on the Merry-Go-Round and she loved it. That ride spins faster than I remember it spinning. I could hardly watch without getting dizzy.

This past weekend we watched Luke and Tiffany so Trevor, Jody, and Tory could go to the state fair. Rustin keeps saying that someday we'll go. I've heard it's one of the top three in the nation.

Grace received this hat and sunglasses from one of our friends. The glasses wrap around her head so it's much harder for her to get them off.

This is our experimental garden. On the left is carrots and on the right is kolarabi. We had to tear out the radishes because they were too leggy and there wasn't enough room for all three. They are producing quite well.

The latest is that Grace has a tooth. This explains some of her unexpainable crabbiness the past week. Labor Day weekend we are going camping near Duluth. I am ready for another get-a-way!

Grace is CRAWLING!

Yes, it has finally happened. My life will never be the same. On Tuesday Grace took her first forward crawls. I think she somewhat surprised herself. As I watch her move around and explore I realize how baby proof our house isn't. I suppose there will be some changes made. The first one will be moving the refrigerator over a few inches. The cord sticks out somewhat and she is pretty interested in that one. I think from this moment forward I will be losing weight as well as Grace. She is already starting to lose some of her cute chubbiness. It is so amazing as to all that happens in 8.5 months. Last week I took Grace into the doctor because she had fevers and she wasn't eating anything. (Thankfully she would drink bottles.) She was diagnosed with tonsilitis and put on amoxicillin. I can tell by her facial expressions and her willingness to eat it that the stuff tastes so good! (not) I think the meds are working because she is back to her cheerful self. She sleeps for 3-4 hours at a time so they must be strong! Now I am looking for teeth so maybe she can eat more solids. During her sick time I did find one food she would eat and that was pudding. Too bad they don't make pudding flavor with veggies. This weekend we are going to Detroit Lakes with Rustin's parents. The following weekend and part of week we are going to the Cities for Dale and Meg's wedding. On Wed. my family is coming back to Hancock with us. I am so ready for a little R&R, so this should be just the ticket.

The 4th

Sometimes I feel like a broken record when I post. Still busy at Meadowland, Grace is eating better and still can't crawl, etc. We had a short but sweet visit to Tremont a few weeks ago. We visited the grandparents and just took it easy most of the weekend. Eric and ReKeeta came up for the 4th. Hancock has our big celebration which starts off with the firemen serving breakfast. The parade starts at 1:30. Afternoon activities include Bingo and a tractor pull. And then of course there's fireworks that start at 10. We went to the breakfast and then I went home to clean while Rustin stayed and help serve pancakes. This year we decided to have a float in the parade. Jody and some of her sisters made two 'can' costumes which then her nieces wore, and we also decorated a float. When we bought the store we acquired 3 boxes of princess crowns, so we crowned little girls on the sidelines and also threw out candy. Jody and I handed out our magnets and pens. Gotta use free advertisement when you can! After the parade we were open for a crazy two hours. We didn't know how it would go, but we decided it was worth it. Supper was held at Grandma Schmidgall's with most of the family there. Afterwards Rustin and I were tired so we went home with the intentions of going to bed early. He got a fire call around 8:00. Luckily it was only a grass fire, and they were able to contain it pretty easily. We still got to bed relatively early and had the fireworks put us to sleep. On Saturday we headed to South Dakota to buy fireworks half off. We stopped in Ortonville on the way home and played on the playground that Rustin and ReKeeta played on in fourth grade. They lived there until that age and then moved back to Morris. It is neat to see where Rustin grew up.

Grace's first slide ride

Grandma and her grandkids

What a cutie!!!

Grace and Abbi playing so well together.

Just an Update

Sorry no pictures this time. Grace still looks the same - cute as a button. She is napping right now so I have some quiet time to update. Two Fridays ago we got in another truckload for the store. We bought through a different broker and so far we are very impressed with this guy. We have thrown away less bad merchandise and most of the product looks as though it will sell quickly. We are getting ready for the big 4th of July festival. There will be a parade and fireworks. I told Rustin he could be with me and Grace this year and let the other firefighters set the fireworks off. We'll see if he listens to me. Meadowland Market is creating a float for the parade. I'll have to show pictures later. We are hoping to involve a few bent and dent cans that will walk through the parade. Grace is doing a little better in eating food and lets us know when she's full by spitting at us. (Rustin is really impressed with this.) We planted a garden of carrots, kolarabi, radishes, and cucumbers. Hopefully it will be very fruitful. After hearing of all the flooding south of us, we can't complain of all the rain we've got. We are prayerful for all those who have lost so much. I never made it to Boluxi but it hits home more when two neighboring states have so much devastation. Hopefully we will be able to find a route home this weekend !!!

I can't believe June is almost here!

Of course it still feels like March up north! Rustin's busy season is coming to a close. I am excited for this. It wouldn't be so bad if Grace could talk to me. I guess I shouldn't wish that upon me too soon! We mowed our grass for the first time last week. We waited a little too long though, because it needed to be raked. The store is going well. Grace is crawling backwards, which is great except for when she runs into something and gets stuck. She doesn't like this very well. She is aquiring more of a Koch/Schmidgall tempermant which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Her adaptation to real food is going extremely slow. She is more content to drink her bottle. I guess when she' s ready she'll let me know. If you have any good advice in this department let me know!






We watched Emerson the other night so Greg and Sheila could go out to eat in peace for their anniversary. He was a lot of fun and a good fortaste as to what Grace will be getting in to. Grace looks like she isn't enjoying herself, but actually she likes 'playing' with other kids. She likes playing with her tongue also. Sheila and I took the two of them shopping the other day and it was quite interesting. Shopping went well, it was the eating out that was interesting. The two of them generally wanted the same menu or toy. After puking and screaming both Sheila and I were ready to leave. It was a fun day though.

On Memorial Day Weekend the three of us went to the Cities for the weekend. We stayed near the Mall of America and IKEA so we shuttled alot. Including us there was 20 people at church so they were glad to see us. This is Grace in her cute little bikini. She is still at the cute stage for bikini wearing. Unfortunately the pool was too cold for her so we didn't stay there long. We are hoping to make it to Tremont sometime in June. Happy Beginning of Summer!

Eating Peaches

Sorry for the weird background noises but I thought this video was too cute to pass up. Yes, this was the first time Grace ate real food besides rice cereal. I'm not sure she is fond of it yet. But judging by her eating habits thus far, I think she will adapt quickly.

She and I had a great start to the week last week. We decided to fall down the entire set of 12 stairs. Since I was on the bottom she was spared alot. She did, however, puke up her breakfast after it happened. And then she puked the entire following day. I took her into the doctor but he said she probably was just shook up and didn't have a concussion. I was thankful to hear that. Parenting is stressful at times! This week we are hoping for a less exciting week.

Last weekend we got our snow and are hoping this is the end of that. Today has been sunny and 50 so alot of it has melted. The store is busy and going well. We are waiting on another load so we can keep busy! My days off consist of cleaning, laundry, and doing dishes pretty much, so I better get back to the grind.

April 26, 2008

10 inches, need I say more!!!