Spearing and Shopping

Two weekends ago Rustin and I parted ways for an extended weekend. He was invited to go up north on a 'men only' spearing trip. There's a reason why it's a men only thing. He took the camera, so unfortunately there are no cute pictures of Grace in the Cities. We left at noon on Saturday and met Michelle at our hotel. We stayed at the Embassy Suites by the Mall of America. I would recommend it, especially if you have kids. Grace slept the best she ever has at a motel because each room has two rooms in it. She felt like she was in her own little. As we arrived it started snowing and didn't quit until Monday evening. Thankfully not much accumulated, but it made for unfun traffic. We ate supper at TGIFridays and then went to the mall for the rest of the evening. On Sunday we arrived at church and met many old friends and quite a few surprise visitors. Grace did pretty good in the morning and was a crab in the afternoon. Pretty typical. She needs her sleep just like her mom. After church we hunted down a Target in the area. We went back to the mall in the evening. On Monday we had a full day planned, so we got up at 6 with Grace and started getting ready. I should comment on the complimentary breakfast they offer every day. There are about 6 different stations filled with fruit and breakfast food. They have a chef who will cook you an omelet to order or pancakes or whatever you want. In the evening they have a happy hour with a spread of snacks and veggies. We were well fed. There were 9 or 10 floors and our room was on the 5th floor. Grace loved to go into the hall. It overlooked the lobby, restaurant and tables set up for breakfast and happy hour. There were many trees and plants and ponds mixed in the setup also. The only negative was that Grace, if not watched closely, could slip through the bars, so she didn't get to spend as much time in the hall as she would've liked. It was nice to have Michelle along to help with Grace duty. After breakfast we went to Rosedale Shopping Center. It is located in northern Minneapolis. It was a nice, less crowded, mall. I was going to take Grace up to say hi to Santa, but when we were about 30 feet away, she was tensing up so I decided not to push it. We ate lunch at Ruby Tuesdays and then travelled to the Somali Mall. It is located in downtown Minneapolis, so we didn't want to get there too late in the day. We felt fairly safe as we entered the gated shopping area. It was very different than I had imagined. We wound through a long hallway and arrived at the store, greeted by an eager saleswoman. We looked through the many skirt racks as the women would hover around and speak to each other. Who knows what they were saying! We noticed that if you picked up a skirt that said size large, it actually looked like it would fit a size small person. When you wanted to try on a skirt they ushered you into their booth and pulled a flimsy curtain and sat and watched you commenting how good the skirt looked. After a half hour of looking around and being pestered, we left with one skirt. It was a neat experience for me, but I don't know if I will have to go again. We went to another shopping center on the west side of the Cities. By the time we were leaving the snow was falling harder and rush hour was starting. It took a little over an hour to get to our motel where usually it takes 20-30 minutes. I was tired so we decided to order in pizza. Tuesday morning we didn't get down to breakfast in time so we travelled around for a LONG time trying to find a Denny's. We finally found one and the breakfast was delicious. We were going to shop at IKEA but decided we didn't know how the roads would be, so we parted ways. Grace and I stopped in Willmar to pick up her 1 year photos and do some more Christmas shopping. (I'm almost done!) Michelle drove through rain and snow almost the whole way, so it's good we left when we did. Grace and I slept good that night.

Rustin didn't leave til Sunday after church. They drove through snow up to a resort. (I don't know which one.) They arrived late but stayed up late buying groceries and playing games.



This is Rustin's catch after a whole day of spearing. That's from 9 til 4 or 5. They set up these spear houses and each of them sits in his own house with a propane heater all day by hisself. I don't think too many women would want to torture themselves this way.




This is Rustin's catches for Tuesday. Two 7 pounders and one 5 pounder. It was a little more of an exciting day for him. Every night for supper they eat fish. They each brought a bunch home, so I get to try my hand at making fish.



In case you didn't know, this is what a spear hook looks like. They lure the fish into their hole with some sort of bait and then stab them with this hook.



Here's Rustin and the Guys.

This past weekend church was cancelled because of the snowing and blowing. We called into Tremont and had a very relaxing day at home. I'm kind of holing up at home and trying not to go out if I don't have to. Yesterday the thermometer said -20. I'm looking forward to heading south next week. Hopefully we won't bring the snow and cold with us!

Thanksgiving

I just want to say to the commenters on my blog, Thank You for providing entertainment for the rest of us. I'm glad you enjoyed Grace's first birthday as much as I did. It's good to know my diary is being read, and I'm not doing this for naught.

My Mom and Dad came up the Sat. before Thanksgiving and stayed until the following Sat. It was very enjoyable to have them here for awhile. They were surprised to see how much Grace had grown. She was a ham for them which I was thankful for. When they walked in the door she went right to them with smiles and blabbering. On Monday, Mom and I took Grace to Willmar to get her one year px taken. She screamed and cried the entire time. You wouldn't be able to tell by the px, though, because the photographer was excellent with kids. She distracted Grace enough to snap a shot and then the crying would start back up. I was glad when it was finished and happy to see some good ones.

We did alot of relaxing, visiting Rustin's parents, house projects, sleeping, outdoor projects, just enjoying the time together.

My siblings arrived early Thur. morning. Grace welcomed them here at 2 am and proceeded to stay awake crying until 6 am. I honestly think this was the worst night I have ever had with her. She fell asleep until 9 am and woke up her cheerful self. I don't know if she had a stomach-ache or if she was teething. This is what I am blaming it on. She has 4 teeth coming in on top, so even her face is starting to change.

We celebrated Thanksgiving at Rustin's parents in the afternoon and evening. I always look forward to the scrumptious turkey dinner.

I worked Wed, Fri, and Sat at the store, so Mom came with on Wed to help out. I think she had fun, but you'd have to ask her. She was able to peruse the aisles anyway and fill up boxes to take home. Good thing they didn't have any passengers. Fri I took off some to spend more time with my siblings. Rustin put them and Dad to work trimming trees in our yard. One branch almost fell on our house during the last snowfall, so we decided it should go. Later in the evening he hung Christmas lights outside.

My family left on Sat so they could make it to work and school on Mon. They arrived to Tremont just in time for a 4 inch snow. I was glad that for once it was them and not us! Sat. evening we went to Rustin's parents for one last shindig before ReKeeta went home. She was here for two weeks and Eric came up for Thanksgiving and a ride home. Abbi and Grace had much fun together in the two weeks. Abbi is 6 months older than Grace, so there was definate tasks she could handle that Grace couldn't. After observing Grace crawling everywhere, Abbi started crawling sometimes. It was cute when Abbi would tell Grace 'no-no' for things she thought Grace shouldn't be doing.

This week has consisted of putting up the rest of the Christmas decor inside, cleaning up the house, and playing around with Grace. Jody came over on Mon and we made cookies for a cookie exchange we are both in. This weekend the Christmas gatherings are beginning! On Sat Grace and I are going to the Cities to meet Michelle for a few days. Rusting is going Spearing up north with a bunch of guys, so I thought it would be perfect timing for a girl's weekend.

One!

The eve of Grace's birthday brought snow to the great region of Hancock. I'm not sure I'm ready for it, but Rustin assures me this is normal November weather, the previous has been abnormally mild. Since he didn't have to work, we decided to go to St. Cloud overnight so Grace could swim. We didn't get there until 8:30 so she only swam a little bit. At first she was timid, but soon she was splashing and laughing. We unfortunately forgot the camera so there are no pictures. She slept better than the last time we were at a motel, but it wasn't perfect. That's what's hard about having such a good sleeper; the littlest changes can be dramatic. She fell asleep in our bed at about midnight and we transferred her to her crib. Other than Rustin not being able to sleep very well and a middle of the night unwanted, inebriated visitor, we had a good stay. We did some shopping on Saturday and then headed home. Sunday evening we had Grace's birthday party at our home. Trevor was sick, so his family didn't make it so it was Mom and Dad Schmidgall. We got pictures and videos, so here they are. This morning Grace got three shots and blood drawn. By the time they were drawing her blood, she was fit to be tied. I hope she'll nap this afternoon!

Flu Shot

Grace really isn't walking yet without force. She does love it when we put her behind her cart and she can walk/run/get dragged. As you can see she is a little tipsy. Bob, Susan, and Matt got her a Kirby toy for her birthday. She is pushing it on her cart. They thought Kirby and Grace have the same roundness of face and are lookalikes. She is enjoying sleeping with Kirby. I think she sometimes uses it as a pillow.

The other day Grace and I went to the clinic for our flu shots. Because of her age, Grace has to go back for a booster. While registering there was a kid screaming for 5 minutes straight. I started getting nervous like maybe it was a painful shot. It's been a long time since I got a shot. Afterwards I realized he was just being a typical kid. I took mine first and then Grace got hers in her thigh. She took an audible breath, and then was fine. She is still too young to know any better. Thankfully, because she gets her one year shots next week and then the booster in December.

Yes, our baby turns one tomorrow! It's hard to believe. The last few months have went faster and easier than the first few months. Looking back I wouldn't want to trade any of it. We plan to have her birthday party on Sunday, so I'm sure there will be pictures and maybe videos to show.

The Leaves are Falling

Last year we let all the leaves pile up and 'raked' them all in one day. We decided that it would be to our advantage to gather them more frequently than that this year. Rustin bought a lawn mower with a bagger from the neighbor so he as been using that while I get them out of the flower beds. So far he as done it three times. There is a compost pile a few blocks away from our house so we have a convenient dumping place. One day I was watching Tiffany and she wanted a leaf pile to jump in so I told her we could rake up a pile. Grace loved it also, except she thought she would try the leaves for taste. This was also the day that Tiffany came into the house without Grace and all of a sudden I looked out the door and Grace was climbing our back, cement steps for the first time. Talk about heart stopping!

If you read Susan's blog you know I was in Tremont two weekends ago for a surprise visit. I had a nice time. A good amount of work and play! Mom seems to be healing well. Every day there is less pain and more mobility.

This past weekend I had the urge to go shopping so I convinced Rustin we should go to St. Cloud. The only reason he was able to go was the inches of rain we have been receiving. I decided we needed to buy a gun cabinet because one day Grace and I were in her room and I looked over and she was playing with one of her daddy's guns under the bed. I didn't think that was a good idea, so we found one this weekend. Grace did really well shopping. She's a woman after my own heart.

No, Grace still isn't walking, but I think her vocabulary is exceptional. (I might be a little bias.) Some new words are up, hello - with her hand (the phone) held up to her ear, Bob, baba - bottle, uh-oh, and of course mama and dada. She smacks her lips really loud if she wants to eat something. She's getting good at pointing at what she wants. It's hard to believe my baby is going to be one in a couple of weeks!

11 months

Grace turns 11 months today. My how time flies. She and I took a walk this morning and I just had to laugh. She was waving from her stroller like she was a queen in a parade. Then we arrived at the post office and she wouldn't wave at the postmaster for anything. She definitely brings much laughter to my day. (usually!)
Last Saturday we went to Keith and Lois' house in Alex. (They are the couple I worked for during my internship.) They had bought a large quantity of paint from Sherwin Williams and offered some to us for our new store. After loading that up we took them out to eat at Dolittles. It served great Italian food. Grace seemed to charm everyone around us. I sometimes think she is misbehaving but atleast they weren't upset. We played games at their house afterwards. It's always a good time with them.
Rustin does soil-sampling at work. I was at Meadowland on Sat. morning and he called not having a good soil-sampling day. The previous week a head-gasket was replaced. Then on Sat. the truck was making noise again. He felt like it was his fault. I had to reassure him of the fact that you can't expect an '88 truck that is driven through bumpy fields all day to be in perfect condition. He called back a little while later and said the truck was finished-he had blown it up. I don't totally understand engines but I think a rod went somewhere it wasn't supposed to. I personally was glad because nickeling and diming old vehicles can be a pain. This week he has been transforming one of their other trucks into the 'new' soil-sampling pick-up.
It has been a little rainy up here this week, but this is a good time to catch up on indoor work and organizing. Sometimes even a little book reading!
My mom is having her hip replaced this Thursday, so hopefully all goes well with the surgery.

Fall is here!

For one entire day our phone and internet was down. I hardly knew what to do with myself. Isn't that pathetic. It's crazy how that works. (I'm really just making poor excuses why the blog hasn't been updated.)

Two weekends ago Grace and I along with my in-laws went to IL for an extended weekend. I had a very nice time although away from Rustin. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and the phone calls more often!

We visited Grandpa and Grandma. Grace loved fiddling around with Grandpa's wheelchair. Then Mom, Grace, and I went shopping in Peoria. We found lots of goodies (mainly for Grace.) Michelle met Grace and I for supper at Carlos O Kelley's. Good Mexican food. Afterwards we went to Carol's for brownies and ice cream. On Sat. I went to my first web-cam shower for Steph. It was neat to see everyone there and especially Steph. We just hung out as a family in the afternoon and then Matt had a Madrigal event at 5 that we listened to. He had to sing in the park. Thankfully it was under the shelter since it was pouring buckets. We went to the new Avanti's on Knoxville for supper. Some man who had been observing Grace from his table came up to us as he was leaving and said that she looked like trouble. Grace hasn't learned her restaurant ettiquite yet.

Sunday was the dedication of the new church. We went to Grandma and Grandpa's afterwards like usual.

Sam was riding his scooter and it looks like Grace was pushing him. (or trying to push him off) Every time Sam goes to my parent's house he says he's going to Grace's house. I find that cute because he has only seen her there a few times. Sunday evening Mom and I went to listen to Matt at ACYF in Tremont. We left Grace with Dad and Bob. They did great except they weren't too impressed when she messed her pants.

On Monday before Mom took me to ReKeeta's we went to Laura's for lunch. It took Bryce a little while to warm up to us but soon he was laughing at us. Too bad for him he couldn't crawl.

I thought this picture was cute. At ReKeeta's we relaxed all afternoon and then she and I went to get Monicals for supper. Delish! We gave Grace and Abbi a bath together. There was much water all over but I think they had a good time!

Grace always has her tongue hanging out!

It looks like Abbi is teaching Grace one of her tricks. Monkey see, Monkey do!

We traveled home on Tuesday. Grace was a trooper. 10 hours in the car is rough on a kid. She only fussed for about the last hour and a half. She was excited to see her Daddy when we got home. I was too!

This week we got a load on Tuesday. It is all banana boxes except for 3 bins of dog food and 1 bin of cat food. Back to the grind!

Here's Grace saying Bye-Bye!