Merry Be-lated Christmas & Happy New Year!

In case you did not receive a Christmas card from our family,

I thought I'd create an electronic version:)

Scrapbooking Photo Tinks by WiddlyTinks.com 

Christmas Day 2011

Scenes from our travels...

38 degrees???

No snow???

I can't remember a Christmas like this, in Minnesota,...well, ever!

(P.S. For those "Fatherly-types" out there, we did get our oil changed last week...we just hadn't reset our display:))

Heavenly Dessert

I just had to share potentially the best dessert I've ever eaten:  Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding. 

I had the lovely excuse to make it tonight for Brent to bring to work tomorrow for their Festivus celebration.  If you're not familiar with Festivus, I can assume you were not an avid Seinfeld viewer.  Apparently, quite a few people who work with Brent are Seinfeld fans, so a Festivus celebration it is! 

Ok, back to the amazing dessert.  Last year at a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting, one of the lovely moms, Jena, brought this amazing dessert to share.  We meet in the mornings and share breakfast together, and yes, I believe the lovely banana pudding qualifies...it does have fruit in it after all.  Anyway, a lot of the time, we don't have the food labeled at our MOPS smorgasbord.  The day Jena brought the banana pudding was no different.  I didn't know what it was, but it looked intriguing.  If it had been labeled as banana pudding, I don't think I would have been interested.  One bite and I was hooked!  It tastes light and fluffy, creamy and dreamy, and has yummy cookies as the "crust" that add a little crunch.  Yummmmm!!!

Since my first experience with this incredible recipe, I've only made it a few times.  Why?  Well, it makes an entire 9x13 pan and if it's not eaten fast enough the bananas start to brown.  So, I keep it in the back of my mind for events that I can bring it to to share with lots of hungry mouths. 

I must warn you, there is nothing healthy about this recipe, so make it at your own risk.  And, even though it tastes light and fluffy, the completed recipe in the 9x13 pan feels like it weighs 10 pounds...must be all of that goodness packed inside;)  I also enjoy getting a sneak peek at the tastiness by licking the mixing bowls before washing them since the recipe requires refrigeration before serving.

I nearly forgot, you can easily make this a "holiday" recipe this time of year because Pepperidge Farms makes holiday designed Chessman Cookies with trees, wreaths, etc in place of the normal designs below.  Too cute!

2011 Highlights

The blogger in me has been silent for a while, so I thought a 2011 Highlight post was in order (especially since I added our blog address on our Christmas cards)!  

Check out the highlights of 2011 for the Brent, Jen, and Luke Picker family:

Brent's New Job
Last January, Brent began a new position at Think Mutual Bank as the Loan Processing Manager.  The job change moved him just across the street from his former position as a banker at the West Circle Drive branch to Think's corporate offices. 


A New Home for Kobe
Last January brought a large change to our home.  After much thought and consideration, we decided to find a new home for our then 2 year old German Shepherd, Kobe.  He had been a part of our family for almost exactly two years, but we learned during this time that he needed more space to run and more time with his owners than we could offer.  As we began our search for his new home, we were so excited to learn that our daycare provider's parents were looking for a German Shepherd to add to their family and home in rural Wisconsin.  He now lives on approximately 100 acres of wooded land in Western Wisconsin with his new family, a couple who works from home.  We got the opportunity to visit him in his new home this summer and were so happy to see how well he's doing and enjoying his new life!  Though the decision was hard, we know it was the best for him.  


Luke's Basketball
Last January/February, we signed Luke up for a basketball camp with Rochester's Community Education.  It was a parent/child class to help preschoolers with the basic basketball skills.   It was so much fun watching him practice and especially humorous to watch their scrimmages at the end of each session.  Let's just say, 4-6 year olds can be quite literal, so playing defense can look more like of a game of "copy cat" than actual basketball:)


Luke's 5th Birthday
February 2011 brought us face to face with our five year old!  We celebrated Luke's 5th birthday How to Train Your Dragon style with friends and family at our house by watching the short movie Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon and hunting for dragon eggs around the house.  We also celebrated with the Beckmanns with an evening of bowling, Luke's choice of course:)  


Easter on the Farm
Last April, we shared our last Beckmann extended family gathering at my Gpa Beckmann's farm before he moved into an apartment in Wells.  See my post from April on our last Easter on the Farm.  Check out April 2011 pics on the right.


Luke Riding without Training Wheels
Luke learned to ride his bike without training wheels this summer!  See my post from June to check out his New Skills!


Wisconsin Dells Trip 
The end of June, we enjoyed a four day vacation with Brent's entire family in Wisconsin Dells at the Great Wolf Lodge.  We swam, went down lots of water slides, shopped, played mini-golf, and went on some rides at Knuckleheads, an indoor amusement park.  The trip was a first for the Picker family and it was a great success!   The kiddos especially enjoyed all of the time with their cousins:)  


Luke's Piano
This summer, Luke started learning piano with Gma Ruth. We stopped by most weeks for him to explore some beginner piano books and the keys with Gma.  It was so fun watching him and Gma and hearing him talk about the things he had learned.  We're hoping we can work it out again this summer for him to have more time at the piano with Gma:)


Summer Projects
One thing I did blog about quite a bit this year was our summer projects around the house.  Check out my summer posts with progress around our house and yard:
General House Updates
Painting
Garden Building
Gardening
Deck Installation


Luke Starts Kindergarten
It's still hard to believe, but our baby is in Kindergarten!  He is in Mrs. Brown's afternoon class at Gibbs Elementary, just 6 blocks from our house.  He gets a combination of riding the bus, getting picked up/dropped off, and walking to school throughout the year.  Due to my work schedule, he rides the bus to school Monday - Wednesday, gets picked up by the Blue Gpa Monday & Tuesday, and gets a combo of pick up/drop off and walking with me the rest of the week depending on the weather.  Luke has been LOVING school.  We always knew he loved learning, but he had never been in a formal school setting until kindergarten, so we have been SO happy to see how he is flourishing, learning, and growing:)  I've posted this on Facebook and said it many times, but he is truly sad when it's a no school day and often tells us how he wishes there were not weekends so we could go to school everyday.  We are so happy with Mrs. Brown and love Luke's passion for school.  


Harvest Classic Run
The three of us had a little running outing in September with the Harvest Classic.  Luke and Brent ran the 1 Mile Fun Run first, then Brent and I ran the 10K.  It was a fun event to work up to and to experience together.  Maybe we'll make it a family tradition in years to come:)  


Bridget & Ross' Wedding
My sister got married!  We got a new brother-in-law and Luke got a new uncle: Ross!  The day was beautiful and lots of fun!  They were married at Riverview Greens Golf Course in Stewartville, MN outside the club house and their reception was inside the beautiful facility.  We are so happy for Bridge & Ross and the beginning of their life together!


Brent's MBA
Brent finished the MBA program he had been working on with University of Phoenix since May 2010.  He was a diligent online student and balanced home, work, and school very well, though we are still very happy he is done and can relax more at home:)   He was officially done in early October and it already feels like months ago since he was in school.  Amazing how quickly we adjust!


Volunteering in Luke's Class
This fall I have had the wonderful opportunity to volunteer in Luke's class.  Since I only work 2.5 days a week, I have the flexibility to help out a couple times a month.  I was able to help at two fun days: Apple Festival (in October) and Gingerbread Houses (in December).  I'm also a regular volunteer helping kids in any of the kindergarten classes who are having trouble with their letters, sounds, and reading.  It is so fun to see all that goes on in the classroom during the day, to get to know Luke's teacher, and to hang with the kindergartners who love having volunteers in the classroom.  Luke also loves it when I come to class and was even chosen as the helper (at random) one day that I was there...let me tell you, this was pure bliss for him!


Luke's Flag Football & Basketball
This fall Luke has also started flag football and basketball at the Rochester Family Y.  Flag football was September and October and, again, quite a hoot to watch the kindergartners and first graders running around the field with flags that were nearly as long as their legs:)  Luke enjoyed football, but he seems to be loving basketball.  Basketball was in November and December and focused mostly on basic skills with a few scrimmages.  Luke looked forward to it each week and loved picking out his basketball shorts to wear to each session:)  There is another session of basketball after the new year that is more focused on playing on a team that Luke is looking forward to. 


30th Birthdays
I guess it shouldn't come as any surprise that Luke is in kindergarten since Brent and I are getting so old!  Thirty years became reality for Brent and I in November and October respectively.  Neither of us have had any personal crisis over the milestone, but it is hard to believe since Brent and I have known each other since we were 14!


Florida Trip
One thing that lightened the blow of our 30th birthdays was celebrating with wonderful friends!  We planned a couples' trip with two of our friends from college, who were also celebrating 30th birthdays in October.  We flew from Minneapolis, our friends flew from Baltimore, MD, and we all met up at the third friend's place in Fort Myers, FL for five days.  We relaxed (sans kiddos:)), kayaked, shopped (mostly the ladies), played basketball & football (mostly the guys), and spent some time at the beach and pool.  The perfect recipe for an amazing trip!  It was a wonderful vacation and has prompted us to plan annual vacations together:)  We're thinking of meeting in Baltimore next year and visiting NYC together.  


A few things have stayed consistent for us in 2011 as well:

• I (Jen) am still working at Mayo Clinic as an administrative assistant.  I am still in the same department that hired me on at Mayo over six years ago.  I work with and for great people and am blessed with the opportunity to work half time with a job share working opposite me.  I work Monday and Tuesday all day and Wednesday mornings and my job share comes in Wednesday afternoon for the remainder of the week.  We both love the set up and work great together!  
• Luke is still at the same daycare that he has been at since he was 16 months old.  Lindens are a wonderful family who provide in home daycare as a couple.  The kiddos get lots of time outside, get to go on fun outings, and simply enjoy their time together with the a few great families who have also been at Lindens for several years.  
• We're still in the house we built over seven years ago.  Each year we make some changes or improvements that help make it more of what we want/need for our family.  The entire house has been finished for nearly two years now and we love having the extra space for visitors and space for toys of course (which I'm thinking we may need after Christmas gifts are opened);)

Check out pictures from 2011 on the right side of our blog and check in on our blog through the year for updates from the Pickers!  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Did I Grow Mommy?

Luke and I had an afternoon date on Thursday since he was off school for MEA.  We spent the afternoon at Northwoods Orchard just north of Rochester.  Luke really likes fall, just like me.  He especially likes our fall trips to the orchard...even more specifically, he likes the corn maze:) 

This year we took on the BIG corn maze and we had a blast!  There are 12 mailboxes to find in the maze and it took us about an hour to find out way around to all of the mailboxes...now that is what I call a corn maze:)

While we were at Northwoods standing by the How Tall This Fall sign, Luke asked,

"Mommy, did I grow?" 

I'd say so, little man, I'd say so:)

Lovin' every minute with this guy!

Looking Back

On July 25, 2011, I posted Looking Forward...now I'm looking backward on all the fun we had...

End of July

• We enjoyed the Olmsted County Fair with The Riggins

• Bridge & Ross moved into the neighborhood and we can each keep an eye out for their house from the comfort of our own home and vice versa.  It is great to call them neighbors.

The view of Bridge & Ross' deck (with the two umbrellas) from our front yard.

• We had a perfect night at the Freeborn County Fair with my parents, had some good old fair food, and got to see the Beach Boys in concert.  (See my previous post for more details.)

August

• Showers & Bachelorette parties oh my!  Good times were had with Bridge & Ross and their wonderful friends:)

Bridal party at the Bachelorette Party

• We enjoyed another beautiful day in Wells for the Beckmann Family Reunion and Kernel Days.  (See album on Facebook.) 
• Our deck is here and has been thoroughly enjoyed!  (See previous post for more details.)

September

• It really happened...Luke started kindergarten...some of you may have wondered if I survived since I hadn't posted since the big day;)

• We have a new addition to the family...Ross Moyer!  He and Bridget's wedding day was wonderful and filled with so many memories. 

• MOPS kicked off and is going great.  I'm enjoying my first year of being in MOPS, but not being a part of the planning/leadership.  Such a wonderful group of ladies:)

October

• It's official...I'm 30.  No hard feelings here (see future post with my thoughts on 30)...and very much looking forward to our trip to Florida with friends to commemorate our 30th birthdays!  I do, however, have to put up with Brent's wise cracks about having an old wife until he joins the 30 year old club himself next month:)

A Night to Myself

I love having time at home by myself, but rarely find that it happens and I typically don't think to ask for it because I also love being home with my boys.  There is something about having time that is completely my own, no working around meals, bed times, etc.  Tonight Brent and Luke went to the Vikings preseason game so I got a night at home by default! 

The boys ready to head to the game!

When I do finally get time home alone, my mind runs like crazy with ideas of things to do and places to go so it's always interesting to see what I end up doing. Tonight I ended up assembling our deck furniture that came via UPS earlier this week.  Good times:)  I enjoyed the time alone focused on the project.  I was actually so focused that I was half way through the project when I realized I didn't have any music on.  Craziness!  Once I got a little country music to sing along with, the evening was even better:)  

The assembly project went well, though I was only able to assemble two of the four chairs.  Some of the chair parts came tightly held together by some brackets and I could only get two of them apart:(  I'll need to wait to use Brent's muscles tomorrow:)   Speaking of Brent, he did a wonderful job picking out the deck furniture online.  I've always been grateful and impressed for his sense of style and eye for decor so the only personal desire I gave him as he searched was that I didn't want the furniture to be brown since our house is gray (stupid little thing, I know).  Anyway, I love the furniture!  The umbrella, table set, deck railing, and house siding all go very well together.
All in all, a lovely night at home while I'm sure my boys had a great night together at the game:)

The deck furniture!

A Conversation Between My Boys

Tonight, as Brent was getting ready to leave for a run, he and Luke had the following conversation:

Luke: "How far are you going dad?"

Brent:  "Somewhere between 9 and 10 miles."

Luke: "But dad, there isn't anything between 9 and 10.  If there was, we would say another number when we count."

Brent:  "Ok, I'm going about 10."

That boy, he's always trying to decipher more about the world around him:)

The Deck is Here!

After seven years in our house, we have a deck!!! 

Steve Kirk did a wonderful job and we're so excited to have it complete and ready to enjoy:)

Check it out...

View from the dining room

View from the walk-out basement door

View from the backyard

The bump out on the deck will have stairs connected next year when we complete the patio that will be under the deck along the house.

We assembled our new grill tonight that will live on the deck...now we just have to find a table and chairs that fit nicely, are in our price range, and that Brent and I both agree on:)

Freeborn County Fair

You might remember me mentioning the Freeborn County Fair in my Looking Forward post a couple weeks ago.  Well last week was the fair and Luke & I spent an evening having dinner, playing some games, and watching the Beach Boys with my parents.  It was a beautiful night and Luke enjoyed his first live concert. 

I probably hadn't been at the Freeborn County Fair since I was in high school, so it was fun to see what had changed and what had remained the same.  One thing I remembered very clearly was the ring toss game...and it was still there!  The Cloverleaf Lions ring toss game was exactly as I remembered it as a kid!  Luke tried his hand at the game, 12 rings for $1, quite a deal compared to what we paid at the Olmsted County Fair the week before.  On Luke's first dollar, he got a ring on one of the glass bottles in the middle and won a 2 liter bottle of pop (which is actually a little humorous since Luke isn't a fan of pop:)).  I have to say though, I didn't think through the timing of Luke playing rings, we ended up having to carry his 2 liter bottle of orange pop around the rest of the night:) 

Here's my little man, playing ring toss:  

Can you see the action shot of his pink ring just leaving his hand?

It's just so fun to have Luke experience some of the same things that brought us joy as kids:) 

P.S. He did try the pop the other night and said he actually liked it!

Lovin' Legos

Luke's recent new love is Legos..."big boy" legos to be precise:)  He had his first experience this spring when he and Brent picked out a Landspeeder to build together at the Lego store at the Mall of America.  Since it was a bit more advanced, Brent did most of the building and Luke did most of the playing once it was assembled. 

Then, over the past couple weeks at daycare, he has had some time to play with their big boy legos with the other older boys.  Tracy, our daycare provider, said that the boys even opted out of watching a show on TV so they could keep playing Legos.  Now that is serious business! 

After I learned of his new love, I remembered that my parents had kept our legos from when my sister and I were little.  This weekend, Luke had a sleep over at Gma and Gpa's house and got to play legos.  They even said he could bring the bucket of legos home to play!

Luke digging into the bucket from my parents that I played with as a kid:)

Boys vs Girls

No, I'm not referring to everyday life at my house:) 

I witnessed the cutest thing last week and had no other adult to share my snickers with so I had to blog about it!

Last Thursday, Luke had two buddies over to play: his cousin, Ethan, and his friend from MOPS, Carter.  We decided a trip to the park would be fun and this is where I witnessed the game of boys vs girls. 

When we first got there, we were the only ones at the park.  The boys were busily playing for a while when they finally settled into the tube...

While in the tube, they decided the game of the day.  Turned out that the tube was a space ship and each of the boys was a super hero (no big surprise considering Luke and Ethan were involved;)).  Moments after agreeing on the game, Carter peeked out of the tunnel and said "Girls are coming."  Little did I know that an informal game of boys vs girls was about to resume.

The boys left their space ship pretending to be their respective super heroes.  Shortly after, the girls went into the tube.  This got the boys going....they started talking about their ship being taken over and decided to lay claim to another jungle gym.  The girls over heard the boys and started playing along.  When the girls left the tube, the boys came to try to reclaim it.  Back and forth they went.  It was hilarious!  The funniest part to me was that they never even talked to the girls or agreed on playing their classic game of boys vs girls:)

Their game was certainly good entertainment for this momma:)

Oh yes, and after the rousing game of boys vs girls, the boys needed a treat to re-energize;)

Carter, Ethan, and Luke enjoying their frozen juice bars. 

When I Grow Up...

We had the following conversation at our house last night:

Brent:  "What do you boys want to be when you grow up?"  (Talking to Luke and Ethan, our 5 yr old nephew)

Ethan:  "I want to be a doctor.  They make lots and lots of money."

Luke: "I want to work at Think."  (Think is the bank where Brent works)

Brent (talking to just me):  "I can't believe Luke wants to work at Think when he grows up.  At his age, he should want to be a super hero or a professional football player."

Me:  "You are a super hero in his eyes, that's why he wants to work at Think."

Deck Progress

The beams are up!

But there's a bit more work to go:)

Jen's Sociology

People fascinate me.  We're each unique, yet we live our entire lives trying to fit in some way with the people around us. 

Because people fascinate me, I also have this thing about movies that depict "normal" life.  Yesterday I picked up the movie Everybody's Fine from the video store. 

 

It had a good cast (DeNiro, Barrymore, Beckinsale) and the movie summary sounded like a "normal" life kind of movie that I might like.  It wasn't an incredible story with action, humor, or suspense...it was exactly what I was hoping:  normal. 

My favorite part about movies like this is that they are based on relationships and how they develop through years of life together.  It's so interesting to me how our intentions and perceptions are just that, ours.  We may feel we have the best intentions in a relationship, but they could be perceived completely different by the other person. 

Everybody's Fine is about a dad's relationship with his adult children after the death of his wife.  The kids had always been closer to their mom and didn't know how to open up to their dad about their lives without disappointing him. 

Another thing this movie got me thinking about is how roles develop in a family.  The dad in the movie didn't intentionally separate himself from his kids through the years.  He worked hard supporting the family and what he thought were their dreams throughout the years.  The role of listener became mom's role; while the role of talker/motivator became dad's role. 

This all gets me to wondering what my relationship will be like with Luke as he gets older and how it will develop through the years as he matures.  Frankly it terrifies me.  At five years old, he still wants to be with me most of the time and likes "doing" life together.  But I know that life will change as he grows.  He will become interested in more things away from home and will be influenced more by other people, mostly friends.  I'm by no means saying that I want to isolate him to stop the inevitable, it just makes me wonder what the years ahead hold for our family. 

The movie also gets me thinking about the generations before me.  What all has fed into the lives of my parents and grandparents to make them who they are today?  Which then led to impacting my young life at home. 

That was a lot of rambling and I guess you've gotten a glimpse of the sociologist in me:)  And to think, I hate sociology in high school! 

Anyway, if you're interested in checking out any other "normal" life movies I've liked, here are a few:

• The Thing About My Folks - LOVE this one!
• It Runs in the Family

Looking Forward

I was thinking this weekend about how much fun stuff we have to look forward to so I just had to get it all out:)

This Week - The Olmsted County Fair.  I've spent my fair share of time at fairs as a kid, but we haven't gotten into going much with Luke yet.  I'm thinking this year he'll be more interested in the rides and I always like to see the animals:)

This Weekend - My sis, Bridge, and her fiance, Ross, are moving into their new house just a couple blocks from us!  We're all looking forward to having them in the neighborhood:)

Next Week - The Freeborn County Fair.  Now this is a page right out of my history book.  As a kid, I used to spend a few days with my grandparents during the "Albert Lea fair".  I've always liked this fair and they have great entertainment selection, especially if you like country music.  Admission to the fair gets you entrance to the concerts each night.  Cheap entertainment!  There are a few concerts I'd like to see this year, we'll see how the weather looks before making the trip.

August will certainly be fun-filled...

• Showers and bachelorette party for my sis
• Getting Luke ready for school
• Family reunion with my dad's side of the family.  Again, this one will be a trip down memory lane for me.  We'll be heading to Wells, MN for Kernel Days.  We used to hit this festival up every year and watch the parade when I was a kid, so I'm looking forward to bringing Luke and spending the day with family:)
• Enjoying our new deck which should be done mid-August

And, September brings many long awaited events...

• Luke starts kindergarten at Gibbs Elementary!
• Bridge and Ross's wedding - 9/17/11!
• My final year of MOPS, Mothers of Preschoolers, starting - I know, Luke's not a preschooler any more, but they let moms come even when they have kindergartners;)

October/November are a ways off, but we're in the process of planning a trip for our 30th birthdays to Florida to celebrate with friends (two of whom are also turning 30). 

So much fun to be had, now to be patient while we wait and to enjoy the moments when they arrive!

A Super Hero Kind of Day

Who said watching TV was a passive activity???

Luke & Ethan watching Avenger episodes on DVD...

Let the Deck Begin!

So excited for the first signs of our deck found on the driveway today!

Steve Kirk, of Kirk Builders, will be starting as soon as the end of this week!

If I seem overly excited about a deck, know that we've waited seven years in this house to build a deck, so we're really looking forward to it:)

First Steps

So our little man is starting kindergarten this fall.  We've done all of the school screenings, school visits, etc, but we made one of the first very real steps (at least in my mind) toward kindergarten this week:  buying the backpack.  Luke was excited to pick it out and wore it around the store, while Brent and I share a look of sadness at our boy growing up before our eyes.

Here's Luke trying out his new backpack today on our trip to the library:

Yep, those are superheros:)

Life on the Farm...

...Our version of farming anyway:) 

This summer has been largely focused on a plot of our yard that Brent converted to a garden.  You may remember this post from May.  Our new garden space has been busy growing this summer...

Tomatoes (above) and cauliflower (below) on July 4th

Our first harvest tonight (from left to right): jalapeno peppers, pea pods, green beans.

I'm prepared to make stir fry with the pea pods and green bean casserole this week!

For the remainder of the summer, we plan to try our hand at salsa with the tomatoes, peppers, onions, and cilantro.  Brent's also looking forward to the squash (I'm not a fan).  Our lettuce and strawberries have been growing, but we haven't beat the rabbits to them yet.  Every time Brent notices a berry turning red, it's gone by the next day (despite the owl decoy).  We're already planning for some form of barrier/fence around the garden boxes next year.

But as we wait for the rest of our harvest, I will continue to look for my husband where I know I can usually find him this summer...in the garden:)

P.S. If someone had told me 10 years ago that Brent would be into gardening, I never would have believed them:)  The garden is far more his thing that mine, but we're all enjoying watching it grow and learning along the way.

Fun at All Ages

Most of you probably know that I really enjoy babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.  Pretty much any kiddo under school age is in my favorite age range.  But, I am coming to realize there are some lovely traits about my soon to be school-ager and other kiddos around his age. 

Last Thursday, Luke and I spent the day with my niece and nephew, Annie (9) and Ethan (turning 5 next week).  We didn't have anything major planned, but we ended up having a really fun day together!  The kids got to our house around 8:30am.  I told them they could play while I took a shower.  And play they did!  They went right at the toys downstairs and created some imaginary world that kept them busy beyond my shower and getting completely ready for the day.  I finally asked them if they were ready to go to the parks by our house, even though I was hesitant to interrupt their imaginary world:)  We have two nice parks within walking distance of our house, so we hit them both which was especially fun because one is geared for older kids since it's at the elementary school.  Good times were had by all.

Once back to the house, we had lunch and the kids wanted to cool off in the house for a while (it was quite warm and humid even before lunch).  They went downstairs to play while I cleaned up lunch and before I knew it, they were back in their imaginary world.  This time I think it evolved into a game of school where Annie was the teacher and Luke and Ethan were the students.  Their school day consisted of quiet time, doing papers, and doing flash cards.  Annie set up two rooms downstairs as their school.  They entertained themselves for over an hour again!  And, again, I hesitated to interrupt them, but asked if they wanted to play in the pool and slip-n-slide in the backyard.  They agreed saying it was part of their "school day" that they got to play games:)  Once outside, their ingenuity continued and they started making soup out of the pool water with grass clippings and sand. 

After a while outside, we came in for a snack.  They decided that they should have game time for "school" inside, so they decided to play a board game.  The dreaded Mouse Trap came out.  I thought to myself...I really don't want to put this entire game together and read the instructions because it really doesn't even seem like much of a game to me.  But, before I could share my opinion out loud, Annie said she could read the instructions and help the boys set it up.  Sounded perfect to me!  They entertained themselves for over a half hour playing when they decided to play Sorry and asked if I would play too.  Of course I would:)  At this point in my life as a mommy, I feel a little incomplete without my daily game of Sorry...it's one of Luke's favorites right now.

And that rounded out our day...a lovely day with Annie, Ethan, and Luke:) 

Back to my original thoughts...I'm really enjoying the imagination that comes with the 5-10 year old range.  It is so fun to see their creativity in working together to create an imaginary world.  I'm also enjoying how incredibly well they play together.  No more needing to intervene because someone is not sharing or someone is crying or throwing a fit.  Ok, maybe not "no more" but far less often than the toddler years and they work out their issues better on their own now.  I'm also enjoying being able to share experiences with the kids.  They understand and anticipate things so much more and it's so fun to experience their excitement together. 

I am also grateful that in the midst of their maturing personalities and ever growing statures, that these sweet kids are still willing and even want to hold my hand while we walk to the park:) 

Check out some pictures from our fun day together...

Ethan doing his favorite thing at the park: monkey bars

Annie found her favorite thing too, it's like a mini merry-go-round

The boys checking out some pictures under the climbing wall at the park

Playing with the hose while we filled up the pool.  And yes, they are shooting the hose down each others trunks.  They thought it was hilarious and took turns shooting each other and shrieking from the cold:)

Playing Mouse Trap together sans adults:)

Peaceful

There is something very peaceful about seeing the day to a close...

And seeing the night begin...

Pics from my camera phone on my walk tonight.

Luke's Imagination

I am just so grateful for Luke's imagination on days like today. It is a gorgeous Fourth of July; our final day of eleven days of vacation together.  It has been such a blessing to share these days together both with fun outings and relaxing at home together. 

Luke has been quite a trooper through long car rides, days of running errands and working on minor house projects, and enjoying simple time at home.  Like today, we filled up his pool in the backyard and he's been playing quite a while in the hose-cold water with his sand and tub toys.  He is constantly playing imagination games with his toys, the slide, and the water. 

I am especially grateful for his imagination while he is still an only child.  We so hope to bring another child into our family, to give Luke the opportunity to become a big brother and to enjoy life with a sibling(s).  I love to hear Luke's narration of his imaginary games and to see his creativity, but I also wish he had someone to share it with.  Someone closer to his age than us.  He is still in the age range when it is fun to play with mom and dad, but I see him when he's with other kids and I know that his joy is multiplied when he can play imaginary games with friends and cousins.  One of his recent favorites has been playing "brothers" with Ethan.  Luke explained that they do homework together and wrestle and they both love it:)  So precious. 

Don't get me wrong, I know that bringing other siblings into the picture brings challenges like finding fun ideas for different aged children, working around sleep schedules for younger ones, and spats between sibling.  But, I have no doubt that the joy of having more than one outweighs the struggles that arise. 

Summer Bucket List

This summer we have been more intentional as a family to make time for the special things we want to do together.  We had several reasons feeding our intentionality:

• After last summer when we had a lot of time together as a family while Brent was not working, we did some different things together that we had never challenged ourselves to doing or had never made time for
• After a l-o-n-g winter, we were reminded how fleeting the opportunities of summer can be in Minnesota
• Knowing that Luke is starting school in the fall, we (or at least I) feel an urgency to make the most of our summer-of-freedom together before the 13 years of school years officially begin
• Luke is at a great age to try new things and maybe even remember them into the future now that he's five and a half
• Life is short

So, we have a sort of informal, summer "bucket list" if you will started on our fridge of things we'd like to do together as a family this summer.  A few of them have already come to fruition while others are still on our radar.  This past week has provided us an opportunity to make a few happen with Brent and I both off work. 

Last Friday night, we made our way downtown to take in the sites of the Rochesterfest parade.  This has become a tradition for us each summer since Luke was a toddler.  It's fun to see how his perception of the parade changes through the years.  This year he was much less intimidated by the loud sounds and was more interested in collecting candy.  It was a beautiful night and we stayed to the very end of the parade this year, which was a first for the three of us.

Last Saturday, we headed to Wisconsin Dells for four days with the Pickers.  This was a monumental first:  the first, three generation, family vacation!  Thanks to the ingenuity and organizing efforts of my lovely sisters-in-law, the first time trip came to life:)  We had a great time and all had a lot of fun on the water slides at The Great Wolf Lodge, playing mini golf at Pirate's Cove, playing and riding rides at Knucklehead's, and shopping at Tanger Outlet Center.  All in all, a great, age appropriate trip for the kids and fun for the adults too.  We have way too many pics to post on the blog, but check out Kodak Gallery for our June 2011 photo album. 

Today, we took advantage of the "cooler" weather (anything feels better after 100 degree weather) and took a hike at Oxbow Park with a stop at Zollman Zoo in the middle.  We did this last spring/summer and really enjoyed the nice trail options available and it's always fun to stop to see the animals:)  Check out a few pics from our hike:

Near the middle before we got to the zoo

Near the end when Luke was tired and Brent gave him a ride on his shoulders

P.S. I don't want to give the impression that the path is all stairs as these pictures happen to show.  These were two isolated areas.  95% of the path was a dirt trail.

Luke enjoying a very bubbly bath after a sweaty, dirty afternoon of hiking:)

It has been a wonderful week of fun together, relaxing together, and simply enjoying a beautiful summer week of vacation together.