And the computer went "zzzt! zzzzt! zzzzzt!"

I will be taking a little break from posting - not by choice, but as a consequence of being really stupid. Like learning that laptops and mixtures of Spr!te and cranberry juice do not mix. It might be a couple of weeks before I get it fixed (I'm using the member computer at the club right now and it is pretty public - so I won't be using it much...)

Just wanted to let you know that KK's mom is not the brightest star in the sky. But, we'll be back - hopefully very soon!!!

54 Days

My friend Kyla and I put together a little baby shower for Auntie Jill tonight. We were getting set up when Uncle Geoff came in to say hello. I said "How exciting, only a few weeks to go!" and he responded - "Yep, 54 days!" How cute is that!? I don't think I know any other daddies who counted the days until their baby's due date. I think it is adorable how Uncle Geoff is so excited for his little one to arrive. Jill looked gorgeous as usual and she got lots of beautiful girly things. Congratulations to both of you, we are very excited to meet baby girl!!!

It's almost over?

How can school be starting tomorrow when summer just began a few short weeks ago? Traffic is crazy again, the lines are long everywhere, and all of our babysitters are sitting in classrooms and attending sports practices, games, and tournaments. *Sigh*

We've been enjoying these last days of summer as much as possible. Last week we took a couple of the neighbor boys to a summer festival in a park. KK got to ride a choo-choo-train and play for hours. KK adores these boys and was happy as could be all day. This weekend Uncle Dave was in town on business so he came to stay with us for a day. We took him to another summer festival where he found a cool shirt that we couldn't wait to try on KK (it was a bit big...)! It was fun to hang out, laugh, talk about our upcoming 20 year class reunion (or lack of one?), and generally catch up with each other.

KK, Daddy, and I have also gone swimming a bunch since most of the pools will be closing this week. All of the lifeguards are back in school so even though it's still hotter than he!!, they have to close the pools...what ever happened to school starting after Labor Day???

Oh well, we'll take what we can get and enjoy summer as long as we can! I only wish we could go to MN for the State Fair. Now THAT is the appropriate way to finish out the summer! Maybe next year...

Baaa, Moo, Cock-a-doodle-doo!

KK had an amazing birthday party at the farm this weekend! Have you ever seen such a cute bunch of cowpokes? KK had 20 friends come to her party - what a lucky girl! A few of the children were afraid of the hayride, so I didn't get a group picture with all of them together. I had hoped to get one with all of them wearing their cute little farm animal visors, but that would have been like trying to put 20 barn cats in a shoebox. Not to mention it was nearly 100 degrees, so I didn't want to make them any more uncomfortable. The pictures I do have are simply adorable! The kids got to feed the animals, make sheep puppets, and some even went on pony rides. We all had so much fun and now KK is 'officially' two...off we go!

(Thanks so much to my friend Marji for helping me take so many pictures...I'd love to find out what this one is all about...Marji????)

FOR RENT

Wild-haired, deviant, mischievous, potty-training toddler. Cheap.
You have no idea how funny she thought this was...

It's J's birthday!

Happy Birthday to J, KK's very first boyfriend!!! We have had a special friendship with J and his mommy over the past two+ years, and we are looking forward to many more playdates and birthday parties!!!



Happy birthday, J!!!! We love you! xoxox

Aquarium and Grandpa K

To celebrate KK's birthday, Daddy took Friday off and we went to an aquarium to see Nemo and his friends. KK loved it and we all had a nice time. (check out that shark so close to my baby - eeek!)

On Saturday, we met with KK's Grandpa for breakfast. She had a great time giggling and laughing with him. The restaraunt staff came out and sang to her which she loved until the end when they all shouted and clapped...then she freaked out a little. A balloon lady came over and made her a "happy birthday princess wand" and all was well again. She has barely let go of it since.
On another topic: All of the images that I've seen from the bridge collapse in Minneapolis are sad and horrifying. But out of all of them, this is the one that hits me closest to home. The middle road sign in this image (Hiawatha Avenue) is the one that always meant home was just around the corner. It's terrifying to think that I've driven over this bridge several times with KK in the car. What's even more terrifying is the thought that this kind of catastrophe, or really any catastrophe, can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime. I wish I could stop all of them.

Hope you are having a good week... : )

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY KK!!!

Our little girl is two! Every single day she gets to be more fun, and this was especially true today. We started the day with her favorite breakfast (cheesy eggs) and then headed to a local garden to take some pictures. As usual, she refused to look at the camera at all. We did get a few pretty shots anyway. After the garden, we went to a bouncy castle paradise. There were several bouncy things to choose from, but ever loyal, she was only interested in one. Then we had ice cream for lunch, with a few bites of Ch1ck-f!l-A for dessert (of course we had ice cream first, it was her birthday!) We managed to squeeze in a nap, and then we sat down to open birthday greetings that came in the mail from Auntie Sunshine and Great-Grandma. She kept saying, "Oh my goodness!!! Wow!!!" as she opened each card and looked at the surprises inside. For dinner we had another favorite, corn on the cob and salmon. And of COURSE - the traditional Birthday Cake made using Daddy's grandma's angel food cake pan!!! (I forgot to buy candles - so we had to improvise. I don't think KK quite knew what to think. Ooops.) Finally she opened her gift from Daddy and me - several new books. The other night she started 'reading' a few of her books to us instead of us reading them to her. Clearly she has several memorized, so we thought some new ones would be refreshing for everyone. Daddy also brought her two beautiful red roses. Awwww. : ) Her birthday party is still to come...she talks about it constantly and I think it will be a great time for her to share with her little friends and cousins.

Happy birthday to our sweet, fun, happy, silly, beautiful little girl.
We love you!!!

Don't cry, mama.

As I sat and watched the breaking news about the bridge collapse in Minneapolis tonight, I couldn't help but cry. I'm sure KK has seen me cry once or twice before, but didn't acknowledge or probably even realize it. Tonight she came up to me, crawled up on my lap, looked right into my eyes and softly said, "Don't cry, mama." Then she just sat there on my lap, playing with her Mickey doll, letting me snuggle, kiss, and hold her.

Grandma and Grandpa are fine. Uncle Rod and Auntie Shawna are fine. Other than nearly getting run over as emergency vehicles flew through downtown Minneapolis, Auntie Sunshine and the boys are fine. Mama Panda was too close for my comfort - but she and her family are fine too. Even though this bridge is only about four miles from my parents house, I don't think I know anyone who would have likely been on it at that time of day. But still, my heart is breaking for what is happening even as I write this. Of course I hope that nobody I know is affected, but even if not, Minneapolis is home to me and I am very sad tonight.

I am also a little concerned about the bridge over the Mississipi, less than a mile from my parents, that my family does use very often. It is also under construction and I'm sure it will now get a lot of additional traffic. I know that it is unlikely that this type of thing would happen again, but still...I'll be praying.

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I'm going to go bake a birthday cake because someone is turning TWO tomorrow...