Grandma Update

Like I said in my previous post...Grandma could change her mind and has now decided to proceed with all recommended treatments. This means she will be going to transitional care in Baldwin and then either back home or into a long term care facility. She has the option of stopping whenever she wants but is going to do it for now. Everything sounds like it can be done in Baldwin which is what she wants.

So today has been another bad day...they have given my grandma a diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma. That is basically a form of cancer in her bone marrow. There are some options for treatments however my sweet, loving grandma has decided not to have them. Of course, she may change her mind, but as of tonight she told the doctor she was giving it to God and what happens will be His will. Talk about opening a flood gate of emotions. This brought Karla and I back to 2001 and making the choices we were making with our parents. We both support grandma and her choice. She was told that she may only live one to three months now and she questioned the doctor! She wanted to know how he would know that because she thinks she can live longer and she is a fighter. She is 95 and was still living by herself until recently. They believe that she has had this for some time which may have been some of her issues before.
Please pray for her: she needs to be relieved of the pain in her back, that her vertabraes will quit fracturing, for strength for her daughters to respect her wishes, for strength for the family to get through each day and to spend quality time with her and that she is able to go to Baldwin and be home.

Merry Christmas everyone! I know that this a little late but we hope that everyone had a great day. We were very thankful for the gifts we received and the fun we had being with our families. We started something new with the girls this year. Instead of letting them open up all of their presents at once, they were only allowed to open one up, then take a break: to eat, get dressed, etc. and then we would open another one. We wanted to have them enjoy their presents instead of opening them all at once and not even looking at them. We were so impressed with their understanding and patience. They didn't whine, they didn't ask and they really did seem to appreciate it. That will be something we will continue to do in the future.

We spent Christmas Eve going to church first. It is always fun to hear Pastor Van's sermons. It was great seeing all of the Bredeson girls together! Then we were off to my sisters. It was a wonderful dinner and we had great fun. The girls really love their cousins.

The girls wrote letters to Santa before bed, put out the cookies and milk and treats for the reindeer. Then we read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and The Christmas story out of the bible. That has been another tradition we have done for the last couple of years. We also talked about the real reason we celebrate Christmas and that it is Jesus' birth.

Christmas morning we ate, opened presents, etc. Then we went to Shannon's parents house and celebrated with his mom, dad, sister and brother-in-law. The girls were spoiled with love and presents. We are grateful for everything they have recieved. We got home after supper and the girls couldn't wait to open everything and try it all out.

Not all of the holiday season was joyous. On Saturday morning we received a call that my Uncle Emmet Rose passed away Friday night. He had congestive heart failure. He was the oldest sibling on my mom's side. I am very sad at his loss. I told Shannon that heaven was going to be sounding more beautiful with all of the musical talent from the Rose family in heaven. My mom, Uncle Emmet, Uncle Kenny, Uncle Gary and Uncle Don were all very musical and I know they are sitting together singing some Alan Jackson or some great gospel song.

I then got a call on Sunday that Grandma is back in the hospital. She had fallen again and was going in to have a procedure done to cement something....sorry I can't think of the terminology...and her hemoglobin level was down. She has some bleeding someplace and as of now they haven't figured out why. She will have to go back to transitional care when she gets out and she wants to go back to Baldwin. At 95, she is still very alert and doing well. She knows that she has lived a full and wonderful like and that it is all in God's hands as to when she will be called home.

I don't want to end this on a sad note....I went to a baby shower yesterday for my dear friend Melissa who is expecting her first baby in March. It was so much fun seeing her and her other pregnant friends (there are three of them that are all due around the same time). Shannon and I are so excited for Melissa and Scott. They are going to be great parents. So I am ending this on a good note with great joy and happiness for them. A baby is always such joy! Blessings to Scott and Melissa.

Ken and Tina...we hope that you are doing well in Haiti. Shannon and I laughed and talked about your towing days....that was funny.

Blessings to all.....

All ready for our concert!

Misc....

Abbey can now whistle! She does it a lot and is pretty good at it. She wanted to learn how to do it and just practiced until she got it. She is so excited.
Ashley is Ashley. We have been struggling with her temper lately (yes she does have a temper). I am not sure if this is a "stage" thing what but we talk and talk to her about it and most of the time it is good but the few times it is isn't-it is bad. I have to brag though-at school they had to color Christmas stockings and Ashley's is the only one that is completely colored-everything. It is very neat and not scribbled on or hurried up. I am so proud of her coloring ability.

Shannon, Abbey and Ashley all have colds..knock on wood for me! I hope that this bug leaves our house soon.

We have Christmas programs coming up this weekend and next week at school. They have speaking parts in the play at school and have been practicing thier parts. The cool thing is that they understand and get why we celebrate Christmas. They want to know why we don't give Jesus gifts on Christmas so we have told them by loving Him, by praising and believing in Him is the only present that is needed.

I am debating sending out Christmas cards/letters....I have not decided yet to do it. I also have not had much holiday spirit this year. Our tree fell over the other day and the base broke. I just can't seem to get into it this year. Normally our tree would have been up for at least two weeks by now.

Visiting Santa

The girls visited Santa at Tartan Park. Mrs. Clause, Rudolph, Frosty, Elves and a Moose were all there as well. The girls did such a great job!

Hollydazzle Parade

We went to our first Hollydazzle parade and to Macy's. It was very cool. The girls loved seeing Santa and they were able to write him a letter. One of the highlights had to be riding in the church's Big Blue Bus! They love riding in the bus.

Snow Fall

Here the girls are playing outside in the first snowfall! They love being outside. Abbey found a new friend: a snowball. We have kept him in a special place so no one can hurt him.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! We enjoyed a wonderful meal with our family today. It was a lot of fun to be together and eat a great meal. The girls love going to Gr. Grandma and Gr. Grandpa's...because they get spoiled!
This morning we talked about what we are thankful for and we are all thankful this year for a healthy and wonderful family, we are thankful that daddy has a job and we have a roof over our heads and food for us to eat. We also are thankful for the possesions we are fortunate to have! We also thanked God for being in our hearts and for all that He has done in our lives.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

School

Today was conference day at school. Nothing surprised us with the exception of Abbey not really wanting to draw at shool. At home, she likes to draw on her own terms. She doesn't like to color in books but will draw pictures and write on post-it notes. Ashley on the other hand loves to color. She could color from morning to night if we let her. That is usually her first toy of choice. I wonder if she likes it so much because she had so many issues hearing other kids? It was just something that she could do all by herself and no one bothered her. She likes it now if we color with her.
Speaking of Ashley-she ruptured her ear canal on Friday night. We had gotten home late and she was getting ready for bed and kept telling Shannon that her ear was hard. Shannon told her to finish what she was doing and we would check it out. She put a finger in her ear and out came a bunch of blood. We called the ER doctor and since she had no fever and was acting normal, we could just bring her in on Sat. She had an ear infection and we didn't know it. That is not the first time we have missed that. She never complains about it so either she has a super high pain tolerance or she is bothered so much in her ears that it doesn't even faze her. Anyways, she is on medicine and is doing better.
I had insomnia again last night. I was up until 4 am. It really sucks!
No school this week for us!

Zoo

We went to the zoo yesterday with our dear friends Jen and MaKena. It was a lot of fun to see them and be with them since they moved. We braved the cold but stayed mostly inside. We rode the monorail to see all of the other animals that were to far to walk to.
It was a fun time and we were so happy to spend it with our friends. We miss them a lot!!!!

Speech

Abbey starts speech classes today. She isn't as excited about it as she was a few weeks ago. Hopefully that will change after she meets the kids in the class today. It will be wierd to bring Abbey and leave with Ashley. It is only an hour and that should be okay.

Week of 11/15/2008

First of all I just need to say how nice is has been having no election ads, no election flyers posted on our doors, no annoying phone calls telling me how bad the other politician is...No matter who you voted for, I hope that you support Barack Obama not because he is a democrate but because he is our President and leader of our country. There are times when the person I had voted for didn't win but I did the right thing and supported the person who is our leader. We may not always agree with them but we can support them. Now if we can only tackle the amount of money spent on campaining: it had gotten way out of hand.

I have been reading a book called "Screamfree Parenting". Please note that I don't scream at my kids, I just had heard about this book from an article I saw and decided to check it out. In the article it didn't tell me that it was Christian based so I was very surprise (happily)to see the author talk about how Jesus is our parent and what he would do. The whole premis of the book is that parents spend too much time making their children the center of the universe when the author believes we need to focus on ourselves! We need to continue to grow up and calm down. Don't give in to anxiety or our emotional reactivity could make the situation worse. I have only just begun the book and look forward to finishing it soon.

The girls continue to be sweet as can be. I know that I am a bit biased but I cannot help it. Abbey has this uncanny knack for saying things that just bring me to tears. She will talk about my parents and I just cry. She has a very sensititve heart and I appreciate that from her. The other day I had the news on and she saw the coverage of the 35W Bridge and asked me what happened. She was genuinely concerned. I can't just give her simple answers: she wants more.
Ashley is thriving maturity wise as well as in her confidence. Yesterday was another great expierence outside of her "safe" zone of friends and she did great. She was a little scared at first playing at a playland, but soon she was doing it all by herself and coming up to me for "5's". The hearing aid has helped in so much.

The atmosphere at Shannon's job is very bad. People's moral is at an all time low. They have already said that there probably won't be any merit increases, profit sharing will be adjusted and they are talking manditory shut downs around the holiday and of course they are talking layoffs again. They just layed off 600 people a few months ago. It is never ending. We just are thankful that he has his job, we have a house over our heads and food. In today's economy it is so tough to have any of those things.

I have been teaching some more and I really do love it. I may possibly be teaching next week for two days but won't know until Monday. I am so happy to be in the classrooms with the kids. I just adore it.

Haiti and The Schlorf Family

Our friends, the Schlorf's, are in Haiti doing missionary work. Please pray with them and the people in Haiti as they recover from yet another catastrophe. Here is the link to their website: http://schlorfjourney.blogspot.com/
I, as a mother, cannot fathom ever losing a child. I could not imagine what it is like to have so much chaos surround me and not be able to find my missing child. I also cannot imagine what it is like for Ken to have witnessed so much death and destruction. I don't know why this has happened, I leave that up to God. I hope that for whatever reason that the Schlorf's are in Haiti at this time, they continue to turn to God to lift them up.
Please keep them all in your prayers.

Halloween 2008

Here are our two hero's! Abbey as Wonder Woman and Ashley as Super Girl.

Updates

Shannon and I spent a glorious two days in Duluth. He surprised me with an overnight at a B & B off of Canal Park. It was very relaxing and long overdue. We were able to be "husband & wife" and not "mom & dad". The girls went to Nana and Papa's (thank you so much.....and Auntie Tania too). We ate at Pizza Lucia and had the best buffalo wings ever. I had long thought that Barker's had the best wings but these ones just melted off the bone. The pizza was great too.

We stopped at my mom and dad's cemetary and got the flowers from their gravesite along with my sister Dawn's flowers.

This week we have had two play dates and we have two more this week. Yesterday I taught for 1/2 day.

Ashley is getting a cold and has been very grumpy in the morning. Abbey is getting up earlier each day and so I know that means day light savings must be coming shortly....she did the same thing last year.

Grandma is still in the nursing home but should be going home this week.

Babysitting

The girls are so excited today because we are watching our little neighbor girl. She is only 8 months old and the girls love her-especially Abbey. When Abbey is playing with her, I can really see her caring and nurturing side and it just warms my heart. Don't get me wrong, Ashley loves little kids and is great with them too but Abbey just cares a bit different. Can't really explain it.
We didn't visit with Grandma yesterday and so of course I feel bad. Things just needed to get done here at the house.

Princesses

The girls did my hair and so I repaid the favor....we had a blast doing everyone's hair. It was a lot of fun.

Apple Orchard

We went to the apple orchard today. It was beautiful outside however we weren't too impressed with the apples. A lot of wormy ones for some reason. Here are the girls eating an apple. We rode the haywagon, played and fed the animals and walked around through the pumpkins.

Too Long

Oh My! It has been two weeks since the last post! I am sorry but things have been so busy around here. Everyday we go and visit grandma at the nursing home. The girls draw so much attention. The residents love seeing them and are always smiling and waving at the girls. I am impressed by the girls reactions: they smile and wave back. They also talk to them as well. The best day though was when we visited as they were celebrating "Oktoberfest" at the nursing home. They had a little band playing polka's, waltzes, country and ended with a great gospel. It brought back a lot of memories of my mom and her love of that music. I could just picture her there singing and dancing. Yes dancing! The residents were dancing and singing and drinking! Anyways they played the "Chicken Dance" and the girls were invited to come up front and "help" do the chicken dance....they both did it without mommy having to be there. It was priceless. They did great and from the pictures you can tell Abbey was scared but she did it!

After we left the nursing home, it was raining and I promised the girls they could splash in the rain puddles. Well they found the worms and were playing with the worms. I couldn't resist taking the pictures. Ashley even thought it would be fun to eat one!

Then Abbey wanted to eat the worms too.

***Before anybody totally freaks out....please note the rain jackets and the boots. I had them dressed properly for their outdoor play.****

We have a pet in our house now. Her name is Wendy (from Peter Pan). It is a wooly bear caterpillar.

Lienie Our neighborhood Dog!

The girls love this dog. He is name after Lieninkugel beer. Sorry I cannot rotate the pictures.

First Day of School: Here are the girlies on their first day of preschool.

I SPY...Ashley and Abbey in their beds. Can you find them?

Teaching/Knee/Grandma

This week I was a substitute teacher at a preschool in town and loved it. I had so much fun. It was an all day preschool and the kids were great. They are so cute. I have a new found appreciation for all the stuff the preschool teachers have to go through.

My knee is still hurting pretty bad. I am sitting with an ice pack on it right now. I guess I may have to go in if it doesn't start to feel better. I just can't physically see anything wrong with it.

Grandma had successful surgery last week. Then on Monday she was transferred to transitional care. The great thing is, she is at a facility here in town. I can walk there (when my knee is up to it). She should be there for three weeks. I am so excited to visit with her. The girls and I went yesterday but she was sleeping. I left her some pumpkin bread and her wash. The girls also drew her some nice pictures. Today we went and visited with her for a while. She is such a beautiful person inside and out.

New House

Congratulations Tania and BJ! They are now the proud owners of a house. We are very happy for them. Next weekend is moving week.....we will be there to help. I will take pictures of the house and post them if it is okay.

Horse Ride

Okay so on Friday I was lucky to go horseback riding. I had a blast until I fell off of the horse. We were on a nice trail and there was a tree branch that fell over. The first time we went under the tree branch, I was able to bend down and get under the tree but not this time. I didn't get the horse to the lower part of the trail and so by the time I realized what was going on, I ended up trying to stop myself from getting hurt and almost recovered enough to keep me on the horse but I couldn't do it. I was very thankful that I had on a helmet. I wrenched my left knee pretty bad. I was doing good on Friday afternoon but by Friday evening it was sore. It has continued to bug me.

Sept 18, 2008

Yippee! We have had two successful day's of preschool. The girls fell right back into their routine and love going. I am so glad that they are in school.

Ashley visited our second favorite doctor (her pediatrician is the first), her ENT surgeon. It doesn't appear at this point that they will need to put her tube in however we are going to closely monitor the ear. Her left ear is such a tricky thing that it could get plugged up at any time. I asked when we were in the doctor's office if we could be on the frequent flyer program, they laughed. I am so thankful though that we have this wonderful doctor to help us with all of this.

I went to the doctor today for the hives and allergy stuff that has been bothering me and in today's case it was a joke!!!! He was a horrible doctor, didn't give any clue as to why I was there and was rude to his staff. I have no more information or wasn't given any other ideas as to what is happening except to take a antihistamine until the first good frost! WOW! That diagnosis will probably cost the insurance company a good $400.00! I had to see a specialist and for what????

I did start a new job today that I am so excited about. I was asked to be on the sub list at the preschool at our church. Today was my first day of being in the classroom. I will be there on Monday and Tuesday all day. I am very excited to be doing this. I love little kids.

I have to brag about the wonderful man that I married at this point. When I was asked to sub, I said no because the girls were home. My wonderful husband said if this is what I really wanted to do, then he would figure it out in his schedule so I could do it. He took today off and next Tuesday. He can't take off Monday but his boss is letting him come home from an all day meeting to pick up the girls from their preschool and take them to the neighbors. He made me dinner, my favorite spaghetti pie, and he did arts and crafts with the girls today. Abbey accidentally broke a flashlight that belonged to my dad, he somehow figured it out and fixed it as well for me. It is the little things like that for which I am forever grateful and what shows me how much he loves and cares about me. I think I have a "one in a million" guy and today has been a great example of that.

Please keep my grandma in your prayers. She is suppose to be having surgery tomorrow afternoon for some pain in her back. She is 95 years old and is in fairly good health. She has been having some back pain issues and for her to complain then it is bad.

Pictures

First Day of Preschool

The day is finally here....the first day of Preschool! Mommy and Daddy were so excited (more so mommy) as were the girls. They love their school and couldn't wait to get back to all of their friends and their teachers. They do have the best teachers ever!
They both wore dresses today and looked great. They never even looked back after mommy and daddy dropped them off. They had a blast and were so excited to see me when I picked them up.

Sept 12, 2008

Today was another day of running around. It was our last Friday of having all day to do things as the girls start school next week. I am excited as they will be there M/W/F but also sad. I like having them home with me all of the time however I will admit that I am SO looking forward to having some time by myself.
Shannon still continues to put in many long hours at work. Today was a rare treat as he was home before 5:00. Yesterday he took a day off however had to work on side stuff and then he got home and we went to Chuck-E-Cheeses. The girls had so much fun. Then Shannon had to go back to work.
I have noticed an increase in the girls not always seeing eye-to-eye as of late. They are becoming more and more individual. Ashley is starting to really put her feelings to words and Abbey is starting to act more and more like a mom! I am not sure if that part is good.

September 11, 2008

Everyone has a day that they will always remember. For most of us, I remember this day very vividly. Shannon and I were on our way to work. He was driving me to The Hartford and we were stopped from going in because my work was closed. A tanker truck had an accident in front of the building so they closed the building down because of the hazardous materials it was carrying. That happened early in the morning. I called Karla to see if she had heard anything about it and to let her know I was getting a day off. She hadn't heard anything about that but said a plane just flew into the World Trade Center in New York.
Shannon brought me home with every intention of going back to work. We turned on the TV to see what was going on since we had turned the radio now on and were listening to developing story. We got into the house and just started watching when the second plane hit the World Trade Center. We never left the house. We sat and watched it over and over again. We flipped through all of the channels catching every ones different video, etc. We cried. We watched as the people ran down the streets covered in ash, we watched as the buildings collapsed. We watched in horror as it became obvious that the planes were being crashed into the Pentagon and then Flight 93. Going to bed, not knowing what was going to happen when and if I ever closed my eyes.
Gone was our sense of security. That is a false sense because we really don't know who is trying to hurt us. We know that evil tried to come out but that God won. We know that those innocent people who were killed, taken away from their families, friend and loved ones died as hero's. Yes it could have been worse. Anyone who grieves knows that the pain doesn't ever go away, the reality is your reality changes. I didn't know anybody who died on September 11 however I know that if forever changed my reality.
Some day the girls will learn about this historic day. I will share with them what remembered, the magazine and newspaper articles, the tears, the fear and most importantly how we as a nation, came together for a brief moment. I will also talk about how my faith in God, yet again, got me through a tragic event.
Thank you to all the service people around the world who are protecting us and are fighting for our freedoms. Thank you to the families who continue to share this day in history with us. Our hearts and prayers still go out to you. God Bless the USA!

Happy Sept!

While most kids started school today, the girls don't start until September 15! I am so excited that they are going to be going back. I think that we all need it!

My nephew Sam got his first job yesterday. He had a job interview at McDonald's and he got the job. He is only 15 1/2 so that is pretty darn good. I am so proud of him. He is growing up into a wonderful, fine young man. He has a great head on his shoulders. I have to admit I cried when I was told about the job. He is growing up and I thought of my parents and how proud they would have been.

We took the girls to the State Fair last friday and they did a great job walking around the fair. We made the decision to leave the stroller at home and up until the point where we were headed to the gates to leave, they never complained. At that point, we had been there for over 6 hours and their little legs were giving out. They loved the "Hands On Farm" experience, the butterflies and all of the animals. We never made it into any of the buildings outside of the food and animal booths.

I have promised the girls that they could sleep in their tent at some point this summer. I put their butterfly playhouse tent in their room on Saturday night and they both slept in it all night. Then on Sunday, I put together their actual tent (it is a tent I bought for $5 at a garage sale and it sleeps about 4 people) and put it in their room. I, along with Auntie Tania, had to arrange their bedroom to make it fit but we did it. Then I put their mattresses in the tent so it would be more comfortable. They loved it.

Auntie Tania came over on Sunday and we went to Lake Elmo Beach. It was so windy that it felt cold. We didn't hang out there too long. Then we went dowtown and did some shopping. We ate supper at BW3 and then came home. The girls had a great time playing and hanging out with Auntie Tania. We all did!

On Saturday we attended the 50th Wedding Anniversary for Shannon's Auntie Ann and Uncle Mike. It was fun to get together with everyone. I still only remember a handful of peoples' names but I recognize faces which is good.

Shannon basically worked the entire weekend at Bethel Highlands. He was working on getting it ready for today and had many many issues that caused him to be there the entire time.

I made reservations over the weekend for the girls (and mommy and daddy) to have breakfast with Cinderella and other princesses at Cinderella's Castle when we go to Florida. We had debated this but they love the princesses so much that we felt that this was going to be a one time experience. The girls are so excited for Florida.

Katie is playing volleyball this year. I have a busy fall schedule with both Sam and Katie playing sports. I am proud of her for going out for volleyball. She is so tall that I am sure she will do a good job.

Misc Pictures

Here are some pictures of the girls. They were playing with the newspaper making costumes one day, had their faces painted, visited a dairy farm and the firehouse.

National Night Out

Here is a picture of the girls in the fire truck at National Night Out. Our development invites the police and fire department to come and the kids love it. This picture is very similar to the one that was in the local paper.

Nana and Papa

Saturday the girls spent the night at Nana and Papa's house. Shannon and I had an afternoon and night together. The girls had so much fun. They love going to their house and just hanging out and playing there. They had a special treat because Auntie Tania was also there. The girls are surrounded by so many people who just love them and we are so grateful for that.
Thanks Nana, Papa and Auntie Tania for watching the munchkins and for allowing us a night off. We love you all very much.

p.s.....congratulations Tania and BJ on your house!!!!!

Slivers

Abbey had another sliver on Sunday. So if anyone heard her screaming and thought I was hurting her, she was totally freaking out about me even looking at the sliver and not wanting me to even touch it. She becomes very irrational and literally freaks out. She was in the bath when she told me about it and I tried to persuade her to let me look at it because the water will help make the skin softer. She thought for some reason the water would make it go away so she freaked and was screaming and crying uncontrollably. She wouldn't listen to me when I was talking to her so I ended up yelling to get her attention. I hate when that is what it gets to. The whole time I was trying to look at it using my hands just to get a look and to see if we would have to do something major to get it out. She was even holding the tweezers!!!!!! Finally I remembered an article that I had read where someone suggested using oral-jell to numb the site. We didn't have that but had chloraseptic spray so I tried that. She thought that was okay. I am not sure if that worked or what but I was able to get it out. If the slivers are small, usually we just let them go however this one was getting a red spot around it.
Daddy always thinks that they should have shoes on outside and when this happens we remind them why they should be wearing shoes!
Afterwards of course, Abbey had to wear a band-aid (3M only) and walk around with a limp everytime someone mentioned it. Oh the drama!

Night Time Issues & more

After one night of Abbey sleeping in her bed all night, we had another night of her getting up. I think that she may be having night terrors though. The past couple of nights she wakes up crying, disoriented and sitting on the edge of her bed. When we go to comfort and hold her, she is very out of it-almost sleeping. She has no recollection of why she is crying. We "woke" her up the Wednesday night because we were trying to find out what was going on and she was happy to see daddy but she couldn't tell him why she was crying.
Last night at 3:00 am, she got up to use the bathroom (no one listens to mommy that they have had too much to drink before bedtime) and then wanted to sleep with me. When I said no, she started crying. Ashley ended up awake! Thankfully we got them back to bed without too many tears. It is frustrating because we cannot seem to figure out what is causing this new thing.

Ashley is doing great with her hearing aid. She is so proud to show it off. She actually woke up today with a headache. This is the first time that either of them have ever had one. She got her medicine and was very cuddly this morning but now is doing much beter. She is in her glory coloring right now.

Tomorrow afternoon and night the girls are going to Nana's and Papa's! Yipee!!! They adore their grandparents and that is great. I want them to have a great relationship with them because it is so important to have them in our lives. I am very lucky that I have such wonderful in-laws. I am one of the few that can actually say that I get along very well with my in-laws. I am very blessed about that. Shannon and I are going to have a "date" night.

Today I am going to try and take a picture of Ashley with her hearing aid. I haven't done that yet.

Night Time Terror

So for about a week now Abbey has been having troubles going to bed. First it started out that it was too dark in the room. It has progressed to her now crying before bedtime and us buying two bright nightlights for each side of their beds along with the other two nightlights. That is right everyone, we have 4 nightlights in their room. We also are keeping the shades tilted so the natural light comes in. So for Abbey this has been working somewhat. She still cries and gets a bit panicked before bedtime however Ashley now cannot fall asleep. She has been staying awake in her bed. Last night I think she finally fell asleep around 9:30 (they are in bed at 8:00). She will come out a few times and check in with us but she usually is just laying in her bed. We have caught her out playing in her room. Last night she wanted her bright nightlight shut off and I think that is what finally helped her because now it is too bright for her.
So besides the initial fear of going to bed and all of the shadows....Abbey has joined us in bed everynight. Not just once....sometimes it is 3-4 times! Mind you this is not conducive for mommy and daddy to get a good night sleep. Last night Abbey also woke up just crying but couldn't tell Shannon what was wrong. She was out of it.
I was up working last night and Shannon had gone in to check the girls before he went to bed. He had checked on them before he had come down to kiss me goodnight and then went back up there and all I heard was "Abbey????Abbey???Where are you?" So that is enough to send any parent in a panic. Guess where she was....in our bed. She walked out to our room, climbed into our bed and was sleeping in my spot. That was just the start of the multiple trips into our room. I finally gave up on her sleeping with me last night out of pure exhaustion. I slept in the middle of the bed/mostly on Shannon's side and he slept with his head off the side of the bed. Abbey had half of the bed to herself!
We try talking to her and reassuring her that there are no monstors. We have light for her to see. We are getting very frustrated. We told her no more getting out of bed and sleeping with us. HELP!!!!

Parent's 40th Anniversary

August 9 would have been my parents 40th wedding anniversary. I remember celebrating with them their 25th anniversary. The picture on their 25th Anniversary shows all of us kids together with mom and dad. They were married in Watertown, South Dakota.

Not a day goes by that I still don't think of them or that I don't miss them. They say that time heals but it doesn't ever heal the spot in your heart where you miss someone. You learn to adjust and to go on without them.

The biggest regret that I have is that they never met the girls. I know that they are here in our hearts and are with us in spirit but that isn't the same. I wish that they were able to see them,play with them and talk to them. I wish that they had a relationship with them. That is being selfish only because that means that they would be here still and I wouldn't miss them.I would take selfish anyday over not having them here.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad. I hope you can still feel the love and know that you are missed every day.

Farm City Day and Bon Fire

Yesterday was a busy day. We took the girls to the Farm City Day. It is a great way for us city folks to see how a working dairy farm works. I have to say this is the first year that I really learned something that I didn't know. The silk strands that are on the corn on the cob-each kernal has their own strand of silk. If the silk is missing then that kernal of corn would be missing.
The girls had a hay ride and a pony ride in a cart. The got to see the animals in the petting zoo and pigs and cows of course. We also got ice cream too!
Afterwards we headed to our friends the Duncan's house. We had a wonderful bbq with great food and conversation. Abbey and Ashley love playing with thier girls and they all get along so well. They were outside playing and enjoying the fresh air. We had a bon-fire and roasted marshmellows. The girls would have eaten more s'mores if we would have let them but two was enough.
By 10:00 they were both exhausted. They went to sleep in the car and then let us get them ready for bed. It was a fun day.

Hearing Aid

Today Ashley received her hearing aid. She was not happy at all when we went to the doctor's office. I am not sure what she was thinking but Dr. Amanda did a great job getting her to calm down, play with the hearing aid and then letting Dr. Amanda put it in. When it came time for mommy and daddy to "practice" putting it in and out, Ashley didn't want to take it out. She hasn't tried to remove it or play with it so that is a good thing. She keeps telling me that she can now hear better and speak better!
We are so proud of her!

Various Pictures....

At Como Park Zoo.

This is the day they tried to get daddy to take them to the park and "marry" them.

Playing in the sand at Nana and Papa's. Fourth Of July Fireworks-an hour past our bedtime!

Quiet Week

After spending a whole week being sick, we had a fairly quiet week last week. This weekend was spent doing things around the house and grocery shopping. I love shopping but was very frustrated at the Hudson Wal Mart and ended up driving to Stillwater to finish our shopping. I still love going to Aldi's and finding great deals on food there. It is so afordable and the quality of the food is very good.
We had a playdate with Sophie from preschool. The girls had a blast and kept asking when we could do it again. We went to a new park/playground in the Washington County park systems. The girls were able to swim in real lake water with fish. Ashley didn't like the seaweed.
Shannon and I continue to keep up on our marathon of "House". We started watching a few episodes this spring and got hooked. So we rented all of the seasons through Netflix and are now in season 3. It is a good show.
The girls and I ran into Mrs. Beedle while out shopping today. Abbey kept talking which is a surprise because they are both so quiet.
Our neighbor had their baby! A beautiful baby boy: Brett. He was 9 lbs and 2 oz. I visited with them on Saturday. He is very cute.
I can't say who but another very dear friend of mine is also pregnant. I have to wait one more month before I can say anything (of course with her blessing). They are so deserving of this awesome thing. They are going to be great parents! Prayers for a healthy and safe pregnancy!
My Uncle Dan had a mass removed from his lungs that was 4cm. They were able to remove all of it however they did find cancerous cells in his vessils. They can't see the oncologist until another 4-5 weeks so please continue to keep him in your prayers.

Dentist

The girls got to visit their favorite dentist today. They both had x-rays which was a first for Ashley because she has not wanted to do that. She also sat in the big chair by herself and let them clean her teeth without me holding her.
Abbey does great. She jumps right onto the chair and opens wide. They are so different when it comes to doctors. Abbey hates needles while Ashley does okay. Ashley doesn't like the dentist but Abbey likes it.
Both girls have great teeth and were told that they do a great job cleaning their teeth. They did such a great job they got two toys this time and they got princess toothbrushes.

Insomnia

After taking nyquil all of last week, I decided last night I was okay to try and sleep with out it. I must have been going through withdrawal's or something because I was up until 4 am! I couldn't fall asleep. I was being a nice wife and sleeping downstairs again for Shannon and it was horrible. I was hot, cold, anxious, wired.....finally I started watching reruns of The Brady Bunch and I fell asleep. The girls let me "sleep in" until 8:30. It has been a long day.

I am asking you to keep my Uncle Dan in your prayers. He is married to my mom's sister Shirley and they live in Pine City. He was diagnosed with lung cancer and is going to be having surgery this week to see what is actually going on in there. I have a hard time when I hear that anyone is diagnosed with lung cancer since that is what killed my dad, I pray that God gives Dan the strength to make the decisions that he needs to, the doctors have the right information to give him the best diagnostic and the family to let God lead their decision. It is a rocky road and faith is what got me through this journey with my dad.

The girls are getting out of the bath (Shannon is giving them their bath so don't think they are in their alone). This is one of my favorite times after their bath. The water makes them silly, they will now get out and then start running around and dancing and singing. Then that will all change when Ashley needs to have her hair blown dry and her hair combed.

Here are birthday party pictures from the girls party. They had a lot of fun.