Christmas Card 2006

I know I have many online friends who I could not send Christmas Cards to.. so I hope you don't mind me sharing it here with you. Due to everything going on these got sent out right after Christmas, but before the New Year. Enjoy!



A very joyous holiday season to all,
For The Pickerts, this year has been quite the roller coaster... we are hoping that 2007 brings more of the even keel of a lazy river.
Unfortunately we lost our Father/Father-in-law/Bapa Gar this year. Nothing could prepare us for the shock and sadness of losing him so unexpectedly this past May. Our house seems so much quieter without him here. Nick felt so grateful for his love and support throughout the years and knows he is watching us from above. Jeffrey and Samantha still talk about Bapa all the time and wish he could come back to us.
The end of last year brought another new family member. Right before Christmas we got another dog. This time a Shih Poo (Shih Tzu/Poodle) named “Maggie”. For those of you that remember our letter last year, yes, we did get two dogs in a two week span. Max is now full grown and hangs out with Mollie all day long. And we also kept Gar’s dog Scooter, so we now have a zoo!
Just over five years after Nick’s burn we had to visit the HCMC burn unit again in November. Jeffrey was scalded by boiling water while Melissa was cooking spaghetti. He is healing well, and as of today only has one spot on his shoulder that needs to heal.
Earlier this year Nick made changes to his business; one of the biggest noticeable changes was the addition of his new partner, *** ; the other big change was the name to “Pepperberry Gardens”. He has had the biggest year yet, which has kept him quite busy, and is expecting to have a bigger year next year.
To help Nick grow, Melissa quit her job to stay at home with the kids in June. This has been great for her because she does not have to get up at 6:30am anymore. And it has been nice for the family because there is less rushing to do things, whether it was getting places or getting things done around the house (though if you ask Nick, Melissa could still get more done around the house, sad part is that she agrees!). The kids seem to enjoy her being home all day long. And as soon as Melissa left her job she joined the local MOMS club and has gotten to partake in many fun activities (including some various kid free nights out).
If Nick and Melissa are not at home (or work) they are spending time at their church, Our Lady of the Lake. Nick joined the Knights of Columbus this past year as well as started back up as a Catechist. He also is involved in the Landscape Committee and Ushers and will say Yes to anything they call for! Melissa is in the choir and joined the M.O.M.S. group. They are part of T.O.O.L (marriage group) and were a part of the Alpha group that met earlier this year. Jeffrey is four and growing and getting smarter every day. His speech has gotten so much better in the past couple years with help of a therapist at school. He is enjoying his second year of preschool at Hilltop and is looking forward to riding the bus to kindergarten next year. We also celebrated him becoming completely potty trained this year.
Samantha is three and is always trying to keep up with her older brother. We have never had to worry about her speech skills; she always has something to say. She is enjoying having the house “to herself” when Jeff is in school. Next stop for her is potty training and then preschool next year.
We learned first hand this year how scissors and children’s hair do not mix when Jeffrey gave Samantha a haircut (and took a nick out of his own hair). It took 6 months for her hair to grow back and only recently was she ok with going to a hair salon.
A big event for the Pickert men this year was Nick taking Jeffrey pheasant hunting for the first time at the ***** Farm. They (along with Mollie and Max – who had his first time out as well) enjoyed spending time out there and even shot some birds!! One of Jeffrey’s favorite parts was getting to hunt with his Great Uncle ****and still talks about him often.
Nick and Melissa just returned from their first trip together since having kids. While our friends, The ****, graciously watched our children, we enjoyed the 70s and 80s in December that the Florida Keys had to offer. We stayed at a beautiful condo in Islamorada, and have to admit some of our favorite parts of the trip were when we were laying out soaking up the sun. Due to it being “winter” there (which involves 70s and windy/partly cloudy!) we did not do all the outdoor activities we wanted to enjoy. We did take a day trip down to Key West and found that to be quite the experience.
You can always keep updated with the Pickert Family activities by checking out Melissa’s blog at http://empress4.blogspot.com. And you can check out the Pepperberry Gardens website at http://www.pepperberrygardens.com.
We hope and pray that next year brings better things to come. We also want to say a special prayer for Melissa’s Dad who is going through treatments for Multiple Myeloma (Cancer) and is in the hospital this holiday season. The hill seems like a tough climb but we know he is a fighter.

Merry Christmas,
Happy Hannukah,
& Happy New Year.

The Pickerts,
Nick, Melissa, Jeffrey, & Samantha
Mollie, Max, Maggie & Scooter

“Love you Dad (Bapa)”

Prayers needed for my Dad.

I need prayer warriors from everywhere to help my Dad right now. I have never been so scared (myself and for him).
About 19 years ago he was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma (cancer) and was doing well till earlier this year. This is what happened the past couple weeks.
A week and a half ago (Wed 12/6) they started giving him Chemo so they could do a stem cell harvest.. he got out 2 days later on Fri. He was having a home health nurse come out and give him these shots. Well this past Wed (12/13) the nurse didn't like what she saw, so Mom came home and put him in the hospital (in protective isolation). His white blood cell counts are the lowest they can be.. which makes it hard to ward of infection. On Thursday they found pnemounia. On Friday they found his kidneys were failing so he started dialysis. On Saturday he was having a hard time breathing and they found fluid on his lungs so he started on a bipap machine (like a cpap used for sleep apnea). Well they moved him up to ICU then because those nurses can handle that machine. On Sunday they said his breathing was better buy his fluid in his lungs wasn't.. they still let him go back to a "regular" room and off of the bipap. Well overnight last night/this morning they didn't like what they saw so they brought him back down to ICU and started the bipap machine.. that wasn't working so overnight he went on a ventilator.. this also means he is sedated. Mom says he is hooked up to all sorts of machines.I have been there every day since Friday and he seems to look better one time and worse the next.
So we could all use some prayers.. of course mostly for him.. but also for the loved ones in his life so they don't get sick - because if we do we cannot visit him. Also, my Uncle ans Sister are out of town and just don't know if they should fly in.
One Dr. overnight told my Mom he is a long way from dying.. I really hope he is telling the truth.
I do know my Dad doesn't want my kids to lose both their Grandfathers in one year.. so he is fighting for them.He is at Abbott Northwestern in Minneapolis. As of right now I think I will be going down once Jeffrey gets out of preschool this morning.
BTW... Jeffrey is looking a lot better.. just has a couple small spots on his shoulder to heal.
Plus, Nick graciously cleaned my parents house on Saturday.. and helped put together a fake tree one of Mom's coworkers is borrowing her. So her house may be in the Christmas spirit. Can't say the same for ours. We bought a Poinsetta the other day.. otherwise you wouldn't know it was Christmas at our house.
Thanks for any and all prayers.
C-Ya!

Poor little tough guy.

I, unfortunately, have found out that I have one really tough son.

Last thursday was like any thursday around here... I was cooking dinner and waiting for Nick to get home so I could go to choir practice. I was making one of our favorites, spaghetti, and going to try it with ground pork. Jeffrey was up on a chair closer to the spaghetti pot and not the meat - which is where he normally stands. And I had stepped away to go to the bathroom.
This is when it happened.
I do not know how Jeffrey slipped, if the counter was wet or the chair got unstable.. but I had just walked back to the food and he slipped, hit his chin on the pot and it started falling over on him. And he got burned... technically scalded by hot water.
And as much as it didn't have to happen, I also know it could have been worse because I got the pot or it maybe would have gotten all over him.
My first response was to tear off his shirt and I ran him in the bathroom.. there I stripped him down and turned on a cold shower.. but the poor guy really didn't want to be under it. Then I called Nick and finally 911.
You see, I really had a hard time calling 911. 5 years and 2 weeks previous, Nick had been burned in a terrible fire outside. Thankfully, due to quick thinking and a great burn unit at HCMC he recovered with only one little scar near his ear. And then 6 months ago I had to call 911 when I found my father-in-law in the bathroom, and it ended up he unfortunately had passed away.
But I also knew that if I called 911 they would be able to take him to that same burn unit at HCMC. And so I did, and they came, and Nick got home.
Thankfully the burns weren't as bad as Nick's. Jeffrey's seem to be first degree burns, whereas Nick's were 2nd and 3rd. In something really freaky though, they almost seem to be in the same spot. On his face and right shoulder and chest (Nick's also were on his right arm/hand when it happened to him).
The ambulance took Jeffrey (and me - a first for the both of us) downtown to HCMC, and Nick and Samantha came in his truck. Also my parents rushed down too (they ended up having Samantha for the night).
Again, thankfully it wasn't worse, we only had to spend one night in the hospital (and found out they do have a stupid rule that only one parent can stay in their kid's room at night)... and we were out on Friday.
We have since been back on Saturday to get his chest re-dressed and will have to go back every 3 days till it is healed. Because of Nick's experience he is doing an expert job cleaning and putting bacitracin on his face and changing his bandages.
And to top it off, yesterday was Nick's 31st birthday and everything we had planned the whole weekend was cancelled.
I will say, one of the hardest things about being a parent is seeing your child in real pain, even worse when YOU should have done something better so it didn't even happen. It also was very hard to be back in the HCMC burn unit. I do feel like Jeffrey had a guardian angel, his Bapa, making sure it wasn't any worse.
And now.. a couple days later.. he seems to be healing really well. They said it should be about 14 days.. but I wouldn't be surprised if it was quicker.
Of course.. a couple prayers wouldn't hurt. Thanks.

C-Ya!

Halloween!

Ok.. Halloween was a couple days ago... but you are getting your recap now!!!
We started out the "festivities" on Sunday (10/29) when we got our pumpkins. We went to the pick your own pumpkin place that we went to last year. The one downfall this year was the up and down temps.. so many pumpkins that froze were soft with the warmer weather. This also made them just icker! Though, we did find 7 good ones and a gord so we took them home (and paid a great price for them).

That night I started carving them.. got 3 carved and did the other two that I planned to carve done the next 2 days!



It just so happened that last year someone gave us a lion costume for Jeffrey for this year and he had been a lion a couple years ago for 2 straight years.. so Samantha could wear that.. so they matched!! And I decided to do the old witch thing.. ho hum.
On Monday (10/30) Jeffrey had his preschool party.
Then on Halloween, we started the day at the MOMS club Halloween party, the kids got to make crafts, get our pic taken together and eat pizza and get goodies!

They of course got stains on their costumes.. but I found out the Tide To-Go Stick really works well.. and they disappeared so they could wear their costumes later.
Here are my cubs:

And here is us again:

Nick thankfully volunteered to take them out this year, especially nice because it was in the 30s!!

And while they didn't go to many houses.. they did say they had a great time.. and that is what matters. And I got to enjoy handing out candy to about 25-30 kids, which was a lot of fun for me!
And now the holidays is over.. next one.. Thanksgiving!!
C-Ya!

Samantha's birthday - a recap

Last Saturday, October 28, my little girl turned 3 years old!! Hard to believe that I have been the Mom to 2 kids for 3 years!!! I don't know if it is because she is a girl, the second child or just her personality... but she really seems to have matured differently then Jeffrey. She talks more and is defenitely more independent then Jeffrey was at that age.

Because her birthday fell on a Saturday we decided to have her party on the actual day. Not a lot of people came, I think it is the mix of it being right before Halloween and other things that makes for a low turnout.
I decided to make the cake again.. I made the same one two years ago for her and I thought it to be appropriate.

Samantha had a great time

and Jeffrey helped his little sister celebrate her day

Happy Birthday to my "Little Angel"


C-Ya!

Happy Birthday Max and Maggie!

October 17 my Yellow Lab Max turned 1!
October 20 my Shih Poo Maggie turned 1!

Happy Birthday to my Babies!!!!

C-Ya!

My 2 Hunters!

This afternoon Nick and Jeffrey along with Mollie and Max the Labs left to go hunting in Watertown, South Dakota. They are meeting up with Nick's Uncle, a long time family friend and his Adult Son. This is an annual tradition (baring Nick working and not getting injured). This is also a big deal because it is Jeffrey and Max's first time hunting. And this is an emotional deal because my father-in-law, Gar, was supposed to take them out for their first time. It has been hard on Nick and myself to think that this was the most important thing to Gar and he is missing out.
Nick did go with Jeffrey and get hunting clothes.. here are some pictures...

And Nick got a couple things.. so here is him and a pick of Samantha trying to do the same pose (both pics by Jeffrey)...


Of course I will have more pics after this weekend.. they will be getting back Monday or Tuesday and I cannot wait to hear all about it.

C-Ya!

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Jogging Quote

The trouble with jogging is that, by the time you realize you're not in shape for it, it's too far to walk back.
Franklin P. Jones

Funny... I kind of felt this way yesterday... the kids and I went for a walk and it was pretty far for Jeffrey to go - Samantha was in the stroller - and I was so worried we wouldn't make it back. He only started giving up about a block from the house... but he made it (and so did I!)
That is why I have said I love treadmills... if you can't make it you can just hop off!!
C-Ya!

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Quote for my 350th post

Ok... I just saw this and had to post.

Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.
Don Marquis (1878 - 1937)

It.is.so.true.

This coming from one of the world's biggest procrastinators who should be cleaning the house or something instead of on this computer. But I can always do it tomorrow, right?
Ah well... off to figure out dinner.. can't quite put that off!!

C-Ya!

Vote for Mollie and Max!

Ok.. so per Roxanne's suggestion, I entered my dogs in a photo contest... if you would like to vote, go here: 1800petmeds.com

Thanks in advance!

C-Ya!

No Consequences

Ok... Stacy posted the latest blog challenge question on Scrapshare a couple days ago.. here is the challenge:

Q: If you could live one day without consequences, what would you do? Would you
get a tattoo just to see what it was like? Would you skip work or school and
sleep all day? Would you have a one-night-stand, or would you buy a yacht, or
would you tell your parents what you REALLY think of them? If you could live one
day without consequences, what would you do?

And I have been doing some thinking.

Well I would start off the day with hiring a helper. Someone who could change diapers, make meals and take care of the kids in the evening. I would then sleep in and wake up next to Nick, who would also be sleeping in. We would get up and the helper would get the kids dressed and have a scrumptuous meal of waffles and sausage and all sorts of other breakfast goodies prepared for us.
Next we would head to the Mall of America in our Corvette Convertable (rented or bought just for the occasion) for a (half) day of shopping. Nick and I could update our wardrobe, while Jeffrey and Samantha could get some fun toys. Next, my helper would take the kids on the rides and Nick and I would head off to a spa for a half day of treatment, massage, facial, the works!
We would meet back up with the kids and any one else who wanted to come for a dinner at an expensive restaurant.
And we would finish up the night with my parents watching the kids and us going to a Radisson hotel for the night (because they have Select Comfort beds).

Yea.. it is probably similar to what a lot of people would do... and since I only have a day, it wouldn't be worth it to add traveling to this. I guess the biggest thing would be a day of not worrying about money.

C-Ya!

Fall "poetry"

It is a sad day in Twinsville,
there playoff hopes have been dashed
And in homes around Minnesota,
homer hankies have been stashed

The air outside is changing
A little cooler and crisper
But today a warm wind blows
like a summer whisper

It is October they say
And spooks are a saying boo
With witches and pumpkins
and skeletons too

Another big milestone
at month's end
Samantha turns 3
and invites we will send

And now I finish
this terrible poem
Tonight I hope you journey
to your safe, warm, home

C-Ya!

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...before your Dad gets home.

I find myself saying to my kids to "do such-and-such before your Dad gets home". And after saying that for the 5 billionth time, I have come to a realization. Mom's (and Dad's if the Mom is the sole "provider") sometimes say this, not because the Dad will get mad if it isn't done, more that Moms want a "threat" that works.
Can you tell it has been a stressful day with the kids?
Right now I am trying to get them to clean up their toys.. and of course I want it done before Nick gets home because that gives them a deadline. He is so tired and stressed with work, he doesn't notice the messes as much.
I know how I am going to feel that day based on if the kids wake me up or not. This morning, they woke me up and were already driving me nuts.
And of course they had their daily fight that results in a double time out.

For the first time in my life, I am truly feeling stress.

*sigh*

C-Ya!

Books: Shopaholic Series

Since I became a Stay at Home Mom the beginning of June, I have re-found my love of reading. Mostly because I now have the time to read. And since then I have read about 17 books. One of the books I have read are the Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella:


These books are the story of Becky Bloomwood... shopaholic. They are chick-lit, amusing and very fun and fast to read. I recommend it!
I just cannot wait for the next one to come out next year.

C-Ya!

Doggie Pics!

Ok... just had to post a couple dog pics!!

Here is Maggie the other day:


And here is Mollie and Max in their "house":


C-Ya!

September Recap

Yep! Again I am behind in my blogging. I have no clue why.. I still spend time on the computer.. I guess this takes more effort.

September was a good month.

We started off the month with our annual trip to the MN State Fair

kids got cranky midway through, so my Mom and Dad came by and picked them up.. after that it was just Nick and I!!!

Then Jeffrey had his first day of (his second year of) preschool. He now goes 3 mornings a week in one of the Elementary school buildings. And he seems to really like it. Samantha also enjoys the 2 1/2 hours he is gone because she gets 100% of the attention and toys!


We had out Church's Festival and the kids had a chance to go on some rides.


That weekend was also the End of Summer BBQ at my friend Roxanne's (and her fiance Josh) house. Too bad it felt like mid fall that weekend. But I still enjoyed getting to see her place and meet her puppy. Here is Roxanne w/ her dogs Goofy (white/orange) and Fredo (black) along with my Maggie


September 11 I turned 27 as a previous blog said.

That week I also got to meet up with some scrapshare.com/homeschoolscrapper.com members that visited the Mall of America - Stacie, Jill, Julie and I along with my 2 kids, Stacie's kid Aidan, Jill's husband and my father all got to eat lunch and stroll around the mall at a great time of the day.


I also got to make my own Build A Bear, Violet the Velvet Teddy


I also had dinner w/ my family and parents at Red Lobster and went downtown for lunch with my friends Roxanne and Laura (and my kids), that week.

The next weekend Roxanne and I, along with her StepMom and Future-Mother-in-law, went to Blaine and then Stillwater for wedding dress shopping and lunch. Here is our view from where we ate at the Water Street Inn of the Famous Stillwater Lift Bridge.


Jeffrey and Samantha have also learned a little bit about the internet games!! I let them play on some safe websites with their favorite characters like Dora, Diego, Blue and Max and Ruby.


And of course the kids are having fun together (when they aren't fighting with each other).


And we closed out the month picking some of the carrots from the garden that Jeffrey planted.


Now onto October and the fall weather that is coming in!!

C-Ya!

Countdown..

Ok...so I have been hit or miss on the Scrapshare.com Blog Challenges so I thought I would work on this one!! I actually started this a week ago.. but it was hard to get finished.

10 Things I Wanna Do Before I Die
1. See my Grandkids
2. Go to Europe
3. Buy the car of my dreams
4. Act in something (at least one more time)
5. Write a book
6. Sing a solo
7. Become less of a procrastinator
8. See some more peace in this world.
9. Be out of debt
10. Come to an understanding and peace with death

9 Places I Last Spent Money
1. Garage Sale
2. Costco
3. Restaurants (see below)
4. Parking meter
5. Build-A-Bear
6. Minnesotah store at MOA
7. Jubilee (grocery store)
8. Church Festival
9. Preschool payment

8 Sounds I Routinely Hear Around My House
1. Kids talking
2. Dogs barking
3. Kids crying
4. Waterfall running
5. Kids laughing
6. Cars/Trucks driving
7. Phone ringing
8. Bugs/birds chirping

7 Real Restaurants Where I Last Ate Out
1. Brits
2. Red Lobster
3. McDonalds
4. Dominoes
5. Speedway Grill
6. The Local
7. Water Street Inn

6 Things I've Recently Scratched Off My To-Do List
1. Cleaned some of the house
2. Paid some bills
3. Filled out and turned in Jeffrey's preschool forms
4. Read certain books
5. Became a stay at home Mom
6. Met more people

5 People I Don't Know but would Like to Hang Out With
1. The Gals from "The View"
2. Jennifer Aniston
3. Laura Childs (pen name)
4. Bill Clinton
5. Any of my favorite singers

4 Songs That Make Me Happy
1. "Insatiable" by Darren Hayes
2. "Boondocks" by Little Big Town
3. Anything by Rascal Flatts ("Fast Cars and Freedom", "Me and my Gang", "Life is a Highway")
4. "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira

3 Things I Hate To Do
1. Dust
2. Drive long distance
3. Call people on the phone

2 Things I'm Really Good At
1. Computers
2. Bargain shopping

1 Bad Habit
1. Procrastination

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to meeeee
Happy Birthday to me!

Today I turn 27!
What a day to party
And I am sick... the weather is unseasonably cold... and we cannot go out tonight because the MN Vikings are on.
Oh well... *sigh*

C-Ya!

Drunk Joke

Gettin' Drunk   
 
One day this guy was sitting at this bar in Chicago and looks over and sees this guy that looks exactly like him. He says to the guy, �Hey you look just like me!�
The other man agrees and asks, �Where are you from?�
The first guy answers, �Chicago.�
�Me too!� says the second guy, �What street do you live on?�
�Forty-Ninth Street,� answers the first guy.
�Me too!� says the second guy, becoming increasingly excited. �What's your address?�
''951.�
�Me too! Wow, this is incredible! What are your parents' names?�
� John and Cathy,� says the first guy. �Me too!� shouts the second guy. �I wonder if we're related!?�
Meanwhile, the bartenders are changing shifts and the guy coming on asks if anything is new. �No,� says the first bartender, �just the Smith twins, drunk again.�

Go Vikings!

Ok... today is the 3rd game of the preseason for the Minnesota Vikings. And I am jealous because Nick is at the game. Jeffrey did pick out a Vikes jersey to wear today, so I thought as I turned the game on, we should all match. So here is our self portrait (really good - especially since I took it with the timer) of us tonight.


GO VIKES!
C-Ya!

Tastefully Simple & Oceangram

TASTEFULLY SIMPLE
Ok.. I am about 99.9% sure I am going to sign up with Tastefully Simple as a consultant the beginning of September. I had thought about doing it in the past but never did. But now that I don't know a local consultant and they have done some updating of their shows and various other things, I really want to go for it. Plus, I have a couple people that would want to have a show and am hoping to find some others that would (so if you know me, let me know if you want to...). I really hope this is something I can make a go of. And if you have never heard of TS (gourmet food) check out their website at Tastefully Simple. Just got to convince Nick!!

OCEANGRAM
My SS friends turned me on to a cool website.. it is the internet version of message in a bottle. You can send out messages and then wait for one to come to you. I just got one back that Jeffrey and I sent out and I have been only doing it today. It is at Oceangram and if you see a message signed Empress4, that is me!!!

Discombobulated...

is how I feel today. Nick took Jeffrey to the Game Fair, I just put Samantha down for a nap. The house is quiet except for the radio I put on... but I just don't know what to do. I mean the house needs to be cleaned, I could take a nap or a shower, but I know I need to get off of the computer. It doesn't help that I have kind of felt this way since Gar died and I left my job. When I do have the opportunity to be around adults I almost don't know how to act or what to say. And I still have no energy.
I just said to myself, maybe I need to get a job. Something part time. I just think it is going to be a month or two before Nick's work will slow down enough for me to work.

I am just so tired of feeling this way.

C-Ya!

Friday Ramblings

Have you ever done something you know wasn't the best choice.... but really knew it wouldn't impact you.. because you.didn't.care. I had that happen recently. Funny how a couple years back I maybe would have and now, nope!
So I created the blog for Nick's company and haven't written anything yet... don't know how to start out a blog about landscaping. What should the first thing I write about be?
I didn't sleep well last night.. I couldn't fall asleep. So now I am tired today and have been walking around in a fog.. this means I haven't gotten much done. I tell myself I deserve a day like this.. but it seems like I tell myself that most days. And it is interesting how one moment I am going nuts being a SAHM and home all the time and the next I am glad for its protective shield because I don't have to go out.
I have gotten to watch a couple movies the past couple weeks that I have wanted to see...

Both were great movies that talked about social issues. North Country was filmed here in Minnesota and RENT is a Musical.. so that was a big bonus for me.
Well we are coming up to the end of summer. I don't know about other places, but here Labor Day is the end of summer. We have the State Fair the 11 days leading up to it (and Labor Day) and school usually starts the day after. This means there are a lot of things coming up to finish out the summer. Sounds like both weekends left in August are filled.
Well, I suppose I should do something..hope everyone is enjoying their summer!
C-Ya!

PURPLE!

Ok... so this is the first week of the Scrapshare blog challenge and the topic is color.
Well this is an easy one for me.. my favorite color is:
PURPLE!!
It started when I was 13 or 14, my love affair with purple. This of course came a year or two after my father had painted my room pink. So alas... I was a purple lover in a pink room. I don't know why I initially came to like purple.. I think it is such a unique color. And any shade, to me, is beautiful. Now after I figuared that out I really didn't go out of my way to pick purple till I graduated high school. At that time I choose a cake with purple writing, even if my school colors were red and white.. and after an initial stop at a different college, the one I graduated from did have the colors purple and gray. By that time I was using a purple backpack and buying purple shirts. I also felt blessed to have the hometown Minnesota Vikings use the colors purple and gold (better then the green and gold of the Packers!).
And when I was blessed to walk down the aisle and became Nick's wife, I picked the colors purple and green (for our favorite colors). Eventually we bought a house and the second bedroom was painted a light purple for the eventual children...and their room is still purple. And when we got Maggie I got to pick the color of her collar and leash.. purple!
Eventually I came to learn that purple is the color of royalty... kind of funny when my online nickname is Empress4. That makes it evener cooler of a color.

Before & After

So I had been growing my hair out... well the other day I said I had enough of it being long. It was starting to be a pain. So Tuesday I had it cut. I think I am about as happy with it as I can be.. maybe could have taken another inch off.
Here are the before and after pics:


Do you like it??

C-Ya!

Build-a-Bear

Ok... I admit... I have always wanted to go to Build a Bear Workshop for myself... but alas.. I haven't. Instead, tonight I took my kids to their first trip there and they each came home with a new buddy. Here is our photo journey....
First stop was picking out their new friend. Here they are holding them.. Jeffrey picked out a dog and Samantha picked out a bear...

Next it was off to the stuffing station where each one got to help stuff and then put in a heart..

And then off to the fluffing station.. after they each picked out an outfit and took them home...

And introducing... Jeffrey with doggie and Samantha with bearie...

I think they like their new friends. I told them it was a treat for dealing with the lice issue so well. And they both are sleeping with them tonight.

C-Ya!!

Anniversary weekend....

Well this past weekend on the 29th we celebrated 6 years as a married couple.. a couple days earlier on the 27th we celebrated our 9th year together. Now I use celebrated losely because we got each other cards (mine a day late) and that was about it. As you will hear, we really couldn't go out, yet just knowing it has been another year is special in my mind. Funny how it is when you know you are in it for the "long haul".
Kind of busy weekend.
Friday evening we went out and Nick got two new pairs of shoes. He has really needed them. One pair was even a Crocs (Scutes)!
Friday night I colored my hair... no one notices.. that is ok.
Saturday night we had people over from out TOOL group (church/marriage deal)... this meant a lot of the previous days was spent cleaning. Everything turned out well.
Sunday was our friend's kid's 2nd bday party. It was planned for 2 hours, but as it was winding down she asks us if we want to go with her family and her sister's family on their boat, so Nick went the half block to our house and got our suits and we headed out. And what a great day to be on a boat. It was so warm out, being in the water was really refreshing. We swam in one bay and then went to bring the sister's family back and then went out to a different bay. And didn't get home till dark!
And now today is suppose to be the last day of this heatwave. We may have even hit 100 degrees!
I will leave you with the pic of Jeffrey downloading pics onto my computer from his "camera" (actually a windmill).

C-Ya!