Friday Fragments

**Around Christmas-time, Grandma earned 2 free unlimited ride wristbands for the Nickelodeon Universe park at the Mall of America. We got a chance to finally use them last weekend. The place was packed! All the kids were amazingly patient as we waited in line for the rides. We discovered that our very brave Lauren was freaked out a little by a couple of the roller coasters. And Benjamin (affectionately referred to as the Wimp) LOVED them. Noah was just tall enough to ride one of them and proceeded to do so about 7 times in a row.

**All the kids had Beach Day at school this week. Lauren always looks forward to this day. Every year she always tries to convince me that she should be able to wear her swimsuit to school! Nice try girlie.

**Computer genius, I think not! - Noah's newest interest is playing games on the computer. He is REALLY good at turning the computer on and getting to where he wants to go. Although this week he somehow pushed some button or combinations thereof so that the display on the monitor was tilted 90 degrees (just imagine turning your head sideways to look at what the screen was saying). Dave couldn't even figure out how to get it back to normal.

**During the whole computer monitor incident and my attempt to fix it (yeah right, like that was going to happen)Noah decided he wanted a snack. He came back into the office where I was fuming at the computer and asked if we could make some popcorn. We went upstairs to make some. He had already gotten out the popcorn pan and it was on the stove. As I came around the corner in the kitchen I was surprised to find the entire floor covered with popcorn kernels! UGH. He was sent to get the broom to help clean up. As I moved the pan from the stove it seemed a little heavy. I opened it to find the remaining popcorn kernels.....about 4 cups worth! Thank goodness he didn't decide to turn the stove on.

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Thanks to Mrs4444 at Half-Past Kissin' Time for the Friday Fragment idea. Friday Fragments are bits and pieces of your week that aren't long enough for one blog entry but are too good to miss.

Wordless Wednesday

MMMMMM....I love icicles

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Thanks to Mrs4444 at Half-Past Kissin' Time for the Wordless Wednesday idea.

Things, they are a changing

My blog is slowly starting to change it's look and/or add some new features. Check out these new things.

• Updated Slideshow (located on the right sidebar) - I added my favorite pictures from 2008
  
  
• Subscribe - you can now subscribe to my blog by simply clicking on the icon near the top of the page on the right sidebar. My blog would be added to your bookmarks.

• Followers - you can add yourself here to show people you read my blog. A picture is optional so don't be scared away if you dont have one. I would love to know who is following the blog so click on it and join in on the fun.
  

• Profile - I've taken some time to update my profile to let you know more about me. Just in case you forgot. ;)
  

• Blogs I read - changed the formats of those too. It's a long list but there is some good stuff on there. Check it out.

• Running log - I have never been a runner in my life but recently I have worked on becoming one. I added this to my blog record my times and distances. It's a brave endeavor by me so I don't have a reason not to do them.
  

More features may be changing as time goes on. Check back often to see for yourself.

Benjamin's bday celebration

Some quick pictures from Benjamin's Bday celebrations. He had a Birthday Breakfast with family members on Saturday, Feb 7. Then on Sunday he had a swimming party with 7 friends. Whew, we were all exhausted at the end of that weekend.

Friday Fragment

Hey look, another new idea for my blog. Thanks to Mrs.4444 at Half-Past Kissin Time for this idea too. Friday Fragments are bits and pieces of your week that are usually brief; too short for a stand-alone post, but too good to discard. Visit her blog and click on the Friday Fragment link to check it out.

**Monday there was no school because of President’s Day. Luckily, Lauren was at Grandma & Grandpa Petersen’s all weekend so there wasn’t too much screaming between siblings. That day a friend and I hit our favorite thrift shop (think Goodwill) for their 50% off sale. You wouldn’t believe the deals we got!

**Noah had his preschool conference this week. The teacher said he is doing great in school. He’s starting to write his own name but there was some question about whether he was right or left handed. We chose for him. HA HA

**Lauren is making great strides in piano lessons. I know she understand the material more because the speed she is playing is getting faster. Gee, I wonder where she gets that from??

**Benjamin’s class celebrated the 100th day of school last week with a big celebration. Plus now he has been showing us all the different ways he can count to 100.

**I had 2 great visits from old high school/college friends. My friend Karen (from 4-H) called to tell me that she was expecting baby #2. Although I figured that’s why she was calling since she only ever calls me in person with big news like that. ;) My friend Sara and I had a great visit/dinner this week too in Minneapolis. She is in town because her little boy Levi was recently diagnosed with leukemia and he here being treated. He is making great strides and is just about to head home to ND. We figured that the last time we had seen each other was over 8 years ago at her wedding. Check out Levi’s website.

**The “highlight” for Dave this week was that he got to witness the fact that Noah knows how to make his own hot chocolate (hot water and everything!). He had been outside with the kids and they were just about to go inside. Noah headed in first. Dave came in the door not more than 5 minutes later. But in that time, Noah had gotten out the box of hot chocolate and a mug, both which are on shelves WAY above his head. He had taken the sharpest scissors in the house and cut open the package and poured in the powder. Then he climbed on another counter to get the glass measuring cup out, filled it with water and put it in the microwave. Dave found him standing on a chair in front of the microwave which was on (for an unknown amount of time) watching the water boil. He told Dave, “Look Dad, I’m making hot chocolate”. Remember people, he just turned 4!

Bowling

A few weeks ago, Dave and Noah participated in a "Dad & Me Bowling" night. The local bowling alley put the bumpers in the gutters and set up little ramps the kids could put the ball on to launch their balls down the lanes. The kids even got to wear little bowling shoes.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday is a new feature to my blog. I got the idea when visiting this blog, Half Past Kissin' Time. http://www.halfpastkissintime.com/




All you have to do is simply post a picture that describes itself for your readers pleasure. Sounds simple enough. Hope you enjoy.

Benjamin enjoying chocolate pudding.