Appreciating the moment even though it has changed.

I miss beyond words the days of having little people. As much as I yearned for some quiet and time for myself I would give anything to have that time back. We were together almost all of the time. We got to go on so many adventures and none of them had to be planned around camps, or work or friend time. 

As much as I long for those days, I keep telling myself I need to appreciate these days now that are right in front of me. All too soon these girls will be even older and I will miss right now. I am grateful I am still able to be home with them. I am grateful that in the middle of the day we can have heart to heart talks. I am grateful we still do fun things and at least the only thing that has stayed constant is they can still fight like the best of them.

In this photo Lindsey has just come home from a week at gymnastics camp. Anna is fresh from band lessons so she is motivated to practice her flute.Once band lessons stopped so did her motivation to practice.

Stuff with Papa.

Anna hasn't gotten to spend as much time with her Papa as the older two. When I had three little girls and Mark was at truck pulls or working on his trucks all summer long, I needed somewhere to go to keep me sane. Pop's was the place. When we built our house and I didn't like our rental house we would pack up every Friday night and stay at Pop's. As the girls have gotten older, we go there less. It bums me out because Anna isn't getting the same experience the other two got. That being said she still does get to do a lot of fun things with pop. She loves riding bike at his house and playing with Buster and Twitter.  (all photos from 2016)

She loves to carry Buster around Northfields in this front pack. Simon, Pop, and Anna went to The Joint in Northfield, one last time before it moved to Dundas.

I don't remember but I think I was working so Anna went with Pop and Sally's family on the Cannon Valley Trail.

Another store closing in Northfield, so of course Papa, Anna and Buster headed over for one last shopping day.

Papa, Willow and Buster surprised Anna at homecoming and watched the parade.

Shades of Sherwood.

Lindsey asked if she could invite some friends to Shades of Sherwood. Between camps for her and the cabin there have not been a lot of free days to do stuff with her friends. Monday was going to be beautiful so she gathered some friends and Anna & Allie and we were off. Mark helped drive there and Abby helped with pick up. Knowing there was DQ in the mix made her more eager to be the driver.

Lindsey jumping in.

 This is hard work. Tyson and Allie climbing up and Anna watching. Anna was climbing up earlier, fell down the rope and knocked Allie in the water. This place is not for the weak!

 It was fabulous to watch these middle school kids be kids. Laughing, talking, playing, being outside! I don't think kids get a chance to just be kids these days. Too many scheduled sporting events and not enough time to use their imagination, enjoy the outdoors and just be in the moment.

September 2016.

I am going to try to make a monthly list of what we have been up to. Maybe I can even get a picture of the girls once a month too.

-Como Pool with Jesse, Krystle & family, Sally, Louie &  family and Pop. Abby didn't come with us. Joe and Bree were getting ready to move so they didn't come either.
-School started. I think Lindsey was a little excited to start 7th grade. I was not ready to start work. It was a tough start to the year for me.
-Lots of volleyball playing and watching. I do love volleyball.
- Lindsey loves volleyball and is having a hard time fitting in gymnastics with all of her volleyball games and tournaments.
-Had to say goodbye to Joe, Bree, & Cedar. They moved back to CO. Not sure how long they will be there.
-I went to Nashville, TN with the photography group.
-Bunk spent lots of time in and out of the hospital.
-I started grad school to get my teaching degree. Very excited but also very overwhelmed and nervous.
-Abby got to go to champ show again this year. She went up with Nellie. I came up after class on Saturday and stayed over with her. She LOVES going to champ show. I was happy to be able to spend some time with her.
-Mark and I spent a weekend in Duluth to celebrate 17 years of wedded bliss.  We went earlier than we ever had. I loved the weather and may plan to go early every year.
-My girls ate more c-store mini pizzas and /or breakfast pizzas than I would like to admit.

Finding the joy in the sadness of life.

I have some time to breath the next few weeks so I am trying to catch up on blog posts and our family scrapbooks. The last month or so my phone has been plump full of photos so I have not taken many pictures. I am looking back over our last few years of albums and am so thankful for my pictures. These every day life things are so precious to look at a year later. Lindsey looks so little and has changed so much in a year. Anna looks so happy and innocent and joyful and sadly I feel like she has lost some of that in the last 6 months. Abby hasn't changed in looks as much as the other two.

One of the most patient, coolest, kindest & big hearted man I have ever known has had a tough fall. It started about the time the building that his grandpa built that housed Held Chevrolet started on fire. He hasn't been the same since. His health seems to be spiraling down so quickly. He was having a bad day at Christmas. I really thought he may die. Last year he was driving to Faribault to drive a Tom and Jerry on Christmas morning. This year, he could hardly lift the glass to drink the Tom and Jerry they brought back for him. People were crying, worried and sad. I look back at photos of him and think how lucky I am to have the photos and how lucky I am to have so many memories of him. Just a few months ago we had a cousin party with him and Nana. He is smiling, talking, and enjoying a beer. I know he is 90 but life changes so quickly and this is just another reminder for me to enjoy and notice it all.

Taking photos is the way I do this. So my goal for 2017 is to keep documenting this life of ours. It is changing, the girls are getting older, we don't have as many things we all do together. That in itself makes me sad. I need to morn the loss of that time in our life but not so much that I forget to pay attention to all the great stuff that makes up our life right now.

Minneapolis Day 2

Our first morning and of course it is me and Annabelle up early. Pop snapped this photo of her reading Mercy Watson to me. I loved this little area of the house. It would have been even better if it were an outside porch. The windows opened a little but not was much as I would have liked. 

We bought these fun coasters at Patina. The girls had fun with them. Once everyone was up we jumped in pop's car and headed to breakfast at the Kenwood Cafe. They had a very small menu but I thought it was good. The girls loved their pancakes. Once we ate we checked out the bookstore next door and then headed to the Linden Hills neighborhood. Pop let me drive his car most of the trip. It was fun to zip around Minneapolis in his cool little car.

Hard to believe but the girls had more ice cream at another Sebastian Joe's. Lucky for me ice cream makes my tummy hurt so I just treat myself to good coffee. Abby found a place that had really cute dresses. She was able to get two for volleyball. There was a big sale going on the next day. We went back and asked the lady if she would let us know if the dress Abby wanted sold so we didn't make a special trip at 6 am the next morning. She then offered to give us a discounted price on it that day so we wouldn't have to drive back. There was a girl that had the dress Abby wanted in the fitting room. As soon as she put it back Abby scooped it up. The store lady said, "I am going to go to hell for this but I really want you to have that dress." I think it helped that Abby and Lindsey had been in the store earlier chatting with her. As much as my kiddos can drive me crazy they really are nice, polite kids to other people.

Wild Rumpus is my favorite bookstore in Minnesota. The books, the animals, the little door, it is all so great.

We then headed to Uptown to go to H & M and I was after a delicious homemade lemonade. H & M was a hit but the small coffee shop doesn't make the lemonade anymore because it was too much work. Ugh! I was so sad. I was so bummed they actually gave me the recipe for it.

Once we got back to the house the girls changed into their suits and we headed to Lake Calhoun. It was beautiful there. One the way back we saw one of my high school friends and college roommates walking down the street. I knew she liked in the neighborhood but what are the changes that we would see her? She invited us to come over the next day to see her house. Once we got back to the house we went for a walk to the park. It ended up being dark by the time we got back and we got stuck in a downpour as we walked. We ordered Papa John's Pizza, stayed up too late and watched more Andy Griffith.

Another beautiful fall day!

Last year during MEA we headed up to Brained with Allie and Brandy. We had a great time and everyone wanted to go again this year. I knew with school though I just couldn't do it. So we made the weekend fun in other ways. It was the last day of the Northfield Farmer's market for the year. Abby didn't want to come with us so we left her home and Lindsey and Anna and I went. We met Pop, Sally and kids there. It was a beautiful day. Pop of course brought Buster. We all of course at quiche and cinnamon rolls. I was sad to have my last cup of coffee a local roaster. They don't have a store front, only this stand at the Farmer's Market. I LOVE good coffee and this was good coffee!

We did a little shopping too. I stopped in Main Stream Boutique which is always fun.

On the way home we wanted to stop at Nerstrand Woods. It was so crowded there was no where to park so Sally and Pop went back to Kenyon. We had been driving around the camp ground so once we went to the regular lot again there was a space. Off we went. I would be lying if I said no one complained about going.  :)

Once we got back to Pop's we went to visit GiGi and Roger. So good to see them. Gigi has so much love for my girls.