1400 Snowballs??

Ok, actually, they were just mini-marshmallows in a jar..THANKFULLY! Alex had the winning guess at his school's bookfair's guessing contest with 1001. So he won $5 in merchandise which he was STOKED about! Of course he spent it on bookfair 'junk' like a mini calculator and erasers and such, and not a book, but he sure had fun!

mmmmmmmmmm!

On a rather regular basis home-baked goodies from Todd's mom arrive in mass quantities at our house. And they are VERY much enjoyed. I thought she'd get a kick out of this photo, which shows a common occurrence: Todd and Michaela digging into the cake (not dished out) with forks in hand!

Scrabble!

Hey! Kim! Look! I got Todd to play Scrabble! Our very first game! Todd had a very respectable game scoring over 240 and I got lucky and scored just over 300. I doubt he'll ever be as fanatical about it as I am, but hey! He played! Hopefully he'll do it again soon!

This afternoon we had a Cranium marathon playing 2 games of Cadoo and 2 games of Balloon Lagoon with the smalls. Then played 2 games of Hoopla with Michaela after smalls were in bed. WHEW! It was fun. If you've never played any of the Cranium series, I HIGHLY recommend them! Very fun!

It was nice to have a laid back end to the long weekend. Had Thanksgiving at Todd's parents' house with various family members. Todd had his annual pheasant hunt/bbq with the cousins on Friday. Saturday he went and worked at Kjergaard Sports while the kids and I did the holiday decorating. So today we just sorta hung out with a trip to the Y for a swim and then gaming this afternoon. Nobody is ready to go back to their regular schedules tomorrow.

2 witches and their snake..

Pretty quiet Halloween around here. The weather was half-decent, though brisk. I found it odd that both Michaela and Becca wanted to be witches (actually I was one too at an adult outting later than night) and Mr. Alex was a snake. Also threw in a quick peek of Michaela's pumpkin carving.

1st Sacrement

Rebecca was baptised on October 7th. I know this should've been done years ago, it just never seemed to work out. Local friends, Angie and Eric, are her Godparents. Thanks Guys! She is currently working on both her 2nd and 3rd Sacrements. She'll have her first Reconciliation in January and then her first Communion around Easter. The fourth Sacrement, Confirmation, will take place when she's in high school.

It was a small private ceremony with just family and the Godparents. Afterwards we celebrated with a lunch at Applebee's.

Michaela as a GIRL!

These photos are of Michaela and her boyfriend, Zach, at Homecoming. Mostly I was amazed at the complete transformation of Michaela from punk, anime person, into a complete female! Equipped in a dress, heals, combed hair and yes, even make-up!

She looked amazing!! I couldn't believe it! And Zach is a really nice guy! He hangs out over here quite a bit. He and Michaela have many of the same interests like theatre, speech, video games etc.

The Snow Dance is coming up soon so we may get another installment of girlie-ness!

Still hanging in there...

Here it is, Thanksgiving weekend, and I realize it's been two months since my last posting. Quite the gap! I'm not even sure where that time went. I just know I didn't feel like blogging.

Partly because, yes, as usual, I'm pretty busy with just normal run-of-the-mill life stuff like work, kids, house, etc. And partly because I've really hit a wall the past couple of months. Oddly, for as much as I worried how the move would affect my kids, it's actually been much harder on me. The kids are doing great..which is AWESOME! It's great to see them embracing their new environment and just running with it.

For me...I'm a little lost. I feel like I don't really fit here. I'm just some misplaced puzzle piece. Which, for those of you who have never lived in a small town, it's really hard. I grew up in a small town a fraction of the size of Marshall; but I guess there are just small town quirks you forget about.

Cities are great in the fact that you can move in and you can easily define your own space, life and self and people readily accept that in nearly every case. In a small town you are completely defined by who you know or who you're related to. It's a click of sorts. I'm not a clicky person.. so this has been.. awkward and uncomfortable to say the least.

I didn't grow up in the safe confines of this town - a bubble, if you will. My relatives and friends aren't on every block. My experiences aren't laid out in a 30 mile radius and the whole town can't chronicle those experiences either. My life and thought processes are not black and white - I am not close-minded. I ride the fine line between science and religion; which is unacceptable here. I'm independent. I entertain all possiblities. I don't believe my thoughts, ideas and ways are the right or only way. But neither are anyone else's.

Home life is, at times, challenging. Blending Todd and I's lives has not been easy. Not that I thought it would be. And we have far to go. I'm pretty sure I've never been so frustrated or cried so much as I have in the past three months. Never have I wanted something so badly and had it get to me just as badly.

I have yet to complete my dental hygiene licensure. Which is a belittling thing for me. I will begin my applications for my Bachelor of Hygiene completion through Mankato State. At one time, I thought I'd abandon it. But I can't. I need to finish it. I want that under my belt. I will not give up my long term goal of working for Hu-Friedy or Proctor and Gamble. Because one day, there will come a time where I will need more than is offered here.

So this weekend I find myself somewhere between that low place and looking at all my opportunities. Thankful of where I have been, where I am and where I have yet to go. For those of you who share and shape my life. Thankful for my wonderfully chaotic, imperfect and unsettled life. For it has made me a more accepting, strong person.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I'll follow up with a few short posts of photos from the past weeks' events. Enjoy!