flashback friday

these pictures crack me up!! this is back in 2000 after nate & dee were married (if i remember correctly). we were bound & deteremined to have a nice family photo, and maybe have a picture to use for christmas cards. all of us were at the lake together, along with my uncle ron & aunt ang. since we had someone extra there we thought we'd take advantage of that fact & have them snap some pictures of the 6 of us. when we got the pictures developed it was so funny to see all of us squinting so much. the sun was soooo bright that you literally couldn't open your eyes. we had to be looking into the sun because it was shining too bright for it to be behind us. eventually we had to move inside to finish the job. the picture below is what dennis & i ended up sending out for our christmas cards that year.

why there was no flashback friday last week...

last week i didn't get around to posting a flashback friday. i know how disappointed you were not to see another dorky photo of me. :) well, we were extremely busy trying to fit the last week of "summer" in before school started. we had activity pools to go to with friends, swimming in our own pool, running errands...you know, all that good stuff! plus, friday was a hectic day! my mom flew in on friday to spend just 2 days with us before heading out on sunday to spend the week in lake tahoe with my dad who is there for work. then she's heading back here for a week with us. but friday it was to the airport to pick her up, come home for lunch, i worked on getting our picnic ready for the evening while lauryn napped & g'ma played with isaac. then it was off to isaac's school for the "meet & greet" where we got to see his classroom & meet his teacher for the first time. the kids also got to choose a book from the book fair thanks to g'ma. after that, we headed home to get ready for our evening at the spring mountain ranch theater. we packed up the truck with pillows, blankets, jackets, lawn chair, wagon, coolers full of fried chicken that dennis made, fruit & dip, veggies & dip, cheese & crackers, cake, & drinks. we met our friend susan out there for the evening. it was a delight to arrive there around 6:00 & feel the cooler air. it wasn't cool by any means, it just wasn't 105! we met our friend susan who brought a yummy broccoli salad to go with all of our food. we stuffed ourselves then relaxed for a bit until the show "aida" began. it was a very good show, from what dennis could see what with the people in front of us on the low-slung chairs & ginormous cooler in the way. the lawn chairs should be off to the side so everyone else on blankets can see! anyway, here are some photos from our wonderful day & evening!

isaac & ms. lingatong

g'ma with her favorite grandkids in las vegas!

susan & isaac ~ she brought isaac a new book for a "starting kindergarten gift". how sweet!

dennis & me enjoying the beautiful evening & the sky full of stars.

when the show began, g'ma headed to the lawn chair just off to the side. lolo sat with her for quite awhile before finding her way back to our blankets.

the kids were exhausted after our busy day & fell asleep on the way home.

1st day of kindergarten

i was the first one up this morning & was in the living room watching the news when isaac got up. he came out & hopped up on the couch. then 5 minutes later said, "mom, did you forget it's my first day of kindergarten today?" guess someone was eager to get the day started!

we made a big breakfast to fill up his hollow legs, then headed to the worst named school in history, louis WIENER elementary.

dennis, lauryn, & i dropped him off with no tears shed by anyone. i guess we'd been preparing for this all summer so we were all more excited than sad. although he didn't know anyone in his class, he does know a few other kids in other kinder classes & 1st grade.

isaac's teacher is ms. lingatong. she is super nice, energetic, & organized.
doesn't he look so grown-up carrying a backpack like this? i like the blue/green color combo of his bp ~ makes it easy to spot!

isaac got the morning slot for school from 9:00-11:40. after leaving him with his teacher, we headed to the multi-purpose room for the "boo hoo" breakfast for parents of kindergartners. there lauryn enjoyed a chocolate doughnut! dennis then headed to work while lauryn & i went home. then dennis came back to get us so we could all take isaac out for a happy meal to celebrate his first "official" day of school. his legs were hollow again & needed fillin'.

my guys looked so nice today so i had to take a picture to share with you.
all in all, it was a very successful first day of kindergarten! just think, we could have had to deal with a child who was scared witless, crying like crazy, or we could have had to deal with a child who got in trouble on the very first day ~ like our friend's son who got in trouble for saying "butthole" across the room, then told everyone that his dad wears his mom's make-up!

the olympian

at our house, we are olympic junkies. can't get enough of it. we watch every evening until we are too tired, then as soon as we wake up, we finish watching what we couldn't stay awake for the previous evening. we've been avoiding any regular news like the plague since we don't want to "accidentally" hear results from any of the events that have already happened but haven't been shown on tv yet. like everyone else, we are huge michael phelps fans. isaac has even learned a bit from the master...

as a mother, you are proud of even the smallest accomplishments your children make. so i can't begin to fathom the amount of pride debbie phelps has for her son who has turned the world upside down with his talent. for now, i will revel in the everyday achievements of isaac & lauryn, because with each step, it takes them closer to who they will be one day. i can only imagine what god has in store for them...

flashback friday

these are rather embarrassing but i'm willing to share them with you. :) the top photo is from 7th grade basketball & the bottom one from 8th grade. can you find me? when i came across these pictures, i thought it was so funny how we all have our socks up in 7th grade, but by 8th grade the trend had obviously changed to the "scrunch". yes, we had to be fashionable on the bb court. i love how a few of the players in 7th grade went with their striped socks. i remember these uniforms being horrible! they were soooo tight! we had the red for away games & the white for home. one night in my 8th gr. season, we were in dunseith to play & for whatever reason, bob hunskor (the boys varsity coach & a legend as a coach in n.d. basketball) was coaching us. first off, before the game i had a friend (i'm pretty sure it was jennifer issendorf) help me stretch my uniform shorts because, like i said, they were awfully tight. well, pretty soon we hear a rrriiiippppp! yep, my shorts were now in two pieces. somehow i had inadvertently packed my other uniform so i put on my red shirt & white shorts. it was a rough game, with nail scratching, a lot of pushing going on, & i remember one of the players on the other team calling me a heifer! yep, i was compared to a cow. so imagine as a legendary coach, getting the team together on time-outs, listening to a bunch of 8th gr. girls complaining about the name calling, the rough housing, etc. he thought it was quite comical!

so you still think she's precious?

after a busy hour of farts, lauryn just said "no more butt, no more!"

anniversary + fondue = the perfect night out!

saturday night our dear friend susan came over to watch the kids so dennis & i could celebrate on our own. dennis made reservations for us to go eat at the melting pot.









we started off with the wisconsin trio cheese fondue, served with assorted breads & veggies, along with granny smith apples. along with the cheeses were scallions & sherry in the fondue. it was sooooo good!

here we are enjoying some yummy morsels!

next up were the salads. i ordered the california salad with the raspberry vinagirette & dennis had the tropical salad with mango. we were halfway through the salad when i remembered to take a picture of it.

here i am showing our main course. the meats included filet mignon, teriyaki steak, chicken, shrimp, & salmon. this was served with potatoes, broccoli, & mushrooms, along with an assortment of toppings/sauces.
oh, and we enjoyed a bottle of shiraz. :)

this was the card awaiting us at our table upon arrival, which was kinda nice since we didn't get cards for each other.








and it was...
the perfect night out!

flashback friday...i mean saturday

11 years ago today, i married my best friend!
as i'm doing this, lauryn is looking at this picture & these are all of the things she's saying:
"mommy, can i be a princess like you?"
"he's gonna kiss her."
"what happened to your hair?"
"daddy's a prince."

lauryn, someday you will be a princess like mommy & your dad & i will have the hardest time letting you go. i cherish my dad walking me down the aisle & know it will be special for you too.
yes, your dad did kiss me that day. :)
i loved my hair! it turned out exactly the way i asked my friend mandie to fix it.
& daddy was the most handsome prince i've ever seen!

proper etiquette

How to address the Royal Person:
The Princess Royal should be addressed simply as "Your Royal Highness"or "Your Highness" initially, and "Ma'am" as the conversation progresses.

Curtsy/Bow:
Gentlemen should acknowledge the Royal presence with a bow, ladies with a curtsy.

Men: lower the shoulders and tip the head forward with just a little more than a nod of the head; start with eye contact, then lower the gaze to the floor.

Women: the right foot is placed behind the left heel, and the knees bent. Lower the gaze.

Hats:
There is no requirement for hats to be worn, though it is entirely acceptable to do so. Hats are not normally worn at functions after 6:30 p.m.

why, you ask, is this information pertinent? well, if you intend to visit us, you should be aware that lauryn has now taken the name "cinderella". yes, the other night she informed us that she is indeed cinderella. her bedroom is her "castle". she walks around saying, "where is my slipper?" just thought i'd let you know ahead of time because it would be so embarrassing for you to come to our house & not know how to act in the presence of royalty.

LEGS

the title here says it all...

flashback friday

'tis moi at 22 months of age. i am on the phone talking to my "yamma ". i remember my mom telling me for the longest time they thought i was talking about pajamas. then they finally realized that i had been talking about grandma. funny, i'm generally not a phone person!