Naughty Daddy!

Finley dropped her cup full of candy tonight and said, "Oh my goodness. F#$%." I said, "What did you say?" She clearly responded with exactly what I thought she said. About 10 minutes later, she dropped her candy again and said, "F#$%!" I said, "Finley we do NOT say that word in our house." She said, "Yes, we do. Daddy say that word." I walked into the bedroom to find Cam laying in bed, sheepishly trying to hide under the covers.

The Many, Many Christmases of 2009 Part V and VI

We got to Fairmont after a slightly stressful drive in the snow and joined the already-in-session Peterson Christmas by the pool at the Holiday Inn. Finley made fast friends with her cousin's Maya and Easton. Uncle Luke took Finley in the pool where Maya, who is a great swimmer and wonderful helper, showed Finley how to be very brave and run and jump into the pool from the side. After about an hour in the big pool, Finley's lips were turning blue, so she joined us all in the hot tub. She could touch the bottom in there and it was much warmer so she liked swimming in the "bath" better. Afterward, January took the kids to take a real bath which was, of course, a fantastic photo op. At about midnight, the kids and Mommy started to get very tired. Maya and Easton came and crawled into bed with us where we shared lots of stories and laughs.

The next morning, yesterday, we woke up to make the last trek of the holiday to Sioux Falls. I guess Mommy was really tired because there are absolutely no pictures from the last leg. We did have a great time seeing Grandpa Bud, eating some nummy food, and playing Demon with the relatives. Mom finally graduated to the Winner's Table and held her own for a little bit all without cheating once! We left a little later than planned and spent the first 3/4ths of the trip watching cars go in the ditch and trying to make our way through complete white-outs and snow drifts. We got home late last night to find snow so deep in our driveway that we couldn't come close to driving through it. When Cam went out to shovel, he also discovered that it was more ice than snow due to the rain that fell after the snow.

This morning, we got up and signed the papers to sell our house. Now, after a VERY stressful month, Cam has a load lifted off his chest and we are looking forward to a new year where we and our loved ones will hopefully find lots of joy and peace.

The Many, Many Christmases of 2009 Part IV

We arrived in Waseca after a much easier drive than anticipated. We opened presents and ate DELICIOUS prime rib. Finley could not stop eating the meat or the A1 sauce. Finley and Sadie got lots of fun gifts, like matching jammies, snuggies, and Fancy Nancy glasses and purses. Finley also got a new grocery store set with a credit card and a key and fake money, which seems to be her favorite so far. Mom and Dad were really surprised by the new Wii they received and spent the rest of the trip brushing up on their video game skills to prepare for when they get their own Wii set up. Daddy had a little too much fun with Zach despite the fact that he had a raging sinus infection so he spent most of the next day in bed. When he finally felt up to it, we took off for Fairmont for our next family gathering.

The Many, Many Christmases of 2009 Part III

As soon as school got done on Wednesday and Daddy got home from work, the family set out on their pilgrimage to Cross Lake. Great Grandma and Grandpa Laven's house is always a wonderful setting for Christmas, even if the drive always seems to be challenging. We arrived in time for a few games of Wii bowling and we spent Christmas Eve morning lazing around. We finally got ambitious and geared up for some winter fun on the pond. Due to the immense snowfall, Finley made her first snow angel, took a snowball to the head, and took a few runs on the sled with Uncle Luke and Daddy. We got cleaned up for church, where Finley went up to listen to the children's sermon. As she headed out of the pew, she remembered that she probably shouldn't have her binky up there so she handed it to the old man sitting at the end of the aisle. After church, we came home to enjoy appetizers and games. We left cookies and milk for Santa before we went to bed and discovered the next day that he left his hat on the lamp! We were really reminded of that when the polyester hat started smoking after the light was turned on. Finley got lots of cool books and a game and new play-doh toys and a brand new trike with a "trunk". Per tradition, Annie also got a set of noses. After brunch, we took off on the next leg of our Christmas adventure with a very full Envoy and headed to Waseca.

The Many, Many Christmases of 2009 Part II

The next Christmas we had was our own. Finley got lots of fun presents, like a rolling pin for her play-doh, colored pencils, letters, high-heeled shoes, a baseball glove, and her very own laptop. Unfortunately, the laptop broke the second day she had it so that is getting sent back for a refund. It was definitely fun while it lasted, though, so I hope to find another one. Finley made us laugh with her knowledge of Christmas music as she unwrapped her gifts. She sang along with "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer", which she calls "Wiggly". It took us awhile to figure out where that came from. Finley seems to think when they sing "As for me and Grandpa, we believe" they are singing, "As for me and Grandpa, wiggly." Finley also loved Mommy and Daddy's presents, especially Dad's headlamp.

The Many, Many Christmases of 2009 Part I

Finley's first Christmas of 2009 was at Grandma B.'s. She had tons of fun with all her cousins. All the great-grand kids got hats, gloves, and scarves for Christmas and they had a blast modeling for the rest of the family. Of course, Finley was doubly excited to spend time with Grant and she made a new best friend in Tina's stepson.

Cinderella

Finley attended her first play at the Children's Theater with Auntie Annie, Uncle Luke, Grandma Julie, Mom and Dad earlier in December. Even though Mommy was very sad due to the news of Grandma Joyce's death, we still all managed to have a good time. Before the play, the family ate dinner at the Black Forest Inn, where Finley dined on traditional German food that would make Grandma B. proud. She was also serenaded by some men in laderhosen playing accordians. While Finley was a little apprehensive of our high-up seats, she was completely intrigued by the play and knew just what was going on. And, while I watched the funny step-sisters and heard the crowd roar with laughter, I fondly remembered hearing my Grandma Joyce's distinct laugh in the audience of the many plays my dad, my sisters, and I were in.

We're Getting Ready For Christmas

When we came back from Sadie's party, we had just enough time to decorate the Christmas tree. Finley was very meticulous about where she hung her ornaments of course and we now have a very bottom-heavy Christmas tree. It is very beautiful nonetheless. Dad and Finley also had fun with the moving boxes and tape. Finley made Daddy make letters - F for Finley, C for Cassie and Cam, an O, a D for Daddy and challenged him by having him make a moose! He gave up on making a moose out of tape and just drew one instead. And just for your viewing pleasure, I added a tree Cam and I found in Edina while looking at lights. Amazing!

More Pics From the Party

Sadie's Birthday Dance

Yesterday, we celebrated Sadie's 6th birthday at Shana's Dance Studio where she takes dance lessons. It was a blast! The girls made crowns and door hangars before learning a dance to perform for the parents. While Finley was younger than everyone else by about 3 years, she hung right in there - thanks to Sadie's help, of course. Here's the final dance. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SADIE!

Dancing Queen

Time Out!

I picked Finley up from school on Friday and her teacher said she was a little sassy during the day. Her report card said she had a hard time listening. I tried to get the story out of her and she wouldn't tell me anything except she had to take a time-out. Tonight, she decided to spill the beans. I guess she "wasn't hitting", which just the mere mention of it by her makes me think maybe she was, but she did mention having to go to the office for not throwing her food away. She has been testing her boundaries lately, that's for sure!

Rough Night

Finley and Mommy stayed at Auntie Megan's last night to escape our freezing cold house with no furnace. In the middle of the night, she fell out of bed and was awake for the next two hours. During those two hours, she tossed, turned, and whined about everything imaginable, including how thirsty she was. After an hour or so, when she said, "I thirsty," I said sternly, "Me, too, Finley." She said, "No, Mommy. My thirsty first." Then, very sheepishly she said, "OK?" I couldn't help but smile to myself in the dark. Until, she kept kicking me in the head and telling me how she wanted to sleep on the couch, and in Sadie's room, and everywhere else but where she was. I finally told her I was going to leave her in that room to sleep by herself, so she stopped for a little bit and tucked herself right up against me. I was just about asleep when she says, very quietly, "You there, Mommy?" As if she couldn't feel me! Needless to say, I needed a big coffee this morning.

Oh My Dannit!

Finley just fell over a pile of dvds. Immediately, she said, "Oh my dannit!" Then, without anything out of my mouth, she said, "We don't say that...Oh my goodness!" At least I know she's listening.

Hula Hoop!

The Most Beautiful Fall Day EVER!

Mother Nature must have felt really bad about the October she gave us and made up for it today! With the sun finally shining in our windows this morning, it was hard not to get up and at 'em. We took a lovely walk and then spent the rest of the morning packing up the backyard. It was like a summer day in our little backyard paradise and Finley soaked up the sun while she painted a box. She's so funny - and OCD. Everytime she paints, she keeps all her colors in little sections. I can't get my 11-14 year olds to keep the paints clean and she washes her brush between colors and dries it off every time. Tonight, I had to work on some artwork for school and I told her she wasn't allowed to touch my expensive art supplies. She just couldn't stand it and had to play with my Prismacolor Markers (they cost almost $300!), and my Prismacolor colored pencils, and my acrylic paint tubes. What's so funny, though, is that we can completely let her play with those things because she just wants to sort them by color and line them up! Then, she sat on the floor and colored with Daddy on Mommy's old desk calendar. She colored a different color in each day. Perfect rows and shapes. She also proved how smart she is while I was painting for school. I was making a banner for the "Spectrum Hall of Fame." She pointed to each of the letters and said, "That's F for Finley. That's A for Annie. That's E for Emerson. That C for Cassie and Cam. That's M for Megan. That's S for Sadie. That's L for Luke...etc." with no coaching from me! Then, out of the blue she said, "Oh, Cameron!" in exactly the tone I take with him when I'm frustrated. What a little sponge!

P.S. She woke Cam up this morning to go to the potty at 6:30 and stayed dry ALL DAY!!! She goes by herself when she feels like it and wipes her own bottom. What a big girl!

Halloween 2009

Finley had a great Halloween this year. The weekend before Halloween, Finley went to a party at Sadie's church. They did all sorts of fun things and really tired themselves out! Then, Finley spent the week trying all her costumes on, practicing her make-up with Mommy (Mommy was attempting to be a Picasso painting but scrapped that idea - next year), and decorating her pumpkins. On Halloween, she helped pass out candy with Grandma Julie. She did great - until a kid came with his head tucked into his shirt so it looked like he was headless. I knew that would freak her out because it is exactly the kind of thing that would have freaked me out. She's STILL talking about that, in fact.