No, David, No!

There are no pictures to memorialize this, but I had to write this down. I was cleaning the basement and discovered some childrens' books I forgot I had. One of them is the book, "No, David!" by David Shannon about a little boy who gets in trouble all day long until the end when his mother says, "Yes, David. I love you!" Finley had me read that book several times in a row. She had it memorized by the third time and was VERY dramatic as she helped me read the book. On the fourth read-through I noticed her getting a little teary. On the fifth read-through, she had to stop halfway through because she had made herself cry! She crawled in my arms and gave me a huge hug and mumbled about "Poor David". It was like she had put herself right into David's shoes and became David. I thought Sadie was the drama queen, but we may have another one on our hands!!!

Finley Shops at DSW

Finley loves shoes, just like her Mommy! DSW might be the one and only store I can actually take her to where I don't have to worry about her wanting to push the cart, hide in the racks, be bored, etc. She tries on the shoes and prances around in them and she also loves to pick shoes out for me to try on - usually blue high heels. When she discovered she could fit in the spaces for the shoes, she thought she was pretty hot stuff!

Happy Birthday, Grandma B.!

We went to Trimont on Saturday to celebrate Grandma B.'s 90th birthday. We all had a GREAT time and, even though it was a tad cold for a weekend on the lake, the weather turned out to be perfect for lounging on the patio, playing catch, hitting golf balls on the lawn, and playing at Anderson Park. The kids - young and old!- enjoyed time on Grandma's old swingset and they also got to enjoy some rides on Uncle Bob's classic, old tractor. Naturally, Finley was terrified of the tractor as it was quite loud and, as you can see, when the other kids were running along with the tractor, Finley was running as far away from it as she could! That picture captures the fun part, but as soon as the tractor turned around, Finley took off for Gaalswyk's screaming and crying! Eventually, though, she warmed up to it and by the end of the day Grant actually got her to get close enough to kick the wheel! We gave Grandma a little "concert" while she opened her gifts - Hannah gave her a flag that was flown over the Capital in her honor, which Grandma thought was great, of course. We also gave her a scrapbook to which each family contributed. Finley was enraptured by Paul's guitar playing. She couldn't stop watching him play and sang along with and danced to every song she knew. The girls sang a classic in the Bernhardt family, "I See the Moon", which Finley had been practicing for weeks. As you can hear, so was Mommy! It was an all-around great time and the only thing missing was Sara and her family.

Mystery Solved!

As you all know, Finley has been struggling with sleeping for some time. For the last couple of weeks, we have been working very hard on a bedtime schedule and thought we had been making some headway by letting her sleep in her nest in the corner of the room. Naptime seems to be no big deal but once nighttime rolls around, she does everything she can to keep Mommy in that room until she falls asleep. Long ago, she told me she was scared of something and pointed to the birds I made as window valances. I held her up to look at them and Cam assured me it wasn't the birds, but it was what was outside the window that made her scared. Well, tonight, I knew it was going to be a tough one because before she even went into her nest, she asked me about "scary dreams". She cried and cried when I left and did not want to be in her room. I went downstairs so I wouldn't be tempted to go in and save her, thus making her stay up even longer. Cam went in her room while I was downstairs and I came up to find that she was sleeping. Cam made me go into the room to see what he had to do to get her to sleep and you can see what I found. I guess when he was putting the sheet up, it sagged in the middle and she made him pin it up because she could still see "the colors". For some reason, she's not afraid of the birds on the pillows she sleeps on and the night light bird...weird! And after all the work I put into those cute little guys. I guess I'll be taking them down in the morning...

Finley's Weekend Up North

We spent the weekend at Great Grandma and Grandpa Laven's and had a fabulous time. Auntie Annie and Uncle Luke and Grandma Julie were there and we got to spend some fun time with Uncle Tom and Great Grandma's new kitty. Finley was, of course, a little scared of the cat, but the cat happened to be just as scared of Finley (and everyone else!) so all was well. Finley got to enjoy the beautiful backyard pond where she saw lots of ducks, turtles, dragonflies, lily pads, and more. She also saw a bald eagle poop in the air when she went on a walk with Daddy and Auntie Annie. Finley wouldn't go on the boat with Mommy, Daddy, Annie and Tom, but she did come meet us at the Wharf for some drinks with Grandma. While we were there, she met a little girl and threw rocks in the lake with her. She was very brave and went right up to the water's edge with Eva. Of course she loved watching all the cool and big boats and the pontoons. Finley then stayed with the Grandparents and Uncle Tom while Mommy, Daddy, and Auntie got to join Uncle Luke with his family for some water sports. Sunday was spent at a relative of Great Grandma's for a family reunion. The weather was PERFECT and eventually Finley warmed up to the water. Dad did a little fishing while the rest of us did some sunbathing. Finley never went in the lake, but she did go on the dock all by herself and joined us on the tube several times. It was a lovely, summer weekend in Minnesota.

Finley's Football Game

Finley and the fam had a great 4th of July. We started with a backyard BBQ on Thursday night and spent the rest of the weekend in Waseca. The weather didn't let us get out on the lake until later in the day, but we managed to have some fun anyway. And, on Sunday, the better day of the weekend, we took the family to the park and Finley had a blast playing with the boys.