Glensheen Mansion

last week i took a bunch of church ladies up to duluth. we toured the Glensheen Mansion on the shore of Lake Superior, lunched at Red Lobster, and poked around Canal Park. the weather was beautiful, and so were the ladies.;) i'm so glad we went!

just the essentials......

holy cow. i haven't blogged in a long time. once a month is lame.

this photo was taken in the crosby super valu. we needed tp and milk.:) this was just after the first night of Vacation Bible School. we all had matching tee shirts! how cute is that?

the birthday box

we have a sweet little tradition at our church, the "birthday box". the week before your birthday you get to go up to the birthday box and pick something out while the church sings "happy birthday". it is so sweet. for the third year i captured the moments on camera...and videotape (thank you, gwama bwenda).:)

this year jack was looking extra special. he had his new birthday boots on, and his belt and belt buckle from papa dan. doesn't he look OLD? my baby! jack picked out a toy tool set, complete with saw, screwdriver, and hammer.

Easter '10

jack and i dyed Easter eggs at my parent's house saturday. it's so much fun dying eggs with someone who is actually enjoying doing it with you.:) dan and andy kind of "outgrew" this activity.

sunday morning at Church my mom joined in with the orchestra with her violin. she's in the middle of the photo wearing the little white sweater. i'm so proud of her for learining the violin!

hope you had a Happy, Blessed Easter!

valentine banquet '10

dan and i went to the loveliest valentine banquet at Deerwood Baptist Church again this year. romantic ambiance, delicious food, precious friends, beautiful music, and hilarious entertainment. i look forward to it for weeks before! sigh, and now it's over.:) but, spring will be here soon. the meal was catered by Maucieri's. there were appetizers and desserts, too, made by jen and served by young tweens and teens from the church. arnie played the harp and sarah b. played her cello. devon did a hilarious "ole and lena go to the opera show" poem he composed for the occasion, with arnie on harp accompaniment. then jen sang a beautiful song. then arnie and devon played a "classical piano" number.:) arnie was dressed as his character "julio", a mexican who likes soup -- specifically lizard soup his mama makes for him. crazy! anyway, it was absolutely wonderful and i can't wait to see what jen will do next year!!!

jack's friends

i love it that jack has little friends. it is so fun to watch him interact with little ones his own age. you never know what those little buggers will do!:) these boys are brothers from our church, joe and jon. those 3 little blondies look like they could be brothers, don't they? they get into all sorts of shenanigans. i can't wait to see what the future holds for these crazy guys.

nursery

it was my turn in the nursery wednesday night. i love it. sometimes it's just jack and i. i turn on the speaker, relax in the rocking chair, and knit while i listen to Pastor's message. if the nursery is full of noisy children... i enjoy that, too!!! i had jack, 2 little boys, and a baby girl to snuggle wednesday. it was great. i love to think about how these little darlings will grow up and be great friends. i really loved my church youth group when i was a teen and i hope that jack has that special experience, too. christian friends are such a blessing!

another church photo

i love taking photos of jack with my parents in church. it's very nice. this day they all color coordinated so lovely that i couldn't resist! jack prefers sitting with them anyway. mostly because papa has a tootsie roll (or five) in his pocket for him.:)

"away in a manger"

just one song... i worked for months with jack on "away in a manger". he had the actions down and even had the words, for the most part. yet, i know that JACK DOES NOT PERFORM ON COMMAND.:) i would just be happy if he stood up there and did not make a scene. practices were frustrating. don't you love it when small children dart away from you with a saucy look in their eye and a laugh? i even bribed him with the thing he holds most dear -- CHOCOLATE. the night of the program, to my surprise, jack walked down the aisle and calmly stood there (not on the stairs like he was supposed to, but close enough.)for an entire verse! he stood completely still and gave everyone "the eyebrows". about 3 words into the second verse he bolted down the aisle, but he didn't make a disturbance! i am a very pleased mama. better luck next year!!!

an alternative to halloween -- part 4

halloween was over ages ago! you are crazy, schroeder! yes, i know. these things happen. this will be the end of halloween altenative, i promise.

isn't it sweet to see your child make his first friends? i can't get enough. watching jack and abby take a drinky break and run around in circles with paper airplanes made my heart swell with motherly happiness.

i just wanted to share how GREAT the Church's party was. a LIGHT in a very dark holiday. light. don't we all need more light? well, everyone needs THE LIGHT. "even so, come Lord Jesus."...

an alternative to halloween -- part 3

pumpkin carving! fun and scary at the same time. not that the pumpkins scare me... i am afraid of the knives!:O i gave jack the ultra-safe task of "stirring" the guts.

an alternative to halloween -- part 2

i made 5 double batches of kool-aid play-doh for the party. it smelled so good. the kids loved it! so glad. jack SAT in the same (jack just interrupted me to say, "i'm so happy to see you."! i'm in love!) chair for hours!!! there were some other play-doh lovers that kept him company.:) there is an ice cream bucket of play-doh on the dining room table right now. once i saw how well he played with it, well, it is going to be around all the time! have to encourage his artistic side, of course! and, of course, he is truly gifted.;)

an alternative to halloween -- part 1

i've got a lot of photos from this year's "halloween alternative" held at my Church. so much fun! i didn't really put jack in a costume. he has this really fun tee that makes him look like popeye. look, he's making muscles.:) and he wore the funky fun belt that papa dan made for him.

at one point i realized that my BABY was playing "box hockey". i was glad to see that dan was supervising him.:) i think jack really did a good job. that action wasn't too intense :), but the puck did make it from side to side and out the goal slots. and then the little boys would raise their sticks and yell, "YES!!!". as you can see, jack has natural athletic ability.;)

...the birthday box...

at church, around the time of your birthday, you get to go in "the birthday box". actually, a few years ago we updated and now there are 2. still. jack went up for his birthday on sunday. it was a little overwhelming for him. he threw a minor fit. still, all ended well because there happened to be a tootsie roll pop in the box. as you can see, he even gave up the chance at a new ball for it. candy!!!!!!! it went straight into the mouth. oh well, he is only 2 after all.

spaghetti and my meatballs

relief. tonight my church held a "parent appreciation night". the goal was to get to know parents who don't come to our church with their children. i was in charge of the food for over 60 people. it was hard, but extremely...FUN!:) really! i had my "kitchen underlings". that was fun.:) we had a blast. and, when the last plate of food was dished out to our guests... i had 4 meatballs extra. to God be the glory, great things He has done with spaghetti and meatballs.

happy valentine's day

happy valentine's day to everyone... but especially to my husband, dan. dan, you are my valentine!!! :) last night dan took me to the Church's Valentine Banquet. we had a fabulous time. great company, great food, great atmosphere. i will probably post some photos later. i must say that the best part was the adult conversation. i love being a mommy, but sometimes you need some girl talk! anyway, i made this valentine for dan yesterday. dan made me one on the back of a dirty paper plate when he saw that i had a valentine for him and he didn't have one for me. it was pretty funny. dan is cute.

blonde nursery buddies

jack had a great time last night at the "halloween alternative sleepover". there was a lot of: kids, food, noise, games, and candy. mostly the party was in the Church's basement. at one point i had enough of jack escaping to climb up and down the stairs and i corraled him in the nursery. i asked the little boy on the right, joe, if he wanted to come play with jack. then the little boy on the left, ben, came in with his sister. i knitted while the boys played with the toys and devoured the candy from their treat bags. i think this photo is funny because ben almost looks like he has a trickle of blood coming out of his mouth like a halloween vampire. in actuality it is a stream of chocolate drool. at one point i told joe i thought he had enough candy and he might get sick. he scowled at me and shoved another piece in. i just laughed. let his mother worry.

a rosie little shower

my mother threw a baby shower this morn and i was her "right hand woman". it was a lovely shower for an old church chum and his wifey. it was very spur-of-the-moment, but no matter. the menu was awesome, the decorations appropriate, and there were a lot of gifts. hooray! i am so happy for the couple. i hope they had as great a time as i did. I LOVE PARTIES!!!

vbs '08

alas, this year i did not get to attend all of Deerwood Baptist Church's Vacation Bible School. it is such a great, life-changing time. i have to work nights so i can stay home days with jack. the olympics was the theme of our Church's VBS this year. i wanted to "do my part", so i was the art director and head arteest. my fave art/decor installment was the gigantic (10ft? 12?) flaming torch at the front of the Church. the flame was a bunch of crumpled tissue paper glued to some poster board. and glittter, oh yes, there was glitter!:) the flame shimmered. i also did a twist on the wordless book with the olympic rings. i was very pleased.

jack got to "help" pastor choose some songs for opening night. pastor loves jack. i think they'll be buddies.

the "birthday box" at Church

we are members of the Deerwood Baptist Church. it is a beautiful little wooden church. it is stuffed full to bursting with loving, godly people. the Pastor preaches the truth from God's Bible. i have heard a ton of sermons in my life and i can tell you that we are blessed to have the real deal only about 10 minutes from our home.

this is a photo of jack choosing his gift from the "birthday box". i took photos and had my mom video tape. this was a big deal to me. bonus points to jack for looking angelic.