just me and my jackers

july 3rd we went to the nisswa parade with the horns and schroeders. jack and i had matching tank tops. what a great way to celebrate our independence... with conformity!:)

happy father's day, my love!

dan is such a great dad. happy father's day, dan! case in point... this father's day he is taking our family on vacation!:) yeah! i can't wait to spend the next few days entirely with my family! literally together. we'll be tenting it.:) (p.s. in case you were wondering, this is a "pinkerton" book that dan is reading. i LOVE pinkerton. steven kellog is a genius with words, but especially pictures!)

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!!!

what's hot/not

HOT
- annual church valentine banquet. my love, delicious dinner, music, entertainment, ambiance, and tons of friends to chat with? yes please
- flowers and chocolate for valentine's day. you can't go wrong.:)

NOT
- well, this "what's hot/not" business. i'm bored with it. this is my last one. deal with it.:)

valentine's day '10

dan bought me flowers. i really like them because some are dyed and have glitter on them. my kind of flowers!:)

Happy New Year! welcoming in a new decade

this was jack's first decade. it was kind of cool to document it. i don't suppose my parents let me stay up until midnight in 1979.:) we had the best time!!! we went to dan's sister's house and ate appetizers (a lot) and played Wii (a lot). it was so unbelievably fun. i actually didn't want to end the night! but, my ride was leaving.:) so, here's to a new year. Happy New Year!

Christmas Eve at Milkovich's '09

Christmas Eve we finally got some family photos taken. it was a great night full of family, food, chocolate (jack and i should probably join a 12 step program after the holidays...) and presents.:) we are blessed with so much loving family. Merry Christmas to all!

could it be that I am santa's elf?

it's a good thing i knit like a ninja.:) soooooo many presents to knit this year. 2 kinds of hats, headbands, dishcloths, doll hats and scarves! it's helped keep the cost of Christmas low. and it has helped keep me out of the crowded, germ-infested stores. that's reason enough for me to confidently say that next year there will be more knitted gifts. better knitted gifts! i have to start early. maybe sweater vests? felted purses? i am almost getting excited just thinking about it. what a yarn nerd.:) do you love yarn?

this is a small sampling of projects. i keep forgetting to photograph them before i wrap them!:) the bottom hat is a Christmas hat that i came up with for jack. i just made up the pattern. you cast on 80 stitches on a size 9 circular needle. then you make knit2, purl2 ribbing for about 2-3 inches. then you knit until it looks big enough. then you decrease. then at the top you make a long i-cord (5 stitches). then attach a lovely huge tassel! that tassel is so fun.

Christmas '09 at angie's, or...i can't fit in my pants anymore

dad, mom, jack and i took a little roadtrip to be with angie and family for their first Christmas in Minot, North Dakota. it was such a blessing to be able to have the time available to do it! 5 days of fun fun fun!:)

the road trip could have been more fun. did not see a single culver's, starbucks, or caribou coffee from baxter to minot (we didn't go through bemidji, mn. there may have been signs of civilization there!). i was dying for a coffee on the way out and did find a very nice mom-n-pop joint in devils lake, no dak. on the way back it was sunday and it was closed. well, Praise the Lord and boo hoo!:) oh, and did i mention jack's blow out diaper? and the burger king that didn't have a changing table? not fun.

Christmas at angie's was fun. we had to open gifts the first night because the kids were wound up out of their minds and we were going out of ours.:) jack was as excited as predicted about his "d-tar" from auntie angie and uncle matt. jack loves to play his guitar and make up songs. the girls seemed very pleased with the headbands, and doll hats and scarves i knit them.

the Christmas food was our usual feast of naughtiness: swedish tea rings galore, huge taco dip, egg bake, homemade pancakes, french dip sandwiches...where's the veggies?! who cares?!:) ha ha! i think there were a few eaten in the five days. and some fruit. oh, and i am sure there were some diced veggies in the food the night we went out for chinese. i am sure that counted. anyway... Merry Christmas it was!

o........Christmas tree?

playing around with my camera settings while taken a photo of our Christmas tree at night. weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

"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!!!

Christmas begins...

Christmas begins with decorating the tree. Little bits of Christmas every day with a Christmas Advent Calendar. Other ways to sprinkle a little Christmas magic every day is to listen to as much Bing/Sinatra/Perry Como/Rosemary Clooney/Dean Martin/Nat King Cole Christmas tunes as you possibly can. Then there's the cookie making. And then there's the present wrapping. And, every day there seems to be a new present that i am knitting. Christmas begins... and lingers all December long!

happy 15th bday, andy

andy turned 15 dec. 5th. we had a "little" family party for him. he got a snowmobile windshield. that's different.:) i "baked" him a doughnut "cake". the doughnuts at the super one bakery in baxter, mn are very very nice. andy was very very happy.:) happy bday, andy!

thanksgiving '09

what a great day! dinner for 12! centerpieces! 6 pies! this was the best photo of the day -- my mom pretending to beat auntie nancy over the head with a turkey leg.:) silly girl.

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.;)

oktoberfest, cont.