We had another little birthday celebration today… this time for my dad. Bill made a delicous meal of chicken scampi w/ pasta, and we followed it up with a little funfetti cake.
Yes… that IS a wolf on my dad’s shirt.
And what a bonus to have both of my sisters out!
Yesterday was a beautiful day – perfect for a little birthday dinner and a boat ride!
April and Jesse brought out Papa Murphys and a DQ cake… two of Bill’s favorites. Then it was time to throw a motor on the fishing boat and head out for the first boat ride of the season. We even came back with a new bobber. What a treasure.
I’m thinking SUMMER!
I’ll save you from my singing this year… perhaps the greatest gift I’ve ever given.
I am completely infatuated with my gerbera daisy plant. I received this wonderful gift on the last day of school last year from a very sweet student. It bloomed for a couple of weeks back then, and for whatever reason I chose to keep it around through the winter. (I have NEVER been successful at keeping plants alive!) The poor plant was a bit neglected at times, but it continued to grow beautiful foliage. Lately I’ve been keeping it well watered and in the sunlight, and the past few weeks its really taken off! I really wasn’t expecting it to bloom again, but I arrived home yesterday to the start of these pink petals. This morning it just burst into a full out flower, and I am obsessed! I’ve been watching it all day long, and I’ve taken a million pictures. My family thinks I’m crazy.
I’ve also been stewing over last week’s failed bundt cake. So, I made a “normal” version today. And I couldn’t resist taking this picture to show my truly obsessive nature.
This weekend brought us back to Brainerd/Baxter, and I’ll admit it was a bit strange to be there again. We lived in the town less than a year, and not long into that year we knew we’d have to move on after school let out in the spring. So, it was surprising to go back and realize what I’ve miss since we’ve been gone – really, it made me think about the things we miss from ALL of the different parts of our very scattered life these past 7 years, and certainly grateful for all we have right now. (This will be the first year since college that we are not moving to a new house, town, state…!)
ANYWAY – I insisted that Sara clear her calendar for Friday night and Saturday morning so that I could have her undivided attention. 🙂 She graciously agreed, and I had the best time laughing with her and catching up. Here are our silly pictures from our Tour de Baxter, including our stop at good old Forestview Middle School.
We headed over to the Svir’s for Axton’s birthday party this afternoon. He’s getting bigger and has mastered walking… The last time we’d seen him he was just taking his first steps. Time goes way too quickly.
He had a house full of family and friends there to help celebrate, and he was especially excited about the music set his cousins gave him. I was mighty impressed by this gift, as Bill and always think it’s fun to find noisy toys to give to our friends’ kids since we don’t have any of our own yet. (Helene is my new hero!)
It was great to catch up with the Svir/Mitzner crew!
I really can’t believe it’s taken 9 months to get back to Baxter. It was so much fun – we’ve got to go back again soon.
I’ve found some pretty surprising recipes in my quest for healthy sweets. Often they contain ingredients that seem completely out of place. (For instance, I make a 3 ingredient cobbler which relies on a can of diet 7 up to pull it all together.) Because I love to bake, I find myself willing to take more and more chances in the kitchen… I’m afraid I went TOO FAR this weekend.
This is my first attempt at a bundt cake. Looks pretty good, I think. But don’t judge it too quickly…
The “amazing” secret ingredient in this recipe is SAUERKRAUT. All the comments on the site I got the recipe from (okay, BOTH comments) said that you couldn’t detect the taste in the finished cake. The whole purpose of including the sauerkraut is to keep the cake moist and add fiber. I’m not adding this one to my file. 🙁
Aside from playing Betty Crocker, the weekend was just another ordinary weekend. April and I went up to see Mom and our grandparents in Tower – that was nice. We spent the rest of our days being lazy and enjoying the onset of spring!
Speaking of which… spring break was fantastic. I made it a point to get outside every day – not hard to do with the sun shining and warm air! I got a few house projects finished and I even got to see Lo. Yes, she DOES still live within driving distance. I was begining to wonder… 🙂
Now we’re into state testing in school, and the calendar is piling up with all kinds of events. We’ve got tons of excitement coming up in the next few months; it’s getting tough not to wish away some of these in-between days. I’ll keep ’em, though, if the 50? + will stick around!
The weeks have really started zooming by. State tests are creeping up quickly, and though I think most teachers feel the pressure all year long, it seems to be magnified in these last few weeks. I won’t see another “normal” week at work now until May. I guess I’ll just buckle up and try to enjoy the ride!
A definite benefit of this accelerated time is that weekends seem to be coming around more frequently. As the weather SLOWLY creeps towards spring, I’m more excited and more motiavated to get outside and enjoy it. We did just that yesterday with a hike to the Vermilion Falls.
It was awesome to see some open water. It makes me even MORE anxious for summer.
There was plenty of fun had with the remaining snow… Bill totally deserved the snowball Dylan had ready to throw at him! And that snowman was something of a masterpiece!
This morning we had nursery duty at church. Then it was home for a very lazy afternoon. It’s hard to beat a weekend like this!
…Me, tumbling down the hill at Giant’s Ridge. That happens to be the show several of my students got today. 🙂 If not for the wonderful coaching and patience from my friend, Amanda, I would’ve given up after one run down the hill.
Yes, it’s that time of year again. The time when I trade in my pride for a pair of downhill skiis. I guess this field trip just comes with the territory… maybe by retirement I will have mastered the slopes!
Aside from falling 3 times on my first run, the day was excellent. The weather was cool, but we didn’t have rain. We got in several hours of skiing, and I got to just “play” with my kids. It seems like there is so much pressure in the classroom these days, there is little time for playing together. And it’s always humbling to let the kids watch as I work to make progress at a skill I am far from proficient at.
I also got the chance to drop in on April’s class in Orr this afternoon. I’ve missed out on meeting her little ones the past couple of years, and I always love to see her classroom in action. She’s got a sweet group of 1st and 2nd graders, and it’s obvious they all love their teacher!
Tonight, I am completely wrecked. Even my hands are tired… how is that possible? So, I’m excited that tomorrow is Friday, and that there will be time for rest. Bill and I are heading to Bemidji tomorrow night and visiting family there on Saturday.
4th quarter starts Monday. YIKES!
April and I threw Laura’s baby shower this past Saturday at the church. We had a great turnout and Laura received a ton of nice gifts. April and I had lots of help in the kitchen and with the clean-up, so all went smoothly.
April was convinced from the start that this shower would need a diaper cake. I was hesitant, but she enlisted the help of Trish, and here’s what we got.
Pretty cute, huh?
We played one word scramble game. (non-threatening, since we Aune girls don’t like shower games!)
It was a very nice morning, and of course I’m one step closer to being an Auntie. 😉
My middle sis turns 30 today. Celebrations to come. 🙂
