Thanksgiving ... turkey and all :)

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My wife's parents came in for a week's stay for Thanksgiving and the kids decided to show Gramma and Grampa how to do a few things. The piano was definitely involved (no surprise), but apparently (my son's word) my daughter also knows how to baste a turkey :)

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The kids each (at different schools) created "head gear" to become turkeys. And we all enjoyed a good meal on "Turkey Day" - which I did very little to prepare :) ... but did help clean up - in a variety of ways :)

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My wife always enjoys putting the decorations up for Christmas, so her mom and dad helped with that - and I took down large boxes ... and put them back ... as required in my contract :) But, really, everyone enjoyed the decked out front room as the tree went up and the ornaments were placed. The garland always looks lovely, and the lights brighten up the darkness of the long winter nights. Truly, we are blessed to have our warm home and the Christmas spirit in our hearts. It's a bonus that we can decorate to help us remember.

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Bonus, bonus - my wife's new manger scene - which looks awesome and keeps Christ in Christmas in our minds, in our home. God bless!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Here in the cold, white, north, we are thankful for our family, our friends, our health, our happiness, the food God provides, the warmth of our home, and our abilities to learn, play, perform and help others.

God bless everyone this holiday season :)

Awesome weekend! Very thankful!

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This weekend was cool! I don't know that much went on Friday night, except some pizza from Papa Johns. The Badgers went to OT with MN-Duluth in hockey. My son and I watched the 3rd period and overtime. Bucky got hosed on a "no-call" for the Duluth game-winner. Oh well. Can't ask for too much. Going to OT twice with the #1 hockey team in the nation is pretty cool. We'll have to beat 'em later in the year, when WE are playing our best hockey :)

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Our front room furniture got finished off this past week, so here are some pics of the "new" room with the addition of a table in between the two new chairs. And, of course, my wife got her "frilly" pillows for the love seat. I personally like the color and the size. No comment on anything else :) I LOVE having a complete room to sit in to read the newspaper on Sunday after church. And we got a chance to do it this Sunday! :)

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No school for Punkaroo this week (that would be my daughter). So today is a painting day - with music to help us "feel the groove." :) Already got my Monday morning adjustment at the chiropractor, and can't wait to hear from my daughter's teacher(s) at her parent-teacher conference this afternoon. Winter is officially here - ok, not according to the calendar, but I like the snow because it makes the day so much brighter - even when we don't have sun. Bright outside is good! :)
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Did I mention that the football Badgers romped over the Wannabe Badgers (aka the Wolverines, Big Blue, RichRod's Crew, Champions of the West, etc.) in the "Big House" at Michigan? That was fun to watch. The kids had a blast at a Pump It Up party Saturday morning - that's a place where they have big blow up jumpy thingies - it was my daughter's friend's sister's birthday ... did you follow that? :) Then, Sunday took us to church - very carefully on the skating rinks we had for roads. And of course, we watched the Packers throttle the Viqueens.

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It'll now officially be a good year to live in Minnesota (as a Badger and Packer fan)! 3-0 in football versus the Goophers and Queens. Yeah! Now, if we could just beat those darn Bears ... :)

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Winter fun and New furniture!

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The boys decided that they wanted to build a "fort" - which ends up being more like a den, but they could all fit inside. And then the girls wanted their picture taken in it as well. Later, we tried to make one for them on the other side of the driveway, but not sure that one came out as well at the end of the evening. (Plus, I'm not sure we have THAT much snow yet ... but we will.)

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Here's our new furniture for our front room, too. It got delivered on Tuesday and looks awesome. The pillows have already left the couch - as they aren't the intended color/size - but came free with the couch - so we'll see if we can find a good home for them somewhere else (anyone need 'em?). The plant already moved over to between the couch and the piano, too - just in case anyone had that idea :) The room looks finished - except a piece of art or two on the wall(s). Nice that we took care of it without spending an arm and a leg.

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Happy Birthday! ... one week late :) ... and Merry Christmas ... very early! :)

So, I wished my wife a happy birthday on Facebook, but apparently not on the blog, here. So, Happy Birthday, Honey! :) We did have that nice weekend last weekend, and the dinner, massage, and hotel stay were an early birthday celebration - I hope she liked it. I'm pretty sure that she did - very much, in fact! That Monday, she even enjoyed a favorite meal that I prepared for us, and a carrot cake - her favorite (that I did NOT prepare, but rather purchased).

This week, we enjoyed nice weather until this weekend. At which point we received a nice "dumpin" of holiday cheer - in the form of a bunch of wet, heavy snow. Nice for playing and throwing snowballs and making snowmen :) Of course, the shoveling was a bit more work, but that's okay. We live in Minnesota, so it comes with the territory :)

Awesome weekend!

No pictures, but, boy was this a good weekend. On Friday night, our neighbors came over and had a few drinks with us while we watched the Badger hockey team kick the Goophers butts. Then, on Saturday, we enjoyed getting our pictures taking at the park. The kids even cooporated - for the most part :) It was a beautiful day, so being outside in the sun was nice. When we got back from the park, my parents were at our house, waiting to take care of the kids. My wife and I had plans :)

We all watched (for the most part) the Badger football team come back from a 10-6 halftime deficit to clobber the Boilermakers. Nice! They're up to 7th in the BCS, so not a bad football weekend - finished off, of course, by the Packers throttling the Cowboys on Sunday night.

In between the two games, we (my wife and I) went out. We had won a silent auction bid last winter/spring on some Twins' tickets and a hotel stay. We did the Twins' game in the spring, but waited until this weekend to use the hotel stay. So, we headed downtown, checked into The Grand and relaxed a bit, had a massage at the spa, headed to dinner at Zelo, and came back to watch the end of the Badger hockey game (only a 3-3 tie with Minnesota this time). It was relaxing to say the least. We slept a lot, got up and had breakfast/coffee at a Panera downtown. Went back to the hotel and I took a swim while my wife relaxed again. Then we headed home. Awesome night/morning! :)

Sunday was another beautiful day, and we took care of some errands and chores around the house while the kids played a ton. Watched some football with Dad, had a grilled meal and finished up the day by watching the Green-and-Gold pull the stars off the silver helmets on Sunday night. Sun shining and beautiful again on Monday makes for a nice final bookend to a wonderful weekend.

Halloween 2010

Here's some picks from the Halloween season. In no particular order, we have dance class with a Halloween flavor, pre-school and elementary show/parades, picking out pumpkins, carving pumpkins, and actual trick-or-treat night shots - both getting ready to get and actually giving away candy :)

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Yes, it was a nice night for trick-or-treating. And the kids loved it ... again :) My daughter especially loves to get back early and help hand out treats. I'm glad my wife loves the holliday because then she gets to go out trick-or-treating, while I stay back, hand out candy - and watch football, the world series, and whatever else I can :) until my daughter gets back to hand out candy.

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My son was a ninja. My daughter, if you couldn't guess, was Daphne (from Scooby-Doo). But, of course, she wouldn't wear the scarf, or the boot covers, or the wig, so she had to tell everybody. Oh well. She was happy - so I was too :)

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Happy Halloween!