Willow the Wolverine

It was a fun long weekend :) It was long, because the kids had Thursday and Friday off from school for teachers professional conferences. My daughter was chosen as the first in her preschool to bring home the furry friend - Willow the Wolverine. She LOVED having her home with us, choosing to sleep with her every night and even introducing her to Ellie the elephant, so they could be friends.

With a little influence from the stuffed wolverine, we decided to go to the Zoo on Friday. We got lucky and saw the actual thing - the real wolverine - moving around, climbing rock walls, and looking for something to eat - we think. Anyway, we got a real close look and a nice picture of the furry guy's face. My daughter was THRILLED!

We also got to look at some other favorites, including the seat otters (who were playing with balls in the ice cold water), the prairie dogs (not as lively on Friday), and the animals in the Minnesota Trail (including the wolverine and the river otters). It was neat - and the weather helped allow us to enjoy it all.

With football on all weekend, we were able to take great pleasure in watching Bucky beat the Hawks on Saturday afternoon, and especially grand pleasure in watching the Packers take out the Vikings at Lambeau on Sunday night (although the kiddos didn't actually see all of that one - but I did!).

Visiting Eve ... and Cal ... and Kurt and Teesa, in Iowa :)

Random pics from the summer, birthday parties, school, soccer and this fall

Photos of friends :)

Here are some pics our friend took of the kids cuddled up for a movie this past month when we got together for an evening of dinner, drinks, and family fun ... and from one of the first few days of school :) Thanks, Kim.

Back home :)

Okay, so I was out for a little while there. It's kind of tough to keep up with the blog when you work full time :) Which is what I was doing there for four weeks. One of the PE teachers at Park Center was out on medical leave (or something to that effect) and they asked me to cover for a few weeks (turned into 4). Thankfully my mom came up for the first and fourth weeks, my dad for the second week, and my mother-in-law for the third week. It was kind of fun to have everyone visit (especially with MY grandma showing up for the fourth week with my mom!).

As nice as it was to be teaching again (and the kids and teachers were VERY appreciative of my being there), I'm happy to be home again. We've already had a nice (and orderly but busy) morning. My son has already had breakfast, got the remainder of his homework done, brushed his teeth, made his bed, got dressed, practiced piano, and has his backpack ready to go to school in another hour. My daughter also has brushed her teeth, got dressed, colored her picture for dance school, had breakfast, and packer her backpack for school. (Now I just have to get ready :) for the day).

Of course, since I'm on the computer, I've obviously been taking care of the finances/bills already this morning. It's nice to have my usualy Monday stay-at-home routine back. I'll be anxious to drop my daughter off at school and see her teachers, friends, and their parents. And I can't wait to see gymnastics and swimming later this week! PICTURES will be forthcoming!