A Christmas Story: Chapter One

We just returned from the best Christmas vacation ever! It was one big action packed coast to coast trip to Florida. (Florida's coast's) In fact, we crammed so much in I'm going to have to break this up into pieces!

We began the trip by flying into Jacksonville so John could do a little work while we were in town. It only took a few minutes for the hotel staff to realize that this was no ordinary family and that we were there to party! I think the decibel level was raised a few notches when we checked in.

While John attended meetings, I took the chitlins to the Jacksonville Zoo. We had a great time checking out the animals and even more fun seeing the locals dressed for a blizzard in 60 degree weather!
Here is my Max feeling right at home near the Monkey exhibit. Do you think he needs a haircut?

Lastly, I finally figured out firsthand why making bets is a stupid idea. I love to make silly yet safe bets with the boys like I bet you can't brush your teeth and put on your pj's in under a minute. Well this time my bad betting habits came back to bite me. I bet Jack $20 he couldn't catch this tiny little lizard. As this pic shows I owe him some Benjamin's and will not be placing any bets with him anytime soon. (note to self: remember that in FL, the wild animals think it is winter, so they move a million times slower this time of year.)

Next Chapter.....heading to Orlando where the real fun and excitement begin.

Jacks big night

My oldest had his first swim meet last week and performed brilliantly! I think I might have been more nervous than he was which is not normal. Jack is usually a big ball of nerves about anything and everything, but he did great. He competed in three event with kids ranging from 6 to 9. He took 5th in the 50 freestyle, 3rd in backstroke, and 3rd in the 100 freestyle.

Here is my boy brandishing one of his ribbons.



Enjoying some celebratory pizza with his proud Pops. Way to go Jack, we are proud of you!

This is for the grandparents:

(he is in lane 5)

Max for hire - 2.0

Last year Max specialized in home decor. This year he has branched out into the world of personal stylist. If you find yourself short on styling time this holiday season, give Max a call. He would be more than happy to shop and dress any little girl you have in your family. He specializes in matching bows and socks. He is excellent at making your baby feel beautiful and like a princess during the whole process.

Another cute ensemble brought to you by Maxwell Designs ltd.

Quote of the Week

Max never ceases to crack me up. And I quote: Satan is evil, he will get clothes for Christmas.

Doesn't that pretty much sum it up? Boys hate getting clothes for Christmas. So watch out, if you are naughty like Satan, you might find yourself opening up a bunch of clothes in a couple weeks!

The hazards of crawling backwards

I love that almost anytime I leave the room or take my eye off of this sweet little thing, she gets herself into the craziest spots! Today I was putting laundry away and heard a scared whimper from Sadie. I had to search for a minute because she had crawled under the bed and got stuck! (I actually had to lift up the blanket to find her and take the pic!) I have to admit that I ran to get the camera and made her wait there even though she was a little frightened. Bad, bad mommy!

This photo pretty much sums up Thanksgiving

We were glad to be in Utah and spend time with family, just saddened by why we decided to make the trip.

For those of you that don't know already, my Mom is battling Carcenoid Lung Cancer. Just before Thanksgiving, she had surgery to remove the tumor and half of her left lung. Feeling helpless in Minnesota, we figured out a way for all of my family to make it to Utah to try to show our love and support to my sweet Mom. Here is a list of the good and bad:

1. Good: Sadie and I got to fly. She was a perfect little angel and slept almost the entire flight.

Bad: John and the boys drove 19 hours through a snow storm...need I say more?

2. Good: I got to spend a lot of time with my two nieces Madison and Mackenzie.

Bad: I found out that they LOVE the twilight books. Barf

3. Good:We opened a few Christmas presents early (way early) from each other

Bad: Max initially hated his gift from the Vegas and said "this is not cool, I don't' like this" (who is his mom, she needs to teach him some manners) The picture above is him pouting over his gift!

4. Good: I got to see my favorite Dr. Nurse Friend, Emily Litt.

Bad: I got sick and didn't get to see my favorite red head Linds.

5. Good: Got a pedicure with Madison and Mackenzie

Bad: They wanted to put "team Jacob" on their toes

6. Good: Spending time with my family, most importantly my Mom.

Bad: Passing on the head cold I got to everyone....sorry guys!

All in all, I would say that the good outweighed the bad during our trip. A big shout out to John for making it possible. Thanks Mr. P!

Not to brag or anything.....

BUT!! The other night we went to a Timberwolves game and sat in the commissioner's seats. Yes, THE commish! John just happens to know a guy who knows a guy and we scored last minute ticks. Sadie got all dolled up for the occasion:

At the last minute we thought we didn't look distinguished enough to be in $200 a piece seats, so we came up with this to blend in with the richies:

Our disguise was working, and then those blasted cheerleaders came out. Max looked like this:

And this:

And then in a loud voice said this: Mom, I want those ladies to come back and Dance in their underpants again. Our cover was blown. We were asked to leave immediately.

The best part of the night for me was when some drunk man told his friend a little too loud that I had a nice rear end. Hmmm, maybe we did belong in that section. At least Max did anyway.

Sneak Peek

Here are a few of the photos my awesome friend Darci took this fall. I can't get over how talented she is. She has such a great eye and can make even our crazy family look beautiful! I would show you every single photo but then I wouldn't have anything to give all the Grandmas in our lives for Christmas! Enjoy!

Osom Jack

Jackson brought home some school work the other day that gave me a few chuckles. I love to see little kids phonetically spell words. For some reason it looks adorable. The assignment had him think of synonyms to overused words. Here are a few of the ones I enjoyed:


nice - spactactler

happy - osom

big - enormuse

sad - dredfel

pretty - glameres (my favorite)

friend - bff



I hope all of my glameres bff's out there have one enormuse, osom, spactactler day!

Another Day at the MOA

For those not living in the same state as I, the MOA is the Mall of America. It's enormous, overwhelming, exhausting, and my kids love it. This place is so big they have many of the same stores on every level. Yep, you can go to Bath and Body Works in three different places! Our little family has gotten into a little routine whenever we go. It starts out with a bribe: if you let mommy go to urban outfitters and you are good, then we will go to the Lego Store. After we have accomplished both, there is another bribe placed before them. If you let mommy go to H&M, and you are good, we will go get crepes. We make bribes like these until they are too grumpy and we need to go home. We usually save trips to the MOA for when family visits, but Max was out of school for a couple of rainy days, so we decided to take Sadie on her first trip to the MOA. Good times were had by all.

Here's Max with my favorite crepe filled with Nutella.

Max cozying up to Jengo Fett.

Sadie with a flying saucer on her head.