Summer Haircuts

About a week and a half ago we had our first mild week here in MN, in fact it felt like we jumped right from winter into summer. It was decided that if summer was indeed here, then haircuts were in order, as Sevi was long overdue by about 6 months. We go to a little neighborhood shop run by a young Hmong mother who does an amazing job for a great price. Unfortunately, I jumped the gun, as we have fallen back into a cold spring with rain for the last week. At least the boys look fresh and ready for a blazing summer!

Before

After

Sick of Being Sick

It has been a long two weeks in our house of ill. It started two Sunday's ago with Sevi curled on my lap at his best girlfriend Siri's birthday party, claiming he wanted to go home. His temp that night hit 103.6 and stayed there for three days. By Wednesday night I had a sore throat, then was diagnosed with strep throat Thursday morning. We thought last weekend we were in the clear, but then Monday night Soren had a fever. Tuesday morning Soren was diagnosed with strep. This morning Sevi woke with a earache. Back to Target clinic for a third time in a week and now poor Sevi is back to having a fever and now he has strep. We are all ready to be done and rid our house of ill. 

Sevi's favorite place to heal, laying on mama's cheek.

Finally, Spring

Winter Swim Classes

The boys have been taking swimming classes this winter at the Great River Water Park in St. Paul. They have three different size/depth pools, so it has been fun to watch how they each have been challenged, though it is hard to tell how much their swimming skill set has improved.

Sevi in his class.

Soren jumping (getting pushed?!) off the diving board.

Take Your Child To Work Day

Out of necessity last week I had to take Soren to my St. Kate photo class while he was on Spring Break. He was very excited to come, as I was as well to have him there. It brought me back to the days when at the same age, I went to my fathers Anthropology class at the U of MN. My father retired when I was 10 years old, so I don't have to many memories other then I knew I liked being on campus. Soren liked all aspects of the college class, from my visual slide lecture to working in the wet darkroom. We had a backpack full of toys for him to make photograms with and the students loved having him in class. I was very proud of how well behaved he was and to see his creative excitement.

Working in the wet darkroom lab. This print is of his space men and a moon rover.

The final photogram prints.

Easter 2013

Easter this year started off with a grand start. We went to a easter hunt party, visited with the easter bunny, dyed our eggs and set up a well thought out egg hunt for the boys for Easter morning. The hunt went off with a bang, but by clue #6 of 8 we had a frustrated, teary eyed 6 year old. Soren was so upset about having to read his clues this year, along with keeping count of who found more of the eggs, that a full fledge melt-down occurred and a temporary halt to the hunt was called. Sevi during all this could have cared less about the whole Easter hunt affair. At this point I was mad too, taking it personally that all our hard work (that the Easter Bunny was getting all the credit for) was for not. I reached a low, stating that why would the Easter Bunny want to come back next year if this is how one ungracious child acts. I really was ready to call off all future Easter hunts, but then Soren calmed down, and I did too. The hunt was called back on, Soren finished reading the clues and the boys loved the Easter baskets. And wouldn't you know it, at the end of the day Soren announced that the hunt was his favorite part of his day. 

The Official Easter Bunny Photo.

Dying the Eggs.

Sevi more enthralled with the wire egg dipper.

The finished eggs. We tried an all natural egg dye this year and really liked the way they turned out. Note to self for next year, don't bother with brown eggs!

Reading the clues for the Easter basket hunt (before the big melt down).

Finding the egg behind the mirror clue.

The basket prize!

Soren's First Lost Tooth

Note to the Tooth Fairy. His tooth is in the Button eyed pouch on the right. The Tooth Fairy left behind his tooth and a  gold coin worth a dollar.

The Number Wall

 At the age 74, the boys' Gramma Anne still tests at the genius level for mathematics. It clearly skipped a generation,  but may have picked up again by Soren. He loves math, it is his favorite topic in school. His teacher, Mr. Jeremy, challenged the class to see how high they can write their numbers and create individual number lines. Soren worked the longest and the hardest, far exceeding any past kindergartner and having his number line wrap around the room 1.75 times. His goal was to get to 1000, he stopped at 1076. I got into the classroom and photographed his line when he told me his was the only one to fully wrap around the room once. I highlighted his line in the pics and gave a star by the little mathematician. We are so proud of Soren's hard work and perseverance, but it is more fun to see how proud of his work he is. It took three bags to bring it home, and it now is re-hung up in his bedroom.

Kindergarten 100th day

Soren celebrating his 100th day of Kindergarten back in February.

Look who is sleeping like a big boy!

Out with the old crib

The dismantle.....

The New Preschooler Bed!

The sweet taste of freedom!!!

Poetic Response to Valentine Garland

After the boys decorated tree's on our block with the Valentine Garland, our dear neighbors Ellen and John sent this poem:

Every morning we look and see,

pretty green hearts around our tree.

It makes us happy, 

it brings us glee.

Thanks for the love,

Soren and Sevi!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day

We decided we wanted to spread a little valentine cheer around the neighborhood this year, so we did some valentine garland tree bombing. 

Tree garland outside our house. 

The boys working on the painting of the craft paper.

The heart garland cut out and ready to distribute to the lucky neighbors.

The colors popped against the fresh snow background!

Our neighbor John caught us in action so we asked him to document the occasion.

Skiing at Woodlake Nature Center

Sevi and Tommy

Sevi and his best bud Tommy, who is sporting the newest preschool hipster trend of wearing a pull up as head gear.

Birthday Donations

Soren dropping off the donations to the Ronald McDonald House Charities that he collected from his 6th birthday party. 

Soren's Rockin' Birthday Party

Since music and the color purple are two of Soren's favorite things, we went with that theme for the celebration of his 6th birthday. A purple guitar cake was ordered, a one man band (Steve from Snapdragon Seeds Music) came to perform, and 19 kids had the run of the Longfellow Park Recreation Center for an afternoon of rockin' activity.

Steve from Snapdragon Seeds Music

The art table where kids made their own shakers.

The blow-up guitars where a big hit.

One hot and sweaty 6 year old!

Singing Happy Birthday to the birthday boy.

Mr. 6 Year Old!!!!

Our Dear Soren, 

This has been the year that you have truly come into your own being. A child who loves adventure, who takes risks and who lives passionately. You are confident and secure in who you are and live large in your favorite color; purple. Your head is full of ideas and insights and it is a joy and honor to explore your world with you. We cherish you. Happy Birthday! Love Mama and Papa

Snowshoeing

Last Saturday we broke in our new snowshoes at Fort Snelling State Park. Fresh snow had just fallen and there was a hush in the air as we hiked through the paths. We came across nine deer on our hike, capping off a perfect Minnesota winter adventure.