Tag Archives: Beth

Apr

2013

Charmers

By: Megan

The last night of the AGM the kids charmed a few of our good friends into loving them even more without even knowing it. We live far from family but we have grown to be really good friends with some of Tim’s colleagues and their spouses and families. The last night of AGM is always “family night.” It is a night filled with fun activities for the whole family.

This is how they won over our dear friends.

Patrick was so intense and so eager to make a dream catcher. He later told our friends that he was so excited to hang it over his bed to catch all his bad dreams but that sometimes he likes bad dreams because the villains like Bowser are fun.

I helped Elise make hers and she picked the pinkest beads out of the basket. Thank you Beth for snapping this photo. I love being behind the camera but it makes me happy to think that the kids will have a few photos a me to look back at too.

Michael is a rule follower. True he spends a great amount of his time trying to find a loop-hole in the rules but when you ask him to do something he almost always does it. He is especially sweet, protective and super responsible whenever we ask him to keep an eye on his sister. It isn’t like we go out for happy hour drinks and leave him in charge, but he is old enough now that if when I have to reprimand Patrick for not listening to his swim teacher at lessons, I can tell Michael to make sure that Elise stays sitting on the bench and does not leave her spot, and I know that Elise will not end up in the pool. He takes this job very seriously and will literally stand guard in front of her shuffling a basketball-like shuffle in front of her so she can not move off the bench. I knew that when I asked him to keep and eye on Elise when she and a few other kids took over an empty stage for an impromptu dance performance, he would do just that. Michael was right up there dancing away but also making sure that Elise wasn’t too close to the edge of the stage. Patrick was up there too but he was so focused on his freestyle dancing that I don’t think an elephant walking across the stage would have broken him from his concentration on his dance moves.

Look at those watchful eyes of big brother. He is so good with her.

Elise is two years old, beautiful and can give you the snarkiest looks or the sweetest smile. She charms everyone all the time, but on Family Night she was on her A game. Maybe it was the beaded hippy shirt and sparkly pink shoes or maybe it was because it was 2 hours past bed time and she was delirious… I don’t know but I think even Tim fell in love with her again that night.

(photo credits to Nanny of the year)

I love my babies.

Apr

2013

Caption This.

By: Megan

Beth went with on our trip as our “nanny” but really she is my sister and the kids Aunt…. We don’t pay her, we just feed her and give her a place to sleep. She is far great than any nanny. The kids love and respect her. It is fun to have her around and she is a huge help. Plus she didn’t judge me when I was hung over like a college kid on spring break the night after the annual formal dinner. Well that is not completely true. She found it quite funny that I was sick. I don’t think she pointed and laughed but I know she laughed. It doesn’t matter though because she took the boys to the pool and played with them while Elise and I rested (Elise overheats really quickly).

To thank Beth for taking time off of work and giving up her weekend to travel with us, I wanted to share a nice photo of her and the kids as a token of thanks.

That was my intention when I went looking for a photo but I just kept coming back to this one. I don’t know what was going on besides that PJ was tired and snuggling in her lap, Michael was playing Mario Brothers and we were waiting to board our plane to fly home.

Please. Please. Caption this photo.

Apr

2013

AGM 2013

By: Megan

This year’s AGM for the company Tim works for was in Phoenix. The weather was warm, the sun was shining and the whole family (plus Beth) were able to come.

When we left on Thursday morning our plane was on the runway for over an hour waiting to be de-iced. Luckily, de-icing was fascinating to the kids, “IT IS LIKE A CAR WASH!” So the delayed departure and subsequent time sitting in an airplane wasn’t too big a deal.

Just a few hours later and one free beverage-no free pretzels or peanuts on US Airlines- later we landed in Arizona where the sun was shining and my soul sang.

Have I mentioned lately how long and unending this winter has been?!

We hit the ground running and as soon as our bags were delivered to our room we were suited up and in the pool. Swimming is how we spent our days (Tim was in meetings during the morning hours but that didn’t keep the rest of us from the pool) and our evenings were spent enjoying company events. Tim’s company always does a great job making sure the kids have plenty to do so the parents can catch up with friends and colleagues that we haven’t seen since the last AGM.

We just got a back this afternoon. I only pulled out my “big” camera once because I wanted to swim and play too. Yesterday I brought the camera down to the pool and was able to snap a few (ok, a hundred or so) photos of the kids, Tim and Beth swimming in between requests to “GET IN AND SWIM MOM!”

I laugh every time I look at this photo. It makes me think Hasselhoff running across the beach in the opening credit of Baywatch.

This kid loves the water. All my kids love the water but this one… he is always finding a way to be in the water whether it is helping me was dishes, splashing in a puddle or playing in the bath long after the water turns cold. I can’t wait to set up the pool again this summer.

I couldn’t be prouder and more excited about how far the kids have come in the past 15 weeks of swim lessons. Switching to FOSS Swim School was the best we thing have done for them in terms of swimming safety and body awareness. And it is by far the most fun they have had in an extra curricular activity.

Foss stresses backfloating as a life saving skill. I completely agree. They teach the kids to flip from their belly to their back when they get tired or overwhelmed in the water so the kids are able to catch their breath and take a break in a safe way. Check out Michael just floating around the pool. He has pretty much mastered his back float.

Check out the water in the photo. It may be a bit more to carry around but man I love LOVE my camera.

And here he is practicing his freestyle. I wish my Dad would have been there to see it. I can’t help but think about how proud he would be watching his Grandson swim. My Dad was a swim coach, swim teacher and competitive swimmer. He never missed a swim meet or a single event of Beth’s or mine when we were swimming competitively. I know he was proud of how his girls swam, so seeing Michael swim makes me beam with pride on so many levels. That is my boy making my Dad smile with pride. I love you Dad. Check out your grandson. And Michael when you read this years from now make sure to note how much joy you bring your Daddy.

Elise has been taking lessons at Foss too and she is getting so much more comfortable in the water. I think by the end of the next session she will be floating on her own. For her, just like big brother Patrick, everything is more fun when in water. Her giggles and squeals of glee were heard all around the pool when playing a simple game of peek a boo with Beth.

She thinks she can swim on her own. In fact she kind of resents you for helping her. When she “gets it” she is going to take off and become a great swimmer. She paddles/scoops and kicks like there isn’t anyone there holding her up. Its only the ability to keep that toddler belly and bum floating that is keeping her from becoming the next Missy Franklin. Look at the intensity on her face. She is in it to win it.

Elise is a Mommy’s girl, that isn’t a secret but she loves her Daddy. He thinks she can do no wrong and she thinks he hangs the moon.

And then there was jumping. Is there anything more fun, careless, free, uplifting and wonderful then the joy of jumping into a pool?! My boys don’t think so.

Beth and one of Tim’s co-workers wife’s Katie taught the boys how to do cannon balls one morning while I was sleeping off the fun I had the night before.

And tomorrow I will share my two favorite images from the whole weekend.

Apr

2013

New Traditions

By: Megan

Living a 10 hour car ride from my folks and a 7 hour car ride from Tim’s folks makes it hard to travel for every Holiday. Especially holidays that are celebrated on a Thursday or Sunday. Turkey Day Thursday means Tim and the boys missing work/school on Wednesday since travelling to family is a full day event. Same goes for taking Easter Monday off. All those extra days add up quick. We really like to be able to take a good chunk of time every summer to “Staycation” in the cities and we love having an extra long Christmas break so we hoard Tim’s vacation days. Because of that we have not traveled for a Thanksgiving since moving to the cities and this year marked our second year of not travelling on Easter. You know what? We kind of like it.

Don’t get me wrong family but there is something exciting and wonderful about celebrating those holidays as a small family unit. We are putting our own stamp on the holidays and are slowly building our own family traditions. We haven’t cast aside all the family traditions that we grew up with by any means. Turkey Day will always be about the Macy’s Parade and the Purina Dog show (we were not a football family) just like it was in my family. The Easter Bunny will always visit our home (also my family). We will always get dressed up in our Sunday best for Easter services (both our families). But now instead of painting on egg shells we actually eat dyed hard-boiled eggs. We made Birds Nest cupcakes. Will we do these every year? Time will tell, but it is fun creating our own traditions.

Not travelling on the holidays makes it more relaxing. Is it as fun? Sometimes. It is always great to see our kids play with their cousins, especially now that all the kiddos are getting older and the age gap doesn’t seem as big, but it is also great to not have bags to pack clothes, prep snacks for car rides and to answer “How much longer?” all the way from Albertville, MN to Hillsboro, ND at which point we have lost our patience and force them to start playing the quiet game. We love late night board games when the kids go to bed but watching the new Game of Thrones was good too.

Here are a few photos from this years Easter. My folks live 10 hours away but Auntie Buff only lives 2.5 hours away. She has become like a third parent to the kids. I will never be able to express to her what having her in my kids life in such an active way means to me. The kids respect her and love her. She is fun but isn’t afraid to discipline. She has been such a wonderful Aunt.