First time for everything!

This weekend was the first time EVER since I started dating Jerry that Alex was the only kid with us! Mason spent the week at Grandma and Grandpa's, Bennett was at his Dad, and Larkin was spending the weekend with her friend. Jerry had to work, so that left me and Alex. Hmmmm, what to do?

I was thinking sleeping in (anyone who knows Alex knows he loves to sleep in LATE --which everyone who knows me knows I LOVE), movie, maybe run some errands, and then just see what the day brings.

Alex had a different idea.

Of course he did. He wanted to sleep in, but then he wanted to fish. Hmmmmm, fish? I know nothing about fishing.

Like nothing. I can't identify fish (carp, small mouth bass, walleye, catfish..don't know the difference. I guess I know catfish). But I decide I will just do it...suck it up and take the poor kid fishing.

Where do you go fishing? I don't know. Alex tells me he wants to go to the river. Great Idea!

He then informs me that we needed to get bait. He also knows where to get bait--thank goodness!

We head to the river.....one hour passes. Three broken lines, one bite, a little frustration.

Hour Two.....no fish, no bites, nothing. Three hours.....no fish, no bites, nothing.

I give the five minute warning. Two minutes later...He has a fish on his line!!!!!! I am not sure who was more excited, but I am pretty sure I was even jumping up and down one point. I had to run down on the rocks and help him! It was great. I was so happy for Alex and so proud of him! When we got home he cleaned the fish by himself and we will have it some night coming up. Here are some pics of our fun day!

cakes from the summer

I love making cakes, but this summer I have only made two! The first was for Mason's 14th Birthday on June 11th....

Here is the second one....for Bennett's 5th birthday! Nothing great, but I still love doing it!

Jane and Tom's Wedding

On July 31st my sister got married! It was an amazing week! We decorated, laughed, decorated, fought, decorated, made a movie, decorated, and then PARTIED. Friday and Saturday were absolutely perfect! Tom's family was a ton of fun to be around...and with so many Vangsness' in town it was sure to be a good time! I don't know how, but I didn't take very many pictures... actually almost none. I did get some fun video from the golf course on Friday afternoon--but I love my video camera! So...here is a picture taken of Bennett by Dylan, one of the ring bearers outside of the church. Once I get more pics from friends I will make sure to share.....

Leaving tomorrow.....

My sister's wedding is next weekend! I spent all day today finishing up homework so I don't have much to do next week...and now tonight (it is already 8pm...my prime hours start at 10 pm!). I have made lists...several of them actually. I am sooooo excited for the next week! I am hoping to spend some quality time with my family, maybe see a couple of friends in O-town, relax at the lake, and laugh. The past couple of weeks have been super stressful...like super duper stressful. I have learned a lot though....some of those things include:

1. True friends are amazing!
2. Phone calls from your niece can turn tears into laughter in about 2 seconds.
3. I go to school with some smart people. REAL SMART PEOPLE.
4. Finding 28" shorts for Mason to wear to a wedding is extremely hard to do....in fact in all of St. Cloud there are only two pair (ok..make that one pair after today).
5. Laundry does not do itself, no matter how long I wait.
6. Facebook is a waste of time.
7. Ice cream can be a main dish the night before Mom's paper is due.
8. and most important...nothing is more important than spending time with my kiddos. Ohhh, how I love their stories.

Update!!

Here is the list I posted way back when.....not too shabby...and there is about a month of summer vacation left :).

1. Get all pictures into one spot in my house. No not organizing at this point yet, just all into one spot. I am going to pick for that spot to be in the makeshift office we have in our basement.
2. Clean out the laundry room. It really is a terrible job, isn't it?
3. Organize Larkin's drawers. Ugh.
4. Get a pedicure! (Yay!)
5. Clean out the garage stuff that has been there since we moved in. Part of me doesn't even want to open the bags/boxes/totes and just throw, but part of me doesn't either!
6. Match up the DVDs with their cases.
7. Take all my old college text books to Goodwill. I haven't looked at them since I graduated. Why have they moved four times with me?? Plus, we are at the nine year mark. Pretty sure they are outdated.

Can duct tape fix everything?

It didn't work to get my cell phone yesterday, but fortunately other things did work! Here is the list of items it took to get the phone:
1. A math teacher
2. A skinny-armed 14 year old
3. A supervisor (that would be me)
4. A mirror from some Clinique make-up
5. A ruler
6. About 10 swear words.

and last but not least.......
7. A long-handled-plastic-black Kitchen Aid serving spoon.

THANK YOU BECCA AND MASON FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, What a Night!

As I sit here and write this, my cell phone alarm is going off somewhere in the house. And I can't do anything about it. Why, you ask? Well, that is the end to a veeerrrrryyyyyy long night. 4 crabby kids + 2 crabby parents = not good. Anyway we ended up playing musical beds (and this night is proof why I should never give up my bed....).

Mason wants to sleep in the basement and so of course Bennett does, too. Larkin decides she will sleep in her room and Alex and Jerry snuggle up in our bed to watch "Ice Road Truckers." Where am I going to sleep? Chair? Mason's bed? Bennett's bed? We know Alex's bed is out of the question....it is up much too high for me. I decide to sleep in Mason's bed.

Well, somewhere between 10:45 and 6:00 many events happened......including grinding of teeth, pushing, shoving, yelling, kicking, and turning from one end of the bed to the other. Larkin and Bennett both decided they needed to sleep with me in Mason's bed. I can handle all of that until...

6am--cell phone alarm goes off. It isn't next to the bed where I had put it. I get my glasses on and look under the bed. Nope not there? I am thinking where in the ^$$&*# could this damn thing be?!?!? Yes, I survey the scene and realize that it down the hot-air return somewhere between the boys' bedroom wall and the furnace.

It is no 6:54am. You probably don't want to call, text, or email cause there is NO WAY I am getting that phone. I thought maybe writing about this on my blog would help the creative juices flow and I would come up with a way to fetch it out of there.

Not so much. No creativity here today. So, really I have now wasted 56 minutes of Action Research writing. Awesome.